The Heroic Growth of Harry Potter

【Abstract】 Since Greek Epic， heroes are the unfailing theme of literary works. Hero needs to experience tribulation， learn some specific skills and kill the evil devil. In the end， a hero can become an admirable hero. Harry Potter is the protagonist in the series of Harry Potter， whose childhood was full of hardships. He leaded a happy life in Hogwarts and was locked in a struggle of life and death with Voldemort. Just as the old heroic stories tell， there is no doubt that righteousness will prevail the evil. During the growth of love and hatred， Harry Potter became a hero eventually from a na？ve child. The heroism of Harry Potter can be shown to us in the series of books. This article discusses the heroic growth of Harry Potter.

【Key Words】 Harry Potter heroic growth Valmont

JK Rowling is an English author in the 20th century who is first famous for her great magic series， Harry Potter. This article discusses the heroic growth of Harry Potter in some aspects in the importance of environment （circumstance）， father’s influence as well as love and sacrifice.

1. The importance of environment

Just as the classical heroic story， hero must experience sufferings and pains. Harry Potter had a miserable childhood. What JK Rowling wrote in the novels shows it evidently， “The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house too.” [1] But after the 11-year miserable life， he touched the door of the magic world， which he regarded as his real family. At that time， Harry just knew that You-Know-Who was beaten by him， which made a big shock to the whole magic world and made him well-known.

However， what I have to mention that the big devil had a very similar life to the hero boy. The first reason is the environment that led them to different fates. Owen said， Environment depends on people’s language， religion， culture， customs， and ideology and behavior nature. [2] Harry Potter was in an environment of love， friendship and kindness even if with some sufferings. It was good for Harry didn’t know something true about his parents， he just imagined his parents good persons， so he wouldn’t be arrogant. However， Voldemort lived in a world of puffery and insincere with his inferior of a smuggle father. As we can see， how important can the environment be！

2. Father’s influence

“Father is the most important paragon to boys and father’s praise and ratification making boys’ self-identity. It cannot be ignored that father influence the values of children. Many children want to become a person like their fathers.” [3]

The second reason that led to different results of Harry and Voldemort is father’s roles. Although the two main characters in the series were very similar in some aspects， the role that father played in their lives was totally different. That is an important reason for characteristic growth. Just because Harry Potter had a good father， or he imaged his father a positive model， which made him potentially want to be a person with the qualities of righteousness， kindness， friendliness and bravery. Father gave Harry a power to overcome all the difficulties.

3. Love and sacrifice

Rowling wrote in the series more than once， it was love， which is the most evident reason for the distinctions of the hero Harry and devil Voldemort.

A great sacrifice is the death of Dumbledore. Harry felt that he was too cowardly and braveless to save Dumbledore； he could just watch professor’s death. The death of Dumbledore in the series used the heroic legend in Greek mythology for reference. “The significance of Dumbledore’s life was beyond death. Rowling made hero’s death combine closely with human’s attitude to survival， the way of life and the value of survival， which reflected that life vanquished death， the spirit of the hero will never obliterate.”[4] Dumbledore’s death made Harry more mature and more rational， which was a leap for Harry Potter growing up from a boy to a hero.

It is because the love and sacrifice of those who loved Harry deeply that made Harry Potter becomes a hero eventually with respectable qualities.

Epilogue

Harry Potter is not only popular in children but also in adults. From the series， we can read and feel the heroic growth of Harry Potter. He suffered a lot during the grown-up time and eventually became a real hero.

References

[1] Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone， JK Rowling， Bloomsbury books， 2007.

[2] Owen， the English utopian socialist.

[3] sina weblog： gelanyuntian international hotel in Nanchang， dec.11th， 11：45.

[4] The series of Harry Potter and the origin of Greek mythologies，Fu Xiao， 1008-6757（2012）01-0017-02，