Review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a Novel

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the stone “has been destroyed” (297). He now knows what it is like to be a good wizard

because he experienced and handled danger. A weight has been lifted from his shoulders as he

enters the end-of-term feast. The ultimate boon within the novel actually happens before the

apostate. The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal. Lord Voldemort, Quirrell, and Harry

battle over the sorcerer's stone. Potter wants to preserve the stone while Voldemort wants to

use it for his own advantage to acquire a body and be separate from Quirrell. All of Harry’s

training has led up to this battle. The refusal of return is when the hero finds enlightenment and

does not want to go back to their everyday life. Surprisingly, this occurs on the last page of the

novel. Harry does not want to return back to the Dursleys at Privet Drive because he feels at

home at Hogwarts. Moreover, he knows the Dursleys are going to outcast him once again.

During the second stage of Cambell’s monomyth, the hero learns the most about himself and

his new world. The hero is grasping his new self through many steps and trials.

Furthermore, the third stage and final of Joseph Cambell’s seventeen-stage monomyth is the

return. This stage has five steps, magic flight, rescue from without, crossing the return

threshold, master of two worlds, and the freedom to live. The novel changes the numerical order

of the last stage quite a lot. The magic flight is known as the hero’s escape with the boon.

Potter exhibits this step by returning back to the Muggle World. Harry knows his life will be

dreary once again at Privet Drive. Ron invites him to “come and stay” the summer (308). He

shows gratitude towards Ron’s offer, although with a somber attitude. The rescue from without

is often a guide that brings the hero back to ordinary life. Within Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's

Stone, Albus Dumbledore acts as a guide to Harry. Almost instantly before Quirrell can kill

Harry, Dumbledore saves him. Although Dumbledore does not bring Potter back to the Muggle

World, he brings him back to safety. Crossing the return threshold is known as returning to their

life before their adventure, while the master of two worlds is balancing the hero’s inner and

outer world. Within the first Harry Potter novel, one might say that these two monomyth steps

are actually conjoined. During the last chapter, Harry travels along the train from Hogwarts to

“the gateway back to the Muggle World” (308). This is known as crossing the threshold, but the

book ultimately stops there. Readers can infer that in the last chapter, the master of two worlds

comes into play as Potter acknowledges he is going to “have a lot of fun with Dudley” over the

summer because he will use magic within the Muggle World (309). The hero’s freedom to live

is the final step of the monomyth. The hero now has no fear of death because their journey has

made them courageous. Although Potter’s home is the Dursleys, he looks forward to returning

back to Hogwarts. This gives him a sense of happiness which he has never felt at home before.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is only the first novel in a seven-part series, but Harry

Potter’s heroic journey is the most important in this text alone. Joseph Cambell’s seventeen

step monomyth is clearly shown throughout Harry’s adventure. This book shows Potter’s

adventure through a new world that he must disregard everything he previously knows. He

learns new skills through supernatural aids and roads of trials that ultimately lead up to his battle

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