INTRODUCTION TO THE ESSAY
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” (Campbell) This is what fantasy films have been depicting since the early 20th century with movies like Metropolis (1927), King Kong (1933), The Wizard of Oz (1939), and many more. (Dirks) Films like these have dwelled in the minds of kids and adults across generations, eventually attaining a permanent place in their hearts. If you ask me or any other child of the early 2000s, our instant reply to the question of our favorite fantasy film would of course be the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter has been a hero that children of all ages and backgrounds have loved; either through reading the novels by J.K. Rowling or watching the film adaptations. Not only that, each and every character in the series has carried significant meaning in this hero’s journey. This is why I have chosen to analyze the roles of the characters Hagrid and Lord Voldemort with regard to their influence in Harry’s journey through the labyrinth in two films from the series. The two films I will be comparing are Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2 (2011).
Hagrid and Lord Voldemort are polar opposites in their characterization. Hagrid is on Harry’s side while Lord Voldemort is Harry’s mortal enemy. In both The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Deathly Hallows-Part 2, Hagrid and Lord Voldemort both reprise their roles as friend and foe, respectively to Harry. They both share a common interest in trying to push Harry right to the end of the labyrinth but for different reasons. Hagrid wants Harry to conquer Lord Voldemort while Lord Voldemort wants to destroy Harry at the end of his journey.We can see this in these two films, in light of Joseph Campbell’s theory on ‘The Hero’s Journey’, with Hagrid as one of Harry’s ‘Allies’ and Lord Voldemort as Harry’s ‘Shadow’.
HAGRID: AN ‘ALLY’ OF THIS HERO’S JOURNEY
In almost all fantasy ‘Hero’ based movies; the ‘Hero’ is most likely orphaned. This is the case for Harry too. Hence, other acquaintances are made forming surrogate bonds to that of family. Throughout all the Harry Potter films, Hagrid has played a pivotal role in Harry’s life guiding him through change, and caring and looking out for him; what Joseph Campbell would call an ‘Ally’. (Hero’s Journey)
In the opening sequence of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter is brought into the Muggle world by Hagrid. As humans, we are brought into the world by our mothers. In Harry’s case, Hagrid is sort of a surrogate for Harry’s murdered mother. He enters the scene on Sirius’s flying motorbike carrying baby Harry and when Professor Dumbledore leaves Harry on the Dursley’s doorsteps, Hagrid is the one who gets emotional; just like any mother would get when leaving her baby in the hands of a stranger.
Hagrid continues to play the role of mother years later when he comes to take Harry with him to Hogwarts on his 11th birthday.
He educates Harry on his life and tells him the truth about his wizarding abilities. In this scene, a particular motherly action that Hagrid does is that he brings Harry a cake that he baked himself for his birthday. In a normal household, the mother bakes her children cakes for their birthdays and thus, we can say that Hagrid’s portrayal as a motherly ‘Ally’ is shown to have grown stronger. Throughout the rest of this film Hagrid presents himself as an affectionate ally in numerous ways by presenting Harry with valuable information that guides him into finding the labyrinth through which he must journey.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part2 Hagrid is seen only in a handful of scenes but he is a part of one of the most powerful scenes of all the eight films of Harry Potter in entirety. This is the scene where Harry sacrifices himself to Lord Voldemort. Hagrid is present when this occurs and once Malfoy’s mother pronounces Harry dead, he is the one who carries Harry’s body back to Hogwarts. J.K.Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series mentioned in an interview that she always wanted Hagrid to carry Harry’s body out of the Forbidden Forest, cradling it – a bookend to the beginning of the series, when Hagrid brought infant Harry to the Dursleys. (Jensen) From analyzing this film in comparison to the first of the Harry Potter films, I can understand why she intended for such a thing. Hagrid was one of Harry’s staunch ‘Allies’ and one of the very few who saw him as an infant. Thus, we can say that the imagery was such that the surrogate who brought him into the world was taking him out of it.
