The Heir

[Audra1976 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 45965

In a message dated 30/10/2002 16:55:50 Eastern Standard Time, 
pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk writes:
> Possibly he's the person who will reconcile all the divisions in the 
> WW; the born Gryffindor with the Slytherin talents; the wizard-born 
> who was brought up by muggles; the heir to a pure-blood line who is 
> the son of a muggle-born.

You mean...a child who will bring *balance* to the Fo--er, I mean, wizarding 
world?  I have heard some Star Wars-influenced theories on where the Harry 
Potter books are headed.  Well, I suppose I should say influenced by Joseph 
Campbell's "The Hero With A Thousand Faces"'s mythological hero journey which 
influenced Star Wars.  Forgive me if this has been beaten into the ground.  I 
am new here, but I didn't see anything about Joseph Campbell in the VFAQ or 
the forbidden topics.  

"The Hero With A Thousand Faces" tells us that the mythological hero is 
classically a person from whom something has been taken and/or feels there is 
something lacking in their life.  In Harry's case, he lost his parents, and 
what is lacking in his life is their love and acceptance of his magical 
ability.  The story begins with "the separation," in which the hero "ventures 
forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder."  
Then comes "the initiation," in which "fabulous forces are encountered and a 
decisive victory is won."  Throughout is a series of trials and revelations. 
All the great hero myths revolve around a transformation of consciousness.  
The hero starts out thinking one way, then they are challenged to think a 
different way through a series of trials and revelations.

According to Campbell's formula, in most cases the hero will *found* 
something new--something material, like a city, or something like a new way 
of life or a new age, and share his new consciousness with his fellow men.  I 
believe that Harry will eventually be responsible for founding a new age in 
the WW.  The new way of thinking may be not only an end to prejudice against 
non-purebloods--it may even be a union of "muggles" and wizards living 
together openly.

Audra


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