Jung and Harry Potter - Spoilers for all books
This essay was born in my last semester of college for my 'literature criticism and theory' class. So be prepared for 1) longness and 2) academic dryness. It'd be interesting to update this for HBP, but that means dragging out Jung again and I'm not particularly fond of reading him so that project can wait. I ended up getting an excellent grade for this paper so I thought it worth sharing.:-)
Perhaps J. K. (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling was unaware of her prophetic words in her first book of the popular Harry Potter series when one of the characters mentions that “every child in our world will know [Harry Potter’s] name!” (Rowling, Stone 17). Unknown, on welfare, and working feverishly on her manuscript whenever her toddler was asleep, Rowling had no idea that the first three installments of the Harry Potter series would take over “the top three slots of the New York Times best-seller list” earning an astonishing “$480 million in three years” (Biography.com). J. K. Rowling’s phenomenally successful first novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has everyone questioning why a simple story about a boy attending a wizard school has made the author the world’s first billionaire by writing (Watson). A Jungian analysis of the first book in the series reveals subtle placement of universal archetypes that every reader recognizes, consciously or unconsciously, and these universal themes help the reader to enjoy the characters and the story itself. These archetypes include, but are not limited to, the Orphan, the Wise Old Man, the Shadow, the Betrayer, the Trickster, the Hero, and the Birth/Rebirth archetype. Any discussion of Harry Potter, however, must by necessity include the mention of the other published stories of his adventures as they may collectively be considered one very long work.
The Orphan archetype is a common character in fairy tale and myth. An orphan in these stories “feel from birth as if they are not a part of their family” and are often the unwanted outsider; a feeling that they can sense (Myss.com). Ancient stories provide several examples of the Orphan archetype: Romulus and Remus of Roman myth, Moses of Judeo-Christian tradition, and Havelock the Dane from “medieval romance” (Myss.com). A number of fairy tales and children’s stories also contain this archetype: Little Orphan Annie, the Matchstick Girl, Bambi, the Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, and Cinderella. Harry Potter follows along in this tradition; Harry lives with his Aunt and Uncle Dursley who treat him like “something very nasty . . . like a slug” and spoil to rottenness their only son Dudley (Rowling, Stone 28). Harry entered the Dursley household as an infant after the evil wizard Voldemort murdered his parents; all he remembers of the incident is a “blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead” (36). Resenting the burden of another infant thrust upon them, and one with an “abnormal” talent, the Dursleys take it upon themselves to make Harry feel as unwanted as possible while still giving him a place to call home-even though he sleeps in the small spider-infested closet under the stairs (66). As the Orphan, readers young and old are able to sympathize with Harry because what child has not wished at some point, however brief, that they too were orphans? Also, as an orphan Harry is the marginalized other, the outsider, the different one, the “freak” who never feels like he is a part of anything or anyone. Even adults can sympathize with this feeling because everyone at some point has felt as if they did not belong.
Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School, functions as the Wise Old Man Archetype. This particular archetype can stand alone, but often he makes an appearance in the Hero’s Journey and is a familiar sight in fantasy stories. Sometimes this figure is the hero’s father or functions as a father figure to supply the “supernatural principle of guardianship and direction” (Campbell 67). In J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, he is manifested as Gandalf the Grey, in C. S. Lewis’ That Hideous Strength it is Professor Ransom, and in Dante’s Inferno it is Virgil. Albus Dumbledore is first introduced to the reader as a person who has Harry’s best interests at heart. He apparently arranged for the half-giant Hagrid to rescue baby Harry from “almost destroyed” house, took time in the chaos of the night (the evil wizard Voldemort had just been out murdering, along with his servant Death Eaters) to write a long letter explaining the tragic circumstances of Harry’s being left on the Dursley’s front doorstep, and keeps an eye on Harry the rest of the school year-though Harry is not aware of it most of the time (Rowling, Phoenix 839). Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung says the Wise Old Man “always appears when the hero is in a hopeless and desperate situation” and Harry was certainly in dire straights after the murder of his parents as a helpless infant (Jung 217). Jung also describes the Wise Old Man as “the superior master and teacher, the archetype of the spirit, who symbolizes the pre-existent meaning hidden in the chaos of life,” a very Christ-like appellation (35). Dumbledore, consistently associated with symbols of rebirth, is one of the Christ-figures in Harry Potter. He is constantly looked up to as the only wizard whom the devilish Lord Voldemort is afraid of, he has a pet phoenix (a medieval symbol of Christ), his Patronus (a silvery guardian against the soul-sucking Dementors) is a phoenix, his office’s door knocker is in the shape of a griffin (another symbol for Christ), he is the head of the Order of the Phoenix, and there are indicators in the existing books that he would willingly lay down his life for the salvation of others (Rowling, Stone 14; Rowling, Festival; Granger 94). Like many of Rowling’s characters, Albus Dumbledore’s name has a hidden meaning. Albus is Latin for “white, glorious, resplendent” and Dumbledore is an old English word for bumblebee (Granger 108, OED.com). The bee, according to Granger, is a “traditional symbol for the soul [because] (bees move in clouds that struck many as a visible sign of how the Spirit ‘bloweth where it listeth’)” (Granger 108). Future books will confirm what the reader already knows about Dumbledore and show that he is indeed the sacrificial Christ-figure that he seems to be. [Note: Considering the waves of speculation about the end of HBP, I think this is still a valid point, but that's a whole 'nother essay.]
