A Jungian Hero's Journey as Individuation Process in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: A Jungian Approach

Abstract

J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, exposes the concepts of individuation and self-improvement through archetypes based on the works of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav. The archetypes, according to Jung (1959), are all the symbolic components of the human psyche that we all carry inside us throughout life. Likewise, the novel represents a character’s development process through these archetypes and individuation in the form of shadows and personas. Considering the ideas and theory of Jung given above, it can be stated that in Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, one can encounter the process of individuation in Harry, who undergoes a complete change in his personality, entering into a quest or a journey to the fantastic world, where he develops and improves his individuation for maturity and self-realization through recognizing, confronting, and assimilating the representations of shadows and persona in his psyche. This study, therefore, aims at revealing the archetypes that guide Harry’s journey throughout the stages of the Jungian hero's journey, as well as his embarkation on a quest of self-discovery and personal growth. Accordingly, in this study, as the protagonist of the novel, Harry’s heroic journey for seeking knowledge is studied and analysed in terms of Carl Jung’s theory of archetypes and individuation, by revealing that the hero's character, Harry, improves towards individuation by recognizing, confronting, and assimilating the representations of the shadow and persona in his psyche in the novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Keywords

• J.K. Rowling
• Carl Gustave Jung
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
• Archetypes

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