Friday, 9 October 2009

Spheres of action in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter is the extremly successful book written by J.K.Rowling. It is popular among children and adults. Within this book are Vladimir Propp's theory of roles of individual characters (spheres of action).
The Villian: The obvious villain in this book is Lord Voldemort. He is the one that creates complications in the narrative making it hard for the hero to pursue his quest. Also, the actions Voldemort takes in the book are an obvious example of an antagonist.
The hero: The hero in this book is Harry Potter. We can see that he is the protagonist becuase he is the one that saves the day restores equilibrium. He also defeats the antagonist therefore creating a new equilibrium.
The dispatcher: Albus Dumbledore. While he may not be in the book, from the previous book, he send Harry on mission to find Horcruxes and defeat Voldemort. Also, his presence is always hinted and Dumbledore had even left Harry clues to help him on his mission so he can also be seen as a helper.
The donor: Along with being the dispatcher and helper, Dumbledore's role could stretch as far as being a donor. He can be presented in this way becuase throughout the book, he leaves Harry items and had even given him items in previous books that help him in this one.

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