The Shadow archetype according to Jung “personifies everything that the [individual] refuses to acknowledge about himself and yet is always thrusting itself upon him directly or indirectly” (Jung 284-285). The Shadow is the part of a person’s personality that they would rather not let out. A few examples are Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Batman, Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre, Caliban from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Satan from Judeo-Christian belief. Though the Shadow is most often seen in a negative incarnation, it does not always have to be. It is most often seen in the unknown “other”, that is, “we project our dark side onto others and thus interpret them as ‘enemies’ or as ‘exotic’ presences that fascinate” (Rearick 33). Jung admonishes that the Shadow is “a living part of the personality and therefore wants to live with it in some form” (Jung 20). The problem occurs when the Shadow is repressed or allowed free reign; neither are psychologically healthy options. To confront, accept and integrate “the rejected, inferior side of our life into our total experience and to take responsibility for it” is the only way to defeat the Shadow (Rearick 33). The Shadow is also known by a more popular term, doppelgänger, a person’s “complementary figure or shadow, which reveals aspects of [their personality] otherwise invisible” (Granger 38, emphasis mine). The most prominent doppelgänger pairing in Harry Potter is Harry/Voldemort. Besides the obvious physical and background similarities between them-mentioned extensively in The Chamber of Secrets-Harry has a direct link to Voldemort through the scar that Harry received in Sorcerer’s Stone. Though this link is not explored in detail until Order of the Phoenix, there are substantial hints throughout the preceding books. Whenever Harry complains of a burning sensation in his scar, it is usually because Voldemort is feeling particularly nasty or angry. In Sorcerer’s Stone Harry’s scar burns right before Voldemort tries to steal the Stone and though Harry does not know for sure yet, he thinks the burning is “a warning… it means danger’s coming” (Rowling, Stone 328). Interestingly enough, as if to emphasize the connection between Harry and his nemesis, Voldemort’s real name is Tom Riddle. “Thomas” is “the Aramaic word for ‘twin’” so Tom Riddle means “’twin enigma’” (Granger 43).
The Chamber of Secrets adventure reveals to Harry the internal dark side of his personality, the inner-Voldemort, and what he could have been had his choices in life been different. But Dumbledore stresses to Harry that it “is our choices . . . that show what we truly are” and that is why Harry will not turn into another Voldemort because he chooses to do right instead of wrong (Rowling, Chamber 422). The dark side of Harry’s personality is still there, however, and still has to be dealt with. John Granger, orthodox Christian and Potter-defender, argues that Harry and Voldemort “are Saint Paul’s ‘old self’ and ‘new self’ . . . Just as the old man must decrease or die in us that Christ may become greater and live in our heart, so one or both of the Harry/Voldemort pair must be slain . . . if the other is to live” tying directly into the prophecy Rowling reveals in Order of the Phoenix (Granger 44). Though this prophecy is not mentioned in Sorcerer’s Stone, Voldemort is aware of it and his promise to let Harry live if he would only join the Dark Lord and give over the Stone is a lie (Rowling, Stone 365).
Professor Quirrell in The Sorcerer’s Stone is a good example of what happens when the Shadow takes over. When Harry finally makes it to the last chamber in the magical obstacle course designed to protect the Sorcerer’s Stone, he is surprised to see his stammering Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. It is not long before the reader finds out that Professor Quirrell is a living embodiment of the doppelgänger; Voldemort is too weak in his nonphysical form to survive on his own so he has parasitically attached himself to the professor and Harry sees Voldemort’s face terrifyingly on the back of Quirrell’s head. Letting the Shadow take control will eventually kill the individual; the “Dr. Jekyll” side will be completely submerged by the Shadow, as in Professor Quirrell’s case when Voldemort left, his former self was too dwindled to reassert itself and the professor died (370).
Interestingly enough Professor Quirrell also represents another type of archetype; the Betrayer, which can be itself a manifestation of the Shadow. This particular archetype is not any random rebellious person but usually a trusted friend who was thought to be completely on the side of good, which is why their betraying is so awful. One of the best examples of the Betrayer from ancient literature is Judas Iscariot, hand-picked by Christ himself as one of the Twelve Apostiles. Iago from Othello, Brutus from Julius Caesar, and Edmund from C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are other examples. Not much is known about Professor Quirrell; presumably he was hired by Dumbledore and had been at Hogwarts for several years. Prefect Percy Weasley tells Harry that another professor had been after Quirrell’s post for a long time like it was a commonly known rumor around the school (137). As a member of the faculty, Quirrell was regarded with trust (and probably pity as well for his apparent fear of everything) by every faculty member except Professor Snape, but even with Snape it seems that he did not have enough evidence to confirm his suspicions, otherwise Dumbledore would have gotten involved. Even the students think he is a harmless stuttering teacher who is afraid of the subject he teaches, which is why Harry is so shocked when he finally reaches the last chamber. The Betrayer is often someone whom no one suspects as any murder-mystery aficionado will assert. Not only does Professor Quirrell betray the trust and friendship undoubtedly shown to him by Dumbledore, he also betrays his own humanity after allowing Voldemort to attach himself like a leech to Quirrell’s body. The Betrayer, especially Quirrell in this case, is often known by the term “Janus-faced” which our modern idiom “two-faced” is derived from. It refers to the Roman god of gates and doors who, eerily enough, was often depicted with two faces (“Janus”).
