Heroes And Antiheroes As Victims Of Abuse In The Harry Potter Series
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Date
2011
Authors
Saleh, Maysam Bahaa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
In children’s literature various themes have been examined in connection with
violence such as abuse and bullying. Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and Roald Dahl’s
James and the Giant Peach are examples of children’s suffering since the main
characters are orphans living in a violent world and who are, at the same time, victims of
abuse. The Harry Potter series are no exception. Since the first book of the series, Harry
Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), until the seventh book Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows (2007) J.K. Rowling pursued the theme of child abuse through her
depiction of three characters: Harry Potter, Severus Snape and Lord Voldemort by using
different types of abuse such as the physical abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse,
bullying, mobbing and neglect. The current research explores to what extent Rowling
has depicted these three characters as victimized heroes and antiheroes, the different
types of abuse throughout the novel and examine the effects of abuse on the abused
characters. Jung’s (1953) archetypal theory will be adapted in the current study with
emphasis on the individuation process and the integration of both the conscious and the
unconscious which can affect the characters either negatively or positively. The study
will combine the archetypal theory with the sociological and psychological
classifications of abuse as well as the types and effects presented by Briere (1992),
Olweus (2001), Tower (2002) and Elliot (2003) to analyze the characters’ personality
and behaviour throughout the series which can be affected by the negative effects of
abuse. Accordingly, the character can turn into a hero victim, antihero victim or
victimizer, or a shadow, which can be a victim or a perpetrator.
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Keywords
Heroes and antiheroes as victims of abuse , in the harry potter series