An Exploration of the Dreams of Harry Potter and the Implications of the Jungian Mythical Hero & Collective Unconscious Pubblico

Abstract

Abstract
An Exploration of the Dreams of Harry Potter and the Implications of the Jungian
Mythical Hero and Collective Unconscious

A thorough exploration of the hero as a dreamer in Harry Potter through the
psychoanalytic lenses of Freud and Jung can provide an interpretation of the series as a
literary manifestation of our collective unconscious. In his short book, On Dreams,
Sigmund Freud defines three types of dreams: the intelligible, mundane dream, the
intelligible, "bewildering" dream, and the unintelligible dream "which seem
disconnected, confused, and meaningless" (Freud). Each of these types dreams
are a result of a certain state of the unconscious and indicate important aspects of the
person's psyche. Harry Potter, in fact, experiences dreams in all three categories. Carl
Jung, a student of Freud's, had very different, opposing views of dreams. He believed
dreams to be a product of the unconscious, like Freud, but did not believe them to be the
result of internal stimuli. Jung claimed that every dream contains fundamental meaning.
Jung found that dreams are rationalizations of ourselves and our unconscious.
Additionally, Jung stated that dreams hearken back to our collective unconscious with
recurring archetypes and figures. Harry Potter also experiences dreams that contain
significant and notable archetypes which make him a mythical, archetypal hero.

Table of Contents

7
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1
The Meteoric Rise of Harry Potter ................................................................................................... 3
Freud and Jung and other Dream Theories .................................................................................... 5
The Dreams of Harry Potter ............................................................................................................... 7
Dream Vision ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Dreams in Limbo .............................................................................................................................. 12
The Everyday Dreams of Harry Potter ............................................................................................ 23
Motorcycles ........................................................................................................................................ 23
The Sorting Hat ................................................................................................................................. 25
Unreachable Goals ............................................................................................................................ 26
Trapped ................................................................................................................................................ 27
The Ungraspable ............................................................................................................................... 28
The Riddle House ............................................................................................................................. 30
False Dreams ........................................................................................................................................... 34
Death of Sirius ................................................................................................................................... 35
Mythical Heroism in the Dreams of Harry Potter ........................................................................ 38
Dreams in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction and the Collective Unconscious .............. 41
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 42
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 46
Appendices .............................................................................................................................................. 52
Appendix A: The Hero as a Savior and the Christian Controversy with Harry Potter . 52
Appendix B: The Collective Unconscious as Demonstrated In Popular Literature and
Media .................................................................................................................................................... 56

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	English
Degree	BS
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Literature, General Literature, Comparative Literature, Modern
Parola chiave	collective unconscious Harry Potter Jung archetypes Freud
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Rusche, Harry, Emory University
Committee Members	Morey, James, Emory University Eisen, Arri, Emory University

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