Ron's Mirror of Erised

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Ron's reflection in the Mirror of Erised is wildly different from Harry's. In his reflection, Ron, who is constantly reminded of his siblings’ successes, sees himself standing blissfully alone. His reflection seems to take on attributes of his brothers. He is older, a head boy like Bill, and a quidditch captain like Charlie. However, unlike his older brothers who just had one these things, Ron has both. This makes him superior to his brothers and therefore best. To someone who has always been burdened with the success of his older siblings, it must be a huge relief for Ron to see himself having the most achievements and standing alone, unencumbered by anyone else in his family.

  The Mirror of Erised shows Ron what his version of perfection would look like. When looking in the Mirror, Ron does not feel inadequate. However, when he is done viewing the Mirror Ron feels an even greater sense of lack. Although J.K. Rowling focuses on Harry’s reaction to the image in the mirror, it must also be devastating for Ron. For a few blissful moments, Ron is the best he can be. When leaving the empty classroom where the Mirror is housed, Ron is forced to realize things about himself that he never thought about before. Although Ron undoubtedly knows about the pressures put on him by his family, it is something that in his subconscious. He does not think about it or focus on it. However, seeing it manifested in the Mirror of Erised brings forth ideas and lamentations into his conscience that were not there before. Ron will from this point out take his mother’s nagging more to heart and his brothers’ achievements will make him feel defensive.

The Mirror once again established feelings that weren't there earlier.

10 points to whoever checks out this sweet brochure!

Harry's Reflection

I think that Harry's reaction to the Mirror of Erised is interesting. Before his entrance into Hogwarts, he was fragmented. He did not know his true history, true family story, or who he really was. He was treated by the Dursleys as an inconvenience. Of the magical world, he was as uninformed as an infant. Before viewing the Mirror of Erised, he knew he missed his family, but the emotions were hard to sort out when he realized that he never knew his family. When he sees what would have been in the mirror, he feels complete for that instance.  However, when he leaves the mirror, he feels even more lonely and sorrowful than before.  Before looking in the mirror, Harry did not know what it was like to have a real family. When he looks in the mirror and sees his family, he finally realizes how complete he would feel if they were still alive. This makes it all the more cruel because Harry will never experience this ideal.

It is hard to miss something you never knew existed.

You should know what to do by now...

I miss Richard Harris

Michael Gambon was a great replacement for Dumbledore looks-wise. but he "lacked" (<---lack!) the gentle nature and cheerfulness that I envisioned Dumbledore as having.  Here is Dumbledore explaining oh so gently (and not yelling!) about the Mirror of Erised.  I think that this scene is important in the book because it shows that even Dumbledore, a great man, still lacks something.  No matter how content we are, there is still something we could be doing better, or wish we had.  I find it disappointing that they left that out of the movie.



I found this kind of funny:

Did you know that this is called a 'meme'?  Like theme, but with an m?  Because all of this time I have been calling it a mah-may!

Click here if you like the first Dumbeldore better!

While on the subject of social constructions...

I know I just posted not that long ago, but while on the subject I thought it would fun to compare some of the major milestones in a wizard's life versus those in a muggle's life.  This proves that both societies have wildly different expectations and ideas.


MUGGLE                                      WIZARD

-First bike                                                                      -First broom

                               

                                          

-Uniform: Skort                                                                 -Uniform: Robes

       Me (first day of 3rd grade) and my sister (6th),
 before I had a growth spurt and she discovered the gym!


-Prom                                                                                -Yule Ball
                             
                               

-Learn to drive                                                               -Learn to apparate                    
                             


THIS IS SO COOL!
                                                                                  

Social Constructions

In some of the previous posts, I mentioned that Lacan says that what we see as our reflection is influenced by social constructions.  What is a social construct you may ask?  According to Boghossian, something is socially constructed if "it ... emphasize[s] its dependence on contingent aspects of our social selves."

Wait, what?

He breaks it down in his new sentence:
A social construction "could not have existed had we not built it; and we need not have built it at all, at least not in its present form. Had we been a different kind of society, had we had different needs, values, or interests, we might well have built a different kind of thing, or built this one differently."

So basically, we as a society develop our own social constructs.  We declare what is right or appropriate and then feel pressured to live by these standards. These social constructions change in different areas.  What is acceptable here in the U.S. might not be in Europe.  What is normal in Africa may be completely different than in another country. It doesn't have to be so widespread either. Growing up, the games I played with my friends and the t.v. shows I watched were different than those of my cousins who lived a few states away.


Want to read Boghossian's essay on social constructions?  Here it is!

Also, here's a pretty sweet brochure!

*SPOILER ALERT!*

Snape's Mirror of Erised

After I first read the Harry Potter books, I began to wonder what some of the other characters saw when they looked in the Mirror of Erised. This picture comes pretty close to what I imagined Snape to see. In the last book, we find out the Snape loved Lily Potter, Harry's mother, from the moment he saw her. She was never his, but after her death he dedicated his life to keeping Harry safe. What do you think of the picture? Is it right, wrong? What do you think some of the other characters would have seen if they looked in the Mirror?



Think fast!

J.K. Rowling is a genius

Yeah whatever, we already knew that- she created Harry Potter!

I'm not only talking about the fantastic world she created in the books, or the characters that come to feel like best friends. There is so much going on in the Harry Potter books right beneath the surface that you may not realize your first, second, or maybe even fifth read! She uses theories of psychoanalysis and feminism, and even bases all the spells on latin words.

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Rowling uses Lacan's Mirror Stage and describes it through the Mirror of Erised (but you probably already know that if you have looked at my previous blog posts).  That, in itself, is an incredibly smart thing to do. However, J.K. Rowling also added a whole new dimension to Lacan's theory; she took it and made it her own. Jacques Lacan theorized that only infants go through the Mirror Stage.  J.K. Rowling uses the Mirror of Erised in her book to show that we never leave the mirror stage. We never feel absolutely content. Society is always pressing new expectations and beliefs on us. Both Ron and Harry, whose experiences in the mirror are explicitly explained, are not infants.

Coolest thing I've ever seen!