Joseph Campbell et. al. (was Commandments)

[ftah3]

No: HPFGUIDX 31044

Yay, Aja!  You're right about "The Power of Myth" (w/ Bill Moyers) ~ 
fab!  "The Inner Reaches of Outer Space" is also good, imho.

Aja wrote:
> Anyway, to the point: I once had a discussion with someone about 
this same
> principle.  We were comparing the end of GOF with the end of Empire
> Strikes Back and I brought up Campbell's theories about the hero 
myth. 
> While my friend recognized the hero myth at work in Star Wars, he 
was
> reluctant to recognize it in Harry Potter because while there is a 
journey
> that takes place in the growth of the central character and his
> development as he learns to fight the bad guy, there really isn't a
> *choice* involved in his decision to be the good guy.  He argued 
that
> since Harry's parents were murdered by Voldemort, Harry's destiny 
was
> therefore set, and his choice made for him.  

Firstly, most Hero's Journey heroes *are* fated to become heroes.  
That is actually one of the points Campbell makes in "Hero w/ a 
Thousand Faces."  When you see the mythology at work, you know that 
even though the hero will have to make tough choices, he'll make the 
right ones eventually because it's his destiny.  So actually, 
Campbellianly, Harry's exactly the same kind of hero as those in Star 
Wars.

But I think possibly your friend might be focusing more on the 
*appearance* of choice, rather than mythical destiny.  On the one 
hand, there are all kinds of Hero types in 'Hero's Journey' 
mythology.  Reluctant Heroes, for one thing, are absolutely rife in 
Star Wars.  Han Solo, hi there.  :-P  Luke Skywalker, though more 
outwardly 'destined' to be a hero, is also rather reluctant.  And I 
think that the Reluctant Hero seems more 'true' to the audience.  We 
don't feel like heroes, we know, deep down, we'd have to be dragged 
kicking and screaming, into heroic action; so watching Reluctant 
Heroes make choices and overcome their reluctance is more inspiring 
and seems more 'real.'  

But the thing is, even if Harry doesn't have to be dragged yowling 
hysterically into the wizard world, and even though he seems to make 
the right choice rather effortlessly, still his journey is *all* 
about choices.  

Yes, his parents were murdered by Voldemort, and that is significant, 
but Dumbledore makes sure that for the first, most informative years 
of Harry's life, that fact *does not sway* the development of Harry's 
character.  Harry spends ten years having not the slightest idea that 
he is either special nor required to be a 'good guy' because of an 
evil wizard's actions.  

Of course, all that wouldn't matter, if in fact Harry's path was 
simply a matter of fate.  But it's not.  It's a matter of choice.  
I'm going to pull out three quick for-instances as evidence, and then 
I have to be a good worker-bee and get back to my job.  :-P

So, once he begins his 'Hero's Journey,' he's making choices from the 
get-go.  On the train to Hogwarts, he has to choose between Ron, a 
poor kid with no apparent connections, and Draco Malfoy, a rich, 
confident kid with friends/lackeys and an influential father.  Harry 
chooses Ron as the 'right' kind of people.  It's a small thing, but 
it's significant.  Harry is brand-spanking-new to that world, and the 
first thing he does is tell a great bully to shove off.  Has nothing 
to do with his parents, or the manner of their death ~ it's a choice 
that demonstrates in a small way what kind of person Harry is.

More significantly, look at Harry's Sorting.  The Hat tells him 
that he could be great, and that being in Slytherin would help him to 
that end.  To a certain type of individual, it wouldn't matter *who* 
had been in Slytherin in the past, so long as that house would help 
him become a great wizard.  Harry, on the other hand, doesn't want to 
be in a house that produces dark wizards and contains Draco 
Malfoy.  "Anything but Slytherin," he says.  And the Hat puts him in 
Gryffindor.

You *could* argue that Harry was fated to choose anything but 
Slytherin because Voldemort killed his family.  But think: is it that 
cut and dried?  Not at all, imho.  

Speculation:  "I'm Harry; Voldemort was unbelievably powerful and 
killed my family.  I want to make sure I'm unbelievably powerful, 
just in case Voldemort, or anyone else for that matter, crawls out of 
the gutter and comes after me, because in the end power is all that 
matters to keep me safe!  I choose Slytherin."

So Harry didn't make that decision.  But I bet you could name me one 
guy who *would* have made that decision.  And chances are you would 
name me Tom Riddle.

Look at the end of Chamber of Secrets, and Harry's conversation with 
Dumbledore.  Harry tells Dumbledore his fears that maybe he *is* like 
Riddle/Voldemort.  The Parseltongue thing, and especially the fact 
that the Sorting Hat tried to put him in Slytherin.  Dumbledore says 
that the Hat didn't put Harry in Slytherin, and Harry says that was 
only because he asked it not to!  

Right, says Dumbledore ~ because it's all about *choices.*  You could 
say, really, that Harry's destiny is up in the air *right up to the 
point that he chooses 'anything but Slytherin.*  Having been touched 
by Voldemort, and having some of Voldemort's essence as part of him, 
he straddles two paths, two destinies ~ the path to evil (Voldemort's 
legacy, embodied by Slytherin in that scene) or the path to good (his 
parents' legacy, i.e. Gryffindor).  He *chooses* good.  

Harry is not Reluctant, but he is the poster child for Campbell's 
Hero.  Nor is his hero-growth stunted, at all.  One more example:  by 
the time Prisoner of Azkaban occured, Harry knew exactly what he owed 
Voldemort for killing his parents ~ he heard it in his head every 
time a Dementor got near him.  After hearing about Sirius Black's 
apparent betrayal of his parents, he was so angry.  And then suddenly 
he had Sirius Black at his mercy in the shrieking shack. He could 
have 
killed Black. But he didn't, he froze up, and was angry with himself 
about it.  And yet, when Black and Lupin had a chance to kill 
Pettigrew a short time later, again, he *chooses* to stop them.  He 
chooses the right path, because regardless of how he feels, he knows 
that the right thing is the thing his father would have wanted: for 
Black and Lupin to *not* make murderers of themselves on James & Lily 
Potter's behalf.  Imho, that's extraordinary hero-growth.

Anyhow, I think the big telling moment is the Sorting Hat moment; 
that's the one to point out to your friend in your next friendly 
debate.  ;-)

One more thing:
>I love Stephen Sondheim and I'd love to write
> "Harry! the musical!" someday. *grin* 

You go!  Woo!

Mahoney