Harry Potter vs. Song of Solomon!!

In class, we discussed that Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison was an example of a hero’s journey type plot. Another example of a well-known hero’s journey series is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The books follow the structure of having Harry start at an environment that is kind of boring, like the Dursley’s strictly non-magical household. He then has a call to adventure in all of the Hogwarts letters that are delivered and, despite Vernon Dursley’s best efforts, is informed of his magical abilities by Rubeus Hagrid. His journey to Hogwarts is his entering the world of being hero, because he is already seen as a hero by the whole wizarding community for defeating Voldemort as an infant. In each book, Harry goes on smaller adventures where he has to overcome obstacles with his friends and eventually defeats whatever problem existed in that book. In the overall series, Harry also goes through many obstacles to defeat the main problem in the book (Voldemort). This is a basic structure of a hero’s journey, he starts out in a bland scene, gets called to adventure, receives mentoring (Dumbledore), and overcomes obstacles to achieve some sort of goal where he is seen as a hero.

            Song of Solomon follows a similar pattern but is different in the fact that the whole first part of the novel takes place in the boring/ pre-call-to-adventure part of Milkman’s life. Then Milkman is “called to adventure” by his father telling him to go search for Pilate’s gold. Once he goes off on this journey it quickly stops being about gold and he begins to discover himself as a hero. Milkman on his heroic journey is by himself for the most part and his best friend, Guitar, even begins to try to kill him. This is very different from Harry who is constantly working with his friends.

            Milkman and Harry are different characters in many ways besides Milkman’s lack of friends. For a large portion of the book, the only things that make Milkman an interesting character are the people surrounding him and the things that happen to him, not that he makes happen. He’s a very passive character and his family is different and full of intriguing characters while Milkman is kind of bland. He notices himself that he isn’t passionate about anything or anyone in his life (except for his fascination with flight). This is very different from Harry because Harry himself is an interesting character from his history to his individual actions that he does throughout the series, he is significant. Harry is also passionate about a lot of things, especially his friends and the wizarding community, which becomes like a family to him.


            Despite all these differences, both books follow the basic structure of a hero’s journey which shows that that concept is adaptable to many different plots and character types. Do you guys think that Song of Solomon and the Harry Potter series both qualify as hero’s journeys? Do you see any other similarities/ differences between the books or between Milkman and Harry?

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 18, 2017 at 8:37 AM

    I love that you connected this book with Harry Potter! I actually saw a similarity with Harry and Milkman's passiveness. Throughout Harry Potter, Harry never actually goes looking for adventure, instead I think that adventure finds him. Harry never wants to fight Voldemort, or be chosen to compete in the Triwizard tournament, instead it was all just bad luck. Otherwise I think your analysis is spot on!

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  2. SophiaDecember 18, 2017 at 3:44 PM

    Good analysis! One other similarity is that when both Harry and Milkman return to their "normal lives" (the Dursleys and the house on Not Doctor Street), they are not regarded as a hero. Harry is put to work doing chores around the house and continues to be bullied by Dudley and his friends. Milkman is hit over the head with a bottle at Pilate's house, and then doesn't get much of a reaction from his immediate family. It is only in the other worlds they enter that they are seen as heroic.

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  3. UnknownDecember 18, 2017 at 8:37 PM

    I would have never thought to connect Harry and Milkman before as Harry's world is fantastical while Milkman's world is a bit more grounded (yet still a but magical). But you are right that they follow a similar hero's journey format. The big difference for me is that there is a clear evil Harry had to face while everything is so ambiguous in Milkman's world.

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  4. blogged downDecember 19, 2017 at 10:37 AM

    This is a very interesting post! I think that they do both follow a typical hero's journey in the ways that you pointed out, a larger goal with smaller "tasks" in between. I do see many of the differences you pointed out. One big one is the concept of love in the two stories. While Harry Potter is all about fighting for love, Milkman seems to be the only one in his world who does not strongly feel love for anyone or anything, though this does change closer to the end of the book when Milkman starts to feel love, saying that he loves Pilate. Yet the two stories are super similar, and it's an interesting comparison I would never have thought to make!

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  5. AnikaDecember 19, 2017 at 3:55 PM

    I love how you connected Song of Solomon to Harry Potter! One other difference is that Harry makes his own decision to start his journey. He is also very passionate about it and he is not just doing it for himself, but for the greater good. However, Milkman starts his journey because his father wants him to get the gold and because he is greedy and wants the gold for himself. Throughout his journey, the purpose of his journey changes and he becomes a lot more passionate about finding out about his family. He forgets all about his greed for the gold. So Harry and Milkman's journeys are both about something they are passionate about but Milkman's doesn't start out that way.

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  6. WillDecember 21, 2017 at 1:16 PM

    Unique and interesting post, I didn't expect this at all. It's cool to see the similarities between Harry's and Milkman's journeys. However, i see Milkman and Harry as entirely different people. Harry is extremely held down by his family at the start of the series. On the other hand, while Milkman does have many deep family issues, he is privileged and given a lot of freedom but does little with it.

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