The Trickster Archetype is hard to pin down because that is the nature of the archetype. Tricksters are often shape shifters, that is, they are not always what they appear to be; they are usually clever and live by their wits; use strategy, guile, and even cheating to achieve their goals; they often display a sense of humor, they cross borders, and are usually fairly self-absorbed (Rearick 28-29). They can be on the side of good or bad; but often they are simply on their own side. Hermes and Prometheus are two examples from the Greek pantheon and Loki is a well-known trickster figure from Norse mythology. In literature and movies, Gandalf from Tolkien’s The Hobbit is a trickster figure as is Odysseus from The Odyssey, and the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow from The Pirates of the Caribbean. There are several trickster figures in The Sorcerer’s Stone. Identical twins Fred and George Weasley are the obvious first choices. The Weasley twins are first introduced teasing their own mother about which twin is which and then a few pages later threatening to blow up a toilet as a school prank. But, contrary to their infamous reputation of being goof-offs, their younger brother Ron informs Harry that they “still get really good marks” at school and they are constantly showing off their intelligence and creativity (Rowling, Stone 124). They are also masters of being sneaky, knowing every hidden passage in Hogwarts through the use of a magical map and do not hesitate to use these secret passages to go wherever they want whenever they want. Harry does not find out about the map himself until the third book, but they are undoubtedly taking full advantage of it during the events in Sorcerer’s Stone. The reader looks forward to any scene with the twins because they are funny, witty, and likely to provide much needed comic relief in any serious situation.
Professor Severus Snape is another trickster figure, but not nearly as popular or likable as the Weasley twins. From the beginning of their acquaintance, Harry dislikes the professor with “greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin” and immediately suspects Snape of trying the steal the Sorcerer’s Stone (156). All the cards appear stacked against Hogwarts’ Potions Master and no one cares because Snape has not given any reason for the reader to like or pity him, unlike Professor Quirrell. In fact, along with Harry and his friends, the reader believes that Snape is a servant of Voldemort who actually wants to kill Harry. But, like a true trickster, appearances can be deceiving and Snape proves that again and again-though we do not learn about Snape’s good deeds until the last few revelatory chapters at the end of the book. Snape is also funny, but his humor is a different kind than the good-natured pranks and jests of the Weasley twins. Sarcasm, acerbic remarks at the right moment, and certain facial expressions are Snape’s brand of humor, and though most of it is at a student’s expense, he is funny. Snape is also, like the best Tricksters, very intelligent. For reasons and evidence unknown to Harry, he is the only professor to suspect Quirrell’s nefarious doings and he teaches a difficult subject, Potions. He also crosses borders as a spy; Harry does not learn until the fourth book that Snape used to be a Death Eater, one of Voldemort’s most loyal and terrible servants, but for reasons unknown he turned back to the side of good and did a lot of spying for Dumbledore during Voldemort’s first reign of terror (Rowling, Goblet 590-591). In Order of the Phoenix Harry learns that Snape has returned to this dangerous occupation of spying for the Order.
Peeves, Hogwarts’ poltergeist, is also a Trickster figure. He delights in causing mayhem and confusion, he can cross borders by going through walls like a ghost, and he can turn into various things like a “bundle of walking sticks . . . floating in midair” that shoot themselves at students (Rowling, Stone 160). Peeves seems to be all Trickster with little depth; he provides comic relief and teaching opportunities for new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin, but little else (Rowling, Prisoner 163).
The Hero is probably the most familiar archetype to those unfamiliar with Jung’s theories. Some of the most famous heroes of ancient literature include King Arthur, Hercules, Gilgamesh, Odysseus, Perseus, Jesus Christ, Oedipus, and Arjuna (from the Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita). In the story the Hero is always the slayer of the dragon or other monster, and often uses a special weapon to accomplish that goal (Rearick 37). King Arthur’s sword Excalibur is an example of a special weapon as is Luke Skywalker's lightsaber or his use of the mysterious Force. Harry, of course, defeats the Quirrell/Voldemort monster. His unique weapon is love which Dumbledore tells Harry that “Voldemort cannot understand . . . He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you . . . is in your very skin” (Rowling, Stone 372). This powerful, but often underestimated weapon defeated Voldemort before when Harry was a baby.
The Hero also “suffers punishment for others” (Rearick 37). Harry and Hermione are caught out of bed by after curfew to help Hagrid send baby dragon Norbert away with the dragon trainers. Harry easily could have told Professor McGonagall about the dragon, but that possibly would have gotten Hagrid fired. Instead, he takes responsibility and Professor McGonagall deducts one hundred and fifty points as punishment. When the rest of Hogwarts finds out the next morning, the punishment is more terrible than a Professor's disapproval. Harry earns the hatred and ostracism of the entire Gryffindor house. But he endures the shunning from his classmates, and the glee of rival house Slytherin, with the help of Ron and Hermione.
