Harry Potter Research Paper

J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series contains traces of many of the concepts that are pivotal to existentialism, in general, many of Jean-Paul Sartre’s theories in particular. Looking through the lens of Sartre’s concept of otherness, Harry Potter, and Lord Voldemort relates to each other in different forms of otherness. Thus, this is what causes to shape their separate identities. Their diverging attitudes towards otherness affect the construction of their identities. According to Sartre, existentialism can be split into two branches, Christian and atheistic existentialism (Existentialism is a Humanism, pg. 20). However, there really isn’t any mention of religion in Harry Potter, but a lot can be said about atheistic.

Moreover, existentialism deals with different aspects of human existence. As stated by Sartre, “existence precedes essence.” What Sartre means by that is man exists as nothing before the essence of what he is can be defined; it is his choices and actions, what he “wills himself to be”, that defines his identity (Existentialism is a Humanism, pg. 22). In other words, the fact you exist precludes any reason of why

Upon learning that Voldemort is the killer of his parents, Harry begins “to get a prickle fear every time Voldemort is mentioned.” (H.P & the Sorceror’s Stone, pg. 187) His first encounter after many years with Voldemort was in the forest and he feels “as though an iron fist had 6 clenched suddenly around [his] heart” (H.P & the Sorceror’s Stone, pg. 189) According to Sartre, it is only after a person becomes aware of the Look of the Other that he can discern the Other’s actual presence (Cooper, pg. 105). It is not the pair of eyes that catches the person’s attention, but rather the sense of being watched. In his meeting with Voldemort, Harry first becomes aware of Voldemort’s Look before becoming fully aware of Voldemort as the other that looks at