LORD VOLDEMORT: THE LOOMING ‘SHADOW’ OF THE HERO
In physics they say, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In films, I believe the saying should go, “For every good guy in a film, there must be a bad guy to make his life difficult.” This is the case for Harry Potter. The only thing stopping Harry from leading a perfectly normal life as a wizard is Lord Voldemort. Joseph Campbell would declare Lord Voldemort to be a ‘Shadow’. (Hero’s Journey) The ‘Shadow’ is the worthy opponent with whom the hero must struggle. In a conflict between good and bad, the fight between the ‘Hero’ and the ‘Shadow’ is to the end; one or the other must be destroyed or rendered impotent. (Archetypes, Myths and Characters) This is so obviously seen in the film as Lord Voldemort is shown to have tried to kill Harry since he was nothing but a harmless infant. Every encounter Harry has had throughout the eight films with Voldemort is one where he tried to kill him.
It is almost towards the end of The Sorcerer’s Stone when Harry and Lord Voldemort have their ‘first’ confrontation. Voldemort is still weak in this film as he is a mere parasite, feeding off Professor Quirrell. Harry temporarily defeats him through the touch of his hands as Voldemort cannot stand love. This is one of the main differences between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, who are very similar in many ways. Sometimes the thin line that defines good from bad can be as simple as love.
Lord Voldemort like most ‘Shadows’ does not back down without a fight. Throughout the series, he gets back up stronger whenever Harry temporarily defeats him. Like Harry, he too has a set of followers who stand by him. While he is a negative force in the story, it is important to remember that no man is a villain in his own eyes. In fact, the ‘Shadow’ frequently sees himself as a ‘Hero’ and the story’s ‘Hero’ as his villain. (Archetypes, Myths and Characters)
This is so perfectly portrayed after Harry’s ‘so-called’ death when Voldemort tells Ginny that everyone should now put their faiths in him in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2. In this film Voldemort is way more powerful than he was in the Sorcerer’s Stone. But he strikes hell in Hogwarts with the fear that Harry might find and destroy all the Horcruxes making him vulnerable. This battle leads to its epic form during the last duel with Harry.
This final duel between Harry and Voldemort highlights the epitome of good vanquishing evil.
CONCLUSION
Hagrid and Lord Voldemort play two very important roles in the journey of Harry Potter; Hagrid as the motherly ‘Ally’ and Lord Voldemort as the ‘Shadow’. When comparing their roles in the Sorcerer’s Stone and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2, we can see that they have just evolved into a stronger form of their original identities. An important point to note about these two films is that they were directed by two different directors. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was directed by Chris Columbus and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2 was directed by David Yates. They might have been picturized differently but the flow of the evolution of Hagrid and Voldemort was intact and their roles in Harry’s journey clear. Hagrid was an ‘Ally’ who guided Harry to the labyrinth and Harry’s first confrontation with his ‘Shadow’ Lord Voldemort in the Sorcerer’s Stone put him in the labyrinth. Throughout the other films, Harry with the help of Hagrid and his other ‘Allies’ wove his way through the maze past all of Voldemort’s traps, finally to find himself sacrificing his life in the Deathly Hallows-Part 2 where he got the boon of becoming a true hero. Harry then made his way to the end by dueling Voldemort and destroying him.
And thus, I would like to conclude with another quote by Joseph Campbell; one that describes the boon which Harry obtained from the labyrinth. “Life is without meaning. You bring meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning….” (Campbell)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:-
Archetypes, Myths and Characters. 1998. Document. 2 August 2012.
Campbell, Joseph. n.d. Document. 1 August 2012.
Dirks, Tim. Filmsite. n.d. DOcument. 1 August 2012.
Hero’s Journey. n.d. Document. 1 August 2012.
Jensen, Jeff. Entertainment Weekly. 1 November 2011. Document. 1 August 2012.