Remarkably enough, the Hero is often not a part of the society he saves. Oedipus, for example, was raised outside of Thebes in the country. Luke Skywalker was a nobody from a backwater planet. Harry Potter, of course, was not raised in the wizarding world, but with his Muggle relatives the Dursleys. When he meets Ron Weasley aboard the Hogwarts Express, Harry mentions how worried he is about not being a good wizard because of how he was raised (Rowling, Stone 125). The Hero, along with his alien origins, often does not appear to have come from anywhere special. Jung mentions that the hero often “issues from something humble and forgotten . . . from a wholly improbable source” (Jung 141). Before Jesus called him to be his disciple, Nathanael once scoffed “[c]an anything good come from [Nazareth]?” after being told where the itinerant pastor was from (John 1:46). Again, Harry’s Muggle upbringing and status as a “half-blood” wizard prejudice many against him. Harry is already a celebrity for causing Voldemort to disappear when he was an infant; Draco Malfoy, whom Harry meets briefly in his first sojourn to Diagon Alley, assumes because of this status that Harry is from greatness, or what in his mind passes as greatness; a pureblood wizard family. The reader can be assured that Draco’s opinion rapidly changed once he learned the truth of Harry’s heritage. Heroes also often leave after the task is done. Jesus ascended into Heaven, Frodo Baggins sailed to the Undying Lands, and any modern-day superhero like Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman all leave their brightly colored costumes behind after the job is done and get back to their normal lives. Though the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series has yet to be written, fans worldwide have speculated-especially in the wake of the ominous prophecy revealed in Order of the Phoenix-that Harry will leave the wizarding world permanently in a battle to the death with Voldemort or, if he wins, he will leave to get away from the renewed celebrity status that will clamor for his attention. On a smaller scale for Sorcerer’s Stone, however, Harry leaves Hogwarts at the end of the school term to go back to the mundane Muggle world of the Dursleys.
The Birth/Rebirth archetype is used extensively throughout the Harry Potter series. Jung says that “the [character’s] job is to look inward to develop [their] inner unique personality” and this happens in literature with a series of symbolic deaths and rebirths (Snider 14). Harry, aside from Dumbledore, is associated with the most symbols of rebirth of any character in the series. During his first visit into the wizarding world Harry is "fitted" for his first wand. Mr. Ollivander, the owner of the wand shop, informs Harry that “[n]o two Ollivander wands are the same” and that Harry's wand is made up of “holly and phoenix feather” (Rowling, Stone 104 & 106). Holly is the traditional plant of Christmas and the constant bright green color of its leaves has made it a symbol of rebirth and resurrection (“Encyclopedia”). The phoenix feather requires no new explanation though it is interesting to note that the feather is actually from Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, Fawkes. Harry has “bright green eyes,” a fact mentioned several times throughout each book and green, of course, is the color of rebirth (Rowling, Stone 24; Knapp 62). When a child strongly resembles one of their parents it is often interpreted as that parent being reborn-not in a reincarnation way-in the child. Harry is mentioned as looking very much like his father James Potter (Rowling, Stone 58).
Snakes, featured prominently in the Harry Potter series, are also a symbol of rebirth since “they shed their skin yearly and are thus reborn into a new being” (Knapp 24). Harry can speak the snake language Parseltongue; Voldemort can talk to snakes too, has a pet snake, and is the Heir of Slytherin whose symbol is a snake. Considering that Voldemort is literally reborn in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the symbol is striking.
When Harry was a baby, Voldemort tried to murder Harry by casting what is known in the wizarding world as the Killing Curse that no one in history-aside from Harry-has ever survived (Rowling, Goblet 216). But something happened that no one, least of all Voldemort, expected. As Dumbledore tells Harry in Sorcerer’s Stone and Order of the Phoenix, there was a deeper, more ancient magic at work that Voldemort despises and underestimates-love. When Lily Potter died defending baby Harry with her body, it sealed over Harry like an invisible shield with the result that “[d]eath itself would start working backwards” and Harry survived the Killing Curse while Voldemort was reduced to “mere shadow and vapor” earning Harry the nickname “the Boy Who Lived” (Lewis 133; Rowling, Stone 364-365). Even more telling is the fact that Harry awoke three days after falling unconscious in the fight with Quirrell/Voldemort. Both symbolic deaths usher Harry into a new life. The first time, he is left alone in the world as an orphan and heir to an ominous prophecy. In Sorcerer’s Stone, he realizes what true love is and that standing up for the right thing may be dangerous, but the choice makes the difference between good and evil.
The presence of archetypes do not necessarily "make or break" a story. Certainly there are plenty of stories that do not take advantage of archetypes and they are read with enjoyment. J. K. Rowling, however, is one of the rare authors who hit the jackpot with her first novel and each following Harry Potter novel in the series has generated huge media and popular attention. Like many authors before her, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series will stand the test of time because people can relate to her characters through the use of archetypes.
Works Cited
+ Biography.com. 2004. A&E Television Networks. November 2, 2004.
+ Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004.
+ Granger, John. Looking for God in Harry Potter. Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2004.
+ “Encyclopedia of Potions: Magical and Mundane Plants.” The Harry Potter Lexicon. 1 October 2004. The Harry Potter Lexicon. 18 November 2004.
+ “Janus.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 2004. Encyclopedia Mythica Online. 21 November 2004. .
+ Jung, C. G. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. 2nd ed. New York: Princeton University Press, 1969.
+ Knapp, Bettina L. A Jungian Approach to Literature. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1984.
+ Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1950.
+ Rearick, Anderson. “Understanding Mythological Systems.” In-Class Lecture/Powerpoint to Literature of the Fantastic Class at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. August 2004.
+ Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 1999.
+ ---. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 2000.
+ ---. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 2003.
+ ---. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 1999.
+ ---. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 1997.
+ ---. “J K Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival.” J.K. Rowling Official Site. 15 Aug. 2004. 13 Nov. 2004.
+ Snider, Clifton. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made On. Wilmette, IL: Chiron Publications, 1991.
