Frankel Valerie Estelle - Harry Potter and myth: the legends behind cursed child, fantastic beasts, and all the heros journeys

The Legends behind CursedChild , Fantastic Beasts , and all the Hero s Journeys

Valerie EstelleFrankel

This book is unauthorized commentary on theHarry Potter series. None of the individuals or companiesassociated with the books, films, or any merchandise based on thisseries has in any way sponsored, approved, endorsed, or authorizedthis book.

Print ISBN-13: 978-1539131823

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2016

Valerie Estelle Frankel

All rights reserved.

Part I: Heros Journey,Heroines Journey

Part II: Greek, British, andWorld Myth

Part III: Myth, History andCultural Commentary Meet

Dorothy lived in themidst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was afarmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmers wifeWhen Dorothy stoodin the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but thegreat gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke thebroad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky inall directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass,with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was notgreen, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades untilthey were the same gray color to be seen everywhere.

The first page of this beloved novel paintsDorothy Gales childhood in a single depressing color. But Dorothyhas Toto with his twinkling merry eyes to keep her from graying aswell. And so she dreams of a better, livelier land somewhere overthe rainbow. Thats the nature of imaginationwhen we feel likecolorful people trapped in a gray world, fantasy stretches forth ina vibrant rainbow that glows like Munchkinland in Technicolor.

Harry Potter too craves escape from hismonochrome life. His dreary aunt and uncle care only for winningperfect lawn competitions and appearing as normal as possible.The mere mention of a flying motorbike nearly gives Uncle Vernon astroke, for any imagination is forbidden. Dont ask questionsthatwas the first rule for a quiet life with theDursleys.

Harry and Dorothy dont fit. Theyredifferent because of their creativity, hopes and wishes, because ofthe deeper perception that defines Rey, Katniss, Percy Jackson.When a pile of letters or a tornado arrives, the moment is scary,exciting, life-changing. Our hero feels poised on a new world ofexperience and understanding, echoing the changes inside as she orhe grows into adolescence. Somewhere past the familiar threshold isa world of adventure and new opportunities. The child needs only tostep over.

When Dorothy lands in Oz, she instantlyprovokes the Wicked Witch of the West by killing her sister. As thewitch threatens her life, Ozs world of fantasy and beauty becomestoo frightening, and Dorothy wants to go home. Refusing the call toadventure is common: Hagrid, I think you must have made a mistake.I dont think I can be a wizard, Harry whispers. I cant possibly be thechosen one, the child of destiny, our hero protests. And yet, heis all the same. Over the course of his quest, Harry masters spellsmany adults only dream of and defeats Voldemort, the darkest wizardof them all. On her own quest, Dorothy rescues all of Oz from thewicked witch. Later in the series she becomes a princess of Oz,second only to the great ruler Ozma. Though such heroism may seemimpossible to the extraordinary child struggling to fit in, worldrenown lies only a few hundred pages away.

At last, Dorothy starts down the YellowBrick Road. It begins as a spiral, expanding outward in a symbolfor the growing self. The spiral, like the snake, representedregeneration in ancient times, as the serpent could shed its skinand apparently live again. In the magic world, Dorothy mustregenerate in the same way, casting off her old self like adiscarded skin. She has already shed her status as helplessfarmchild to become the young lady who fell from a star, theMunchkins liberator and future savior of Oz.

Harry Potter, too, grows in status uponentering the magic world. He spends his Muggle childhoodfriendless, stuck wearing baggy hand-me-downs resembling wrinkledelephant skin. But upon passing through the Leaky Cauldron, gatewayfrom London to the magical world, everyone rushes to shake hishand. Are you really Harry Potter? new students ask on theHogwarts Express. They give the loudestcheer of all when hes chosen into Gryffindor House. For in thewizard world, Harry discovers hes famous, hailed as savior of themagic folk. In a few books hes teaching Defense against the DarkArts to his fellow students and realizing hes the Chosen One.

This isnt surprising when one considers thenature of the magic world. I had glasses all through my childhoodand I was sick and tired of the person in the books who wore theglasses was always the brainy one and it really irritated me and Iwanted to read about a hero wearing glasses, J.K. Rowling toldreaders in an interview. We all dream of a place wherewe really belong, where we, the bookworms, geeks, and misfits, canbe heroes, where no one tells us that fighting cartoon monsters orreading fantasy is a waste of time. A place where what we want andfeel and dream really matters. And so we journey to Terebithia,Neverland, Fairie. These are the realm of the unconsciousthe placeof dreams and imagination where our most heartfelt terrors andwishes play out before us.

In the real world, one can battle throughthe unconscious in a nightmare, or withdraw from the world tomeditate on a thorny problem. Of course, wed rather tackle giantspiders than the roaring dragons of despair, the seeping swamps ofloss. The inward journey teaches how to master the outer worldtofearlessly ask a girl out or stare down bullies. Thus our heroesliterally journey into the unconscious realm of fairytales andmagic, and return brimming with confidence.

Unlike our world, the fantasy world treatseveryone justly: the good triumph and wicked are punished. Thingswe secretly believe are true there: animals reply when we speak tothem and curses really work. Lighter things are true as well. Asthe Wizard of Oz informs the Scarecrow in the film: Back where Icome from we have universities, seats of great learning where mengo to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they thinkdeep thoughtsand with no more brains than you have. But they haveone thing you havent got! A diploma!Finally, an admission that schools and degrees dont guaranteegenius! We grin because we knew it all along.

For students who have ever taken AP tests,it seems like truth in advertising that Hogwarts NEWTS stand forNastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. And old-fashioned school songsand principals remarks (often indistinguishable from nonsense)become nonsense in truth at Hogwarts. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment!Tweak! Dumbledore proclaims for his start of termspeech. Here we smile, not justbecause its silly, but because it sounds as meaningless as thelong speeches other geniuses have made. Teachers who give usdetention really work for the forces of evil, a magic book cancarry us to a place of safety and wonder. Storms are caused bystormy moods, our deepest fears lurk in unexplored cupboards, aloving kiss can defend us from evil. Deep in our souls, we knowthese things, and in the magic world, theyre true.

The connection between the outer world offarm chores and inner world of fantasy is heightened in TheWizard of Oz movie, as the same actors play roles in bothworlds. This is a staple of fantasy, in which friends representmissing parts of the self. Dorothys friends divide easily intoaspects of her personality she must heal and unite: brains, love,and courage. But Harrys friends are only a little more subtle. TheHogwarts Professor John Granger names Harry as spirit, Ron asbody, and brainy Hermione, of course, as mind. Harry takes charge in eachbookhe is the leader, the decision-maker. Ron is the emotional onewho gets tongue-tied around girls, who impulsively shouts atHermione, whos aghast when his sister starts dating. Hermione isthe bookworm, rushing to research the latest monster or curse,drilling Harry in his own spellcasting and homework. Harry learnsfrom both of them, growing through their different viewpoints andadvice until the three strike out together to destroy Voldemortpiece by piece in their final book.