[HPFGU-Movie] HP and LOTR narrative similarities?

[Ev vy]

From: "katrionabowman" <gingerorlando at hotmail.com>
> 1. the "dark lord" who loses his physical form in a battle, is 
> reduced to a spirit, but comes back to a body and wages a new war 
> (voldie and sauron).
> 2. a sneaky slimy creature buttering up to whoever happens to be in 
> charge at the time (peter pettigrew and gollum)
> 3. the underdogs winning battles by virtue of their wits and innate 
> qualities, with a little help from those older, wiser, and more 
> magical along the way (hobbits and our hogwarts trio)
> 4. an unwitting hero who doesn't realise the potential and qualities 
> he possesses? (harry and "i-will-take-the-ring-though-i-do-not-know- 
> the-way frodo).
> 5. a preference for words beginning with the letter "h" (hobbits, 
> hobbiton, hamfast v. hogwarts, hogsmead, hagrid - ok! maybe that's 
> pushing it a little far ;->)
> 
> what does everyone else think? is this supposition too far-fetched? 
> can you spot any other narrative similarities out there?
> 
> kt in seattle - with obviously not a lot to do today 8-)


These similarities can be easily attributed to both of the stories (apart from the fifth one, lol!) as both those films could be described as quest narratives (so as the books). It's obvious so as to LotR, whereas in HP the quest is more symbolic, there is no long physical journey as such, etc. But still, it's a quest for knowledge and quest against evil. However, LoTR is considered to be an anti-quest and I'd use the same term for HP. They both possess the qualities of the quest but those qualities are in different ways distorted, yet easy to distinguish.

As W.H. Auden put it in his essay on anti-quest:
"To go in Quest means to look for something of which one has, as yet, no experience; one can imagine what it will be like but whether one's picture is true or false will be known only when one has found it."

W. H. Auden distinguishes the characteristic elements of a Quest tale. There are six of them:
"1) A precious object and/or Person to be found and possessed or married.
2) A long journey to find it, for its whereabouts are not originally known by the seekers. (this is more symbolic in HP)
3) A hero. The precious object cannot be found by anybody, but only by the one person who possesses the right qualities of breeding and character.
4) A Test or series of Tests by which the unworthy are screened out and the hero revealed.
5) The guardians of the Object who must be overcome before it can be won. They may be simply a further test of the hero's arete, or they maybe malignant in themselves.
6) The helpers who with their knowledge and magical powers assist the hero and but for whom he would never succeed. They may appear in human or animal form."

Blah, blah, blah. I'm writing my MA thesis on literature for children (or not), to be specific on 'The Hobbit', Narnia Chronicles and HP. And I'm using the anti-quest as a framework for my thesis. So if you'd be interested I could post it somewhere after I'll have finished and defended it. Which won't take place before September next year.

Ev vy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's nothing level in our cursed natures
But direct villainy.
      William Shakespeare "Timon of Athens"
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And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
     William Shakespeare "Richard III"
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