+ The Student Bible. Eds. Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.
+ Watson, Julie, and Tomas Kellner. “J.K. Rowling and the Billion-Dollar Empire.” February 26, 2004: World’s Richest People Section. November 2, 2004.
Perhaps J. K. (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling was unaware of her prophetic words in her first book of the popular Harry Potter series when one of the characters mentions that “every child in our world will know [Harry Potter’s] name!” (Rowling, Stone 17). Unknown, on welfare, and working feverishly on her manuscript whenever her toddler was asleep, Rowling had no idea that the first three installments of the Harry Potter series would take over “the top three slots of the New York Times best-seller list” earning an astonishing “$480 million in three years” (Biography.com). J. K. Rowling’s phenomenally successful first novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has everyone questioning why a simple story about a boy attending a wizard school has made the author the world’s first billionaire by writing (Watson). A Jungian analysis of the first book in the series reveals subtle placement of universal archetypes that every reader recognizes, consciously or unconsciously, and these universal themes help the reader to enjoy the characters and the story itself. These archetypes include, but are not limited to, the Orphan, the Wise Old Man, the Shadow, the Betrayer, the Trickster, the Hero, and the Birth/Rebirth archetype. Any discussion of Harry Potter, however, must by necessity include the mention of the other published stories of his adventures as they may collectively be considered one very long work.
The Orphan archetype is a common character in fairy tale and myth. An orphan in these stories “feel from birth as if they are not a part of their family” and are often the unwanted outsider; a feeling that they can sense (Myss.com). Ancient stories provide several examples of the Orphan archetype: Romulus and Remus of Roman myth, Moses of Judeo-Christian tradition, and Havelock the Dane from “medieval romance” (Myss.com). A number of fairy tales and children’s stories also contain this archetype: Little Orphan Annie, the Matchstick Girl, Bambi, the Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, and Cinderella. Harry Potter follows along in this tradition; Harry lives with his Aunt and Uncle Dursley who treat him like “something very nasty . . . like a slug” and spoil to rottenness their only son Dudley (Rowling, Stone 28). Harry entered the Dursley household as an infant after the evil wizard Voldemort murdered his parents; all he remembers of the incident is a “blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead” (36). Resenting the burden of another infant thrust upon them, and one with an “abnormal” talent, the Dursleys take it upon themselves to make Harry feel as unwanted as possible while still giving him a place to call home-even though he sleeps in the small spider-infested closet under the stairs (66). As the Orphan, readers young and old are able to sympathize with Harry because what child has not wished at some point, however brief, that they too were orphans? Also, as an orphan Harry is the marginalized other, the outsider, the different one, the “freak” who never feels like he is a part of anything or anyone. Even adults can sympathize with this feeling because everyone at some point has felt as if they did not belong.
Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School, functions as the Wise Old Man Archetype. This particular archetype can stand alone, but often he makes an appearance in the Hero’s Journey and is a familiar sight in fantasy stories. Sometimes this figure is the hero’s father or functions as a father figure to supply the “supernatural principle of guardianship and direction” (Campbell 67). In J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, he is manifested as Gandalf the Grey, in C. S. Lewis’ That Hideous Strength it is Professor Ransom, and in Dante’s Inferno it is Virgil. Albus Dumbledore is first introduced to the reader as a person who has Harry’s best interests at heart. He apparently arranged for the half-giant Hagrid to rescue baby Harry from “almost destroyed” house, took time in the chaos of the night (the evil wizard Voldemort had just been out murdering, along with his servant Death Eaters) to write a long letter explaining the tragic circumstances of Harry’s being left on the Dursley’s front doorstep, and keeps an eye on Harry the rest of the school year-though Harry is not aware of it most of the time (Rowling, Phoenix 839). Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung says the Wise Old Man “always appears when the hero is in a hopeless and desperate situation” and Harry was certainly in dire straights after the murder of his parents as a helpless infant (Jung 217). Jung also describes the Wise Old Man as “the superior master and teacher, the archetype of the spirit, who symbolizes the pre-existent meaning hidden in the chaos of life,” a very Christ-like appellation (35). Dumbledore, consistently associated with symbols of rebirth, is one of the Christ-figures in Harry Potter. He is constantly looked up to as the only wizard whom the devilish Lord Voldemort is afraid of, he has a pet phoenix (a medieval symbol of Christ), his Patronus (a silvery guardian against the soul-sucking Dementors) is a phoenix, his office’s door knocker is in the shape of a griffin (another symbol for Christ), he is the head of the Order of the Phoenix, and there are indicators in the existing books that he would willingly lay down his life for the salvation of others (Rowling, Stone 14; Rowling, Festival; Granger 94). Like many of Rowling’s characters, Albus Dumbledore’s name has a hidden meaning. Albus is Latin for “white, glorious, resplendent” and Dumbledore is an old English word for bumblebee (Granger 108, OED.com). The bee, according to Granger, is a “traditional symbol for the soul [because] (bees move in clouds that struck many as a visible sign of how the Spirit ‘bloweth where it listeth’)” (Granger 108). Future books will confirm what the reader already knows about Dumbledore and show that he is indeed the sacrificial Christ-figure that he seems to be. [Note: Considering the waves of speculation about the end of HBP, I think this is still a valid point, but that's a whole 'nother essay.]
