Self-Awareness In Harry Potter In A Hegelian Society

Harry Potter in a Hegelian Society

In the Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling creates an opportunity for Harry Potter to achieve Hegelian Awareness. According to Hegel, self-awareness is the ability to be fully conscious and aware of oneself “as a human consciousness”. To achieve this, one must go through a life-and-death struggle and then complete creative all while feeling extreme fear. Harry has many Hegelian transformations: he has numerous life-and-death struggles in which he loses and becomes the slave and responds by creating in the presence of fear. In each book, Harry has the ability to achieve Hegelian self-awareness at the end of each novel. As the series continues, he reaches a higher level of Hegelian self-awareness with each

At this moment, Harry becomes aware of the fact that he is Voldemort’s bondsman, because this is the first time they meet and confront one another. Hegel says “When two such beings confront each other, each attempts to prove itself through a life or death-and-struggle.” At this moment Peter Pettigrew kills Cedric Diggory as Harry watches. Voldemort is resurrected and Harry sees him for the first time. Harry faces a life-and-death struggle of physical death at this moment. Harry fulfills Hegel’s second element when he battles Voldemort while feeling desperately afraid of dying. His ability to perform spells and survive a fight with Voldemort is his creative work. A battle occurs between Harry and Voldemort, where Harry is able to outlast Voldemort, his master, until he is too weak to keep

Harry does this by investigating all of the “horcruxes” that Voldemort has created. These “horcruxes” are what bounds Voldemort and Harry together. Each individual “horcrux”, is a different part of Voldemort’s soul. Until every “horcrux” is destroyed, Voldemort will be able to live. If they are destroyed, Harry has the ability to reach self-awareness. These “horcruxes” are the metaphorical representation of the master-slave relationship: they bind Harry, the slave, to Voldemort, the master. After learning about the “horcruxes,” Harry goes to destroy one, which is the life-and-death situation that occurs. He struggles to stay alive while on a boat and under Voldemort’s spell. This all occurs, while in fear of death but also in fear of the unknown. Harry has been given knowledge about the “horcruxes” but has not been given enough information to know the depth of their power and this scares him. The second aspect of Hegel, creative work with fear, is completed when Harry destroys the first known “horcrux,” the Slytherin locket. He has to battle to eventually destroy the locket, with no knowledge of what will happen. He is again afraid of the unknown when performing this creative work. By destroying this “horcrux,” Harry is one step