Tag Archives: coming-of-age narrative

Prisoner of Azkaban 2022 Best

Prisoner of Azkaban 

This assignment focuses on the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. To give you some background (if you haven’t read the books or seen the movies), Harry’s parents fought against an evil wizard and were killed protecting their baby Harry.

Prisoner of Azkaban

You may look things up in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and on our course Canvas site. You may not use any other website, person, or other source. You can retake the quiz once if necessary.  We’re reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in the series, because it’s (I think) the best written and most interesting one. To give you some background (if you haven’t read the books or seen the movies), Harry’s parents fought against an evil wizard and were killed protecting their baby Harry.

Prisoner of Azkaban

The evil wizard Voldemort was mortally wounded by Harry’s mother’s protective love, but the good wizard Dumbledore knew he would try to return and so hid Harry with his non-magical relatives to protect him until he’s old enough to become a wizard himself. Prisoner of Azkaban comes when Harry has made friends at school and feels more confident, but is confronted by adult problems and politics with their roots in the past. In terms of structure: the series as a whole is a coming-of-age narrative, with one book per year from ages 11-17 (7 books total).

Prisoner of Azkaban

It begins with Harry the child first learning about his true heritage and identity, and ends with Harry the young man taking on the adult responsibility of facing Voldemort in a final battle and saving his world. This narrative arc is similar to the hero’s journey described by Joseph Campbell and seen in ancient myths around the world and modern films (Star Wars is a particularly good example). Each book also presents a shorter version of the same narrative arc.

Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry returns to the Dursley household and the Muggle world at the end of the book, where he was so miserable in the past, but he has been transformed by finding out who he really is, finding friends and family, and having proved himself in the serious battle with Voldemort and the (important but less earth-shaking) battle for the House Cup. As you see in The Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3), this pattern repeats itself. Harry is miserable in the Dursley household, finds refuge in the wizarding world, is confronted by an adventure, and then returns to the Dursleys with hope that the next summer will be better.

Prisoner of Azkaban

Several themes develop through the series, but we can see a lot of them in the first three books. In particular, we see Harry finding his place in the world and finding a family. The depth of Harry’s trauma is only really clear starting in Book 5, but we already know about it here. Harry gains so much in the first book, starting with Hagrid appearing with the only birthday cake he’s ever known, meeting Ron, becoming friends with him and then Hermione and Neville, becoming part of the Hogwarts family, and leaving with wizard photos of his parents.  https://youtu.be/nBtVptIIJOU?list=PL62EBCD1BAD80D1D5

Prisoner of Azkaban

We know that Harry’s deepest lack and deepest desire is for his parents, for his family. We see this issue again throughout Prisoner of Azkaban, from his anger when Aunt Marge insults his parents through his discovering new connections to his father (especially the Marauder’s Map and the Patronus). The film adaptation of Prisoner of Azkaban is also one of the best of the series, and the scene where Professor Lupin teaches the students how to deal with a boggart is one of my favorites: “Riddikulus”

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