The Shadow archetype according to Jung “personifies everything that the [individual] refuses to acknowledge about himself and yet is always thrusting itself upon him directly or indirectly” (Jung 284-285). The Shadow is the part of a person’s personality that they would rather not let out. A few examples are Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Batman, Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre, Caliban from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Satan from Judeo-Christian belief. Though the Shadow is most often seen in a negative incarnation, it does not always have to be. It is most often seen in the unknown “other”, that is, “we project our dark side onto others and thus interpret them as ‘enemies’ or as ‘exotic’ presences that fascinate” (Rearick 33). Jung admonishes that the Shadow is “a living part of the personality and therefore wants to live with it in some form” (Jung 20). The problem occurs when the Shadow is repressed or allowed free reign; neither are psychologically healthy options. To confront, accept and integrate “the rejected, inferior side of our life into our total experience and to take responsibility for it” is the only way to defeat the Shadow (Rearick 33). The Shadow is also known by a more popular term, doppelgänger, a person’s “complementary figure or shadow, which reveals aspects of [their personality] otherwise invisible” (Granger 38, emphasis mine). The most prominent doppelgänger pairing in Harry Potter is Harry/Voldemort. Besides the obvious physical and background similarities between them-mentioned extensively in The Chamber of Secrets-Harry has a direct link to Voldemort through the scar that Harry received in Sorcerer’s Stone. Though this link is not explored in detail until Order of the Phoenix, there are substantial hints throughout the preceding books. Whenever Harry complains of a burning sensation in his scar, it is usually because Voldemort is feeling particularly nasty or angry. In Sorcerer’s Stone Harry’s scar burns right before Voldemort tries to steal the Stone and though Harry does not know for sure yet, he thinks the burning is “a warning… it means danger’s coming” (Rowling, Stone 328). Interestingly enough, as if to emphasize the connection between Harry and his nemesis, Voldemort’s real name is Tom Riddle. “Thomas” is “the Aramaic word for ‘twin’” so Tom Riddle means “’twin enigma’” (Granger 43).
The Chamber of Secrets adventure reveals to Harry the internal dark side of his personality, the inner-Voldemort, and what he could have been had his choices in life been different. But Dumbledore stresses to Harry that it “is our choices . . . that show what we truly are” and that is why Harry will not turn into another Voldemort because he chooses to do right instead of wrong (Rowling, Chamber 422). The dark side of Harry’s personality is still there, however, and still has to be dealt with. John Granger, orthodox Christian and Potter-defender, argues that Harry and Voldemort “are Saint Paul’s ‘old self’ and ‘new self’ . . . Just as the old man must decrease or die in us that Christ may become greater and live in our heart, so one or both of the Harry/Voldemort pair must be slain . . . if the other is to live” tying directly into the prophecy Rowling reveals in Order of the Phoenix (Granger 44). Though this prophecy is not mentioned in Sorcerer’s Stone, Voldemort is aware of it and his promise to let Harry live if he would only join the Dark Lord and give over the Stone is a lie (Rowling, Stone 365).
Professor Quirrell in The Sorcerer’s Stone is a good example of what happens when the Shadow takes over. When Harry finally makes it to the last chamber in the magical obstacle course designed to protect the Sorcerer’s Stone, he is surprised to see his stammering Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. It is not long before the reader finds out that Professor Quirrell is a living embodiment of the doppelgänger; Voldemort is too weak in his nonphysical form to survive on his own so he has parasitically attached himself to the professor and Harry sees Voldemort’s face terrifyingly on the back of Quirrell’s head. Letting the Shadow take control will eventually kill the individual; the “Dr. Jekyll” side will be completely submerged by the Shadow, as in Professor Quirrell’s case when Voldemort left, his former self was too dwindled to reassert itself and the professor died (370).
Interestingly enough Professor Quirrell also represents another type of archetype; the Betrayer, which can be itself a manifestation of the Shadow. This particular archetype is not any random rebellious person but usually a trusted friend who was thought to be completely on the side of good, which is why their betraying is so awful. One of the best examples of the Betrayer from ancient literature is Judas Iscariot, hand-picked by Christ himself as one of the Twelve Apostiles. Iago from Othello, Brutus from Julius Caesar, and Edmund from C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are other examples. Not much is known about Professor Quirrell; presumably he was hired by Dumbledore and had been at Hogwarts for several years. Prefect Percy Weasley tells Harry that another professor had been after Quirrell’s post for a long time like it was a commonly known rumor around the school (137). As a member of the faculty, Quirrell was regarded with trust (and probably pity as well for his apparent fear of everything) by every faculty member except Professor Snape, but even with Snape it seems that he did not have enough evidence to confirm his suspicions, otherwise Dumbledore would have gotten involved. Even the students think he is a harmless stuttering teacher who is afraid of the subject he teaches, which is why Harry is so shocked when he finally reaches the last chamber. The Betrayer is often someone whom no one suspects as any murder-mystery aficionado will assert. Not only does Professor Quirrell betray the trust and friendship undoubtedly shown to him by Dumbledore, he also betrays his own humanity after allowing Voldemort to attach himself like a leech to Quirrell’s body. The Betrayer, especially Quirrell in this case, is often known by the term “Janus-faced” which our modern idiom “two-faced” is derived from. It refers to the Roman god of gates and doors who, eerily enough, was often depicted with two faces (“Janus”).
The Trickster Archetype is hard to pin down because that is the nature of the archetype. Tricksters are often shape shifters, that is, they are not always what they appear to be; they are usually clever and live by their wits; use strategy, guile, and even cheating to achieve their goals; they often display a sense of humor, they cross borders, and are usually fairly self-absorbed (Rearick 28-29). They can be on the side of good or bad; but often they are simply on their own side. Hermes and Prometheus are two examples from the Greek pantheon and Loki is a well-known trickster figure from Norse mythology. In literature and movies, Gandalf from Tolkien’s The Hobbit is a trickster figure as is Odysseus from The Odyssey, and the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow from The Pirates of the Caribbean. There are several trickster figures in The Sorcerer’s Stone. Identical twins Fred and George Weasley are the obvious first choices. The Weasley twins are first introduced teasing their own mother about which twin is which and then a few pages later threatening to blow up a toilet as a school prank. But, contrary to their infamous reputation of being goof-offs, their younger brother Ron informs Harry that they “still get really good marks” at school and they are constantly showing off their intelligence and creativity (Rowling, Stone 124). They are also masters of being sneaky, knowing every hidden passage in Hogwarts through the use of a magical map and do not hesitate to use these secret passages to go wherever they want whenever they want. Harry does not find out about the map himself until the third book, but they are undoubtedly taking full advantage of it during the events in Sorcerer’s Stone. The reader looks forward to any scene with the twins because they are funny, witty, and likely to provide much needed comic relief in any serious situation.
Professor Severus Snape is another trickster figure, but not nearly as popular or likable as the Weasley twins. From the beginning of their acquaintance, Harry dislikes the professor with “greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin” and immediately suspects Snape of trying the steal the Sorcerer’s Stone (156). All the cards appear stacked against Hogwarts’ Potions Master and no one cares because Snape has not given any reason for the reader to like or pity him, unlike Professor Quirrell. In fact, along with Harry and his friends, the reader believes that Snape is a servant of Voldemort who actually wants to kill Harry. But, like a true trickster, appearances can be deceiving and Snape proves that again and again-though we do not learn about Snape’s good deeds until the last few revelatory chapters at the end of the book. Snape is also funny, but his humor is a different kind than the good-natured pranks and jests of the Weasley twins. Sarcasm, acerbic remarks at the right moment, and certain facial expressions are Snape’s brand of humor, and though most of it is at a student’s expense, he is funny. Snape is also, like the best Tricksters, very intelligent. For reasons and evidence unknown to Harry, he is the only professor to suspect Quirrell’s nefarious doings and he teaches a difficult subject, Potions. He also crosses borders as a spy; Harry does not learn until the fourth book that Snape used to be a Death Eater, one of Voldemort’s most loyal and terrible servants, but for reasons unknown he turned back to the side of good and did a lot of spying for Dumbledore during Voldemort’s first reign of terror (Rowling, Goblet 590-591). In Order of the Phoenix Harry learns that Snape has returned to this dangerous occupation of spying for the Order.
Peeves, Hogwarts’ poltergeist, is also a Trickster figure. He delights in causing mayhem and confusion, he can cross borders by going through walls like a ghost, and he can turn into various things like a “bundle of walking sticks . . . floating in midair” that shoot themselves at students (Rowling, Stone 160). Peeves seems to be all Trickster with little depth; he provides comic relief and teaching opportunities for new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin, but little else (Rowling, Prisoner 163).
The Hero is probably the most familiar archetype to those unfamiliar with Jung’s theories. Some of the most famous heroes of ancient literature include King Arthur, Hercules, Gilgamesh, Odysseus, Perseus, Jesus Christ, Oedipus, and Arjuna (from the Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita). In the story the Hero is always the slayer of the dragon or other monster, and often uses a special weapon to accomplish that goal (Rearick 37). King Arthur’s sword Excalibur is an example of a special weapon as is Luke Skywalker's lightsaber or his use of the mysterious Force. Harry, of course, defeats the Quirrell/Voldemort monster. His unique weapon is love which Dumbledore tells Harry that “Voldemort cannot understand . . . He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you . . . is in your very skin” (Rowling, Stone 372). This powerful, but often underestimated weapon defeated Voldemort before when Harry was a baby.
The Hero also “suffers punishment for others” (Rearick 37). Harry and Hermione are caught out of bed by after curfew to help Hagrid send baby dragon Norbert away with the dragon trainers. Harry easily could have told Professor McGonagall about the dragon, but that possibly would have gotten Hagrid fired. Instead, he takes responsibility and Professor McGonagall deducts one hundred and fifty points as punishment. When the rest of Hogwarts finds out the next morning, the punishment is more terrible than a Professor's disapproval. Harry earns the hatred and ostracism of the entire Gryffindor house. But he endures the shunning from his classmates, and the glee of rival house Slytherin, with the help of Ron and Hermione.
Remarkably enough, the Hero is often not a part of the society he saves. Oedipus, for example, was raised outside of Thebes in the country. Luke Skywalker was a nobody from a backwater planet. Harry Potter, of course, was not raised in the wizarding world, but with his Muggle relatives the Dursleys. When he meets Ron Weasley aboard the Hogwarts Express, Harry mentions how worried he is about not being a good wizard because of how he was raised (Rowling, Stone 125). The Hero, along with his alien origins, often does not appear to have come from anywhere special. Jung mentions that the hero often “issues from something humble and forgotten . . . from a wholly improbable source” (Jung 141). Before Jesus called him to be his disciple, Nathanael once scoffed “[c]an anything good come from [Nazareth]?” after being told where the itinerant pastor was from (John 1:46). Again, Harry’s Muggle upbringing and status as a “half-blood” wizard prejudice many against him. Harry is already a celebrity for causing Voldemort to disappear when he was an infant; Draco Malfoy, whom Harry meets briefly in his first sojourn to Diagon Alley, assumes because of this status that Harry is from greatness, or what in his mind passes as greatness; a pureblood wizard family. The reader can be assured that Draco’s opinion rapidly changed once he learned the truth of Harry’s heritage. Heroes also often leave after the task is done. Jesus ascended into Heaven, Frodo Baggins sailed to the Undying Lands, and any modern-day superhero like Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman all leave their brightly colored costumes behind after the job is done and get back to their normal lives. Though the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series has yet to be written, fans worldwide have speculated-especially in the wake of the ominous prophecy revealed in Order of the Phoenix-that Harry will leave the wizarding world permanently in a battle to the death with Voldemort or, if he wins, he will leave to get away from the renewed celebrity status that will clamor for his attention. On a smaller scale for Sorcerer’s Stone, however, Harry leaves Hogwarts at the end of the school term to go back to the mundane Muggle world of the Dursleys.
The Birth/Rebirth archetype is used extensively throughout the Harry Potter series. Jung says that “the [character’s] job is to look inward to develop [their] inner unique personality” and this happens in literature with a series of symbolic deaths and rebirths (Snider 14). Harry, aside from Dumbledore, is associated with the most symbols of rebirth of any character in the series. During his first visit into the wizarding world Harry is "fitted" for his first wand. Mr. Ollivander, the owner of the wand shop, informs Harry that “[n]o two Ollivander wands are the same” and that Harry's wand is made up of “holly and phoenix feather” (Rowling, Stone 104 & 106). Holly is the traditional plant of Christmas and the constant bright green color of its leaves has made it a symbol of rebirth and resurrection (“Encyclopedia”). The phoenix feather requires no new explanation though it is interesting to note that the feather is actually from Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, Fawkes. Harry has “bright green eyes,” a fact mentioned several times throughout each book and green, of course, is the color of rebirth (Rowling, Stone 24; Knapp 62). When a child strongly resembles one of their parents it is often interpreted as that parent being reborn-not in a reincarnation way-in the child. Harry is mentioned as looking very much like his father James Potter (Rowling, Stone 58).
Snakes, featured prominently in the Harry Potter series, are also a symbol of rebirth since “they shed their skin yearly and are thus reborn into a new being” (Knapp 24). Harry can speak the snake language Parseltongue; Voldemort can talk to snakes too, has a pet snake, and is the Heir of Slytherin whose symbol is a snake. Considering that Voldemort is literally reborn in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the symbol is striking.
When Harry was a baby, Voldemort tried to murder Harry by casting what is known in the wizarding world as the Killing Curse that no one in history-aside from Harry-has ever survived (Rowling, Goblet 216). But something happened that no one, least of all Voldemort, expected. As Dumbledore tells Harry in Sorcerer’s Stone and Order of the Phoenix, there was a deeper, more ancient magic at work that Voldemort despises and underestimates-love. When Lily Potter died defending baby Harry with her body, it sealed over Harry like an invisible shield with the result that “[d]eath itself would start working backwards” and Harry survived the Killing Curse while Voldemort was reduced to “mere shadow and vapor” earning Harry the nickname “the Boy Who Lived” (Lewis 133; Rowling, Stone 364-365). Even more telling is the fact that Harry awoke three days after falling unconscious in the fight with Quirrell/Voldemort. Both symbolic deaths usher Harry into a new life. The first time, he is left alone in the world as an orphan and heir to an ominous prophecy. In Sorcerer’s Stone, he realizes what true love is and that standing up for the right thing may be dangerous, but the choice makes the difference between good and evil.
The presence of archetypes do not necessarily "make or break" a story. Certainly there are plenty of stories that do not take advantage of archetypes and they are read with enjoyment. J. K. Rowling, however, is one of the rare authors who hit the jackpot with her first novel and each following Harry Potter novel in the series has generated huge media and popular attention. Like many authors before her, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series will stand the test of time because people can relate to her characters through the use of archetypes.
Works Cited
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+ Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004.
+ Granger, John. Looking for God in Harry Potter. Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2004.
+ “Encyclopedia of Potions: Magical and Mundane Plants.” The Harry Potter Lexicon. 1 October 2004. The Harry Potter Lexicon. 18 November 2004.
+ “Janus.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 2004. Encyclopedia Mythica Online. 21 November 2004. .
+ Jung, C. G. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. 2nd ed. New York: Princeton University Press, 1969.
+ Knapp, Bettina L. A Jungian Approach to Literature. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1984.
+ Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1950.
+ Rearick, Anderson. “Understanding Mythological Systems.” In-Class Lecture/Powerpoint to Literature of the Fantastic Class at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. August 2004.
+ Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 1999.
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+ ---. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 2003.
+ ---. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 1999.
+ ---. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 1997.
+ ---. “J K Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival.” J.K. Rowling Official Site. 15 Aug. 2004. 13 Nov. 2004.
+ Snider, Clifton. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made On. Wilmette, IL: Chiron Publications, 1991.
+ The Student Bible. Eds. Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.
+ Watson, Julie, and Tomas Kellner. “J.K. Rowling and the Billion-Dollar Empire.” February 26, 2004: World’s Richest People Section. November 2, 2004.