Literary Devices in Harry Potter
Protagonist: The protagonist in all of the Harry Potter movies is Harry Potter
himself. The entire movie revolves around him and his experiences.
Antagonist: The antagonist is Lord Voldemort. Throughout the entire story, they
are battling eachother, sometimes mentally, sometimes physically. The plot is
centered around Voldemort’s desire for power, and Harry’s attempts at stopping
him.
Plot: This differs per movie, but in general the story is about Harry Potter, a
wizard whose parents were killed by the evil wizard Lord Voldemort. Somehow
Harry survived the attack, much to Voldemort’s frustration, and he walked away
with nothing but a scar. Throughout the story Voldemort tries repeatedly to
regain his former power, and Harry is the only one who can stop him.
Setting: There are two worlds in this story; the real world, full of regular people
(muggles), and the wizarding world, in which Hogwarts is located, as well as the
magical wizarding town Hogsmeade. Most of the movies are set in both places, as
well as the Dark Forest situated next to Hogwarts.
Conflict: The main conflict in this story is the struggle between Harry Potter and
Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort wants to use his dark powers to take control of
het wizarding world, and Harry Potter wishes to defend Hogwarts and all the
people in it from the evil Voldemort wishes to inflict on it.
Climax: The climax is different in all of the Harry Potter movies, but in these
segments some of the climaxes are where Voldemort reveals himself on the
other side of Proffessor Finnigan’s head, and he confronts Harry. Another climax
is when the Dementors show up during a game of quidditch, and suck all the
happiness and joy out of him.
Motif: One of the motifs in Harry Potter is the child abuse that is inflicted upon
harry by his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.
The purpose of this motif is to help the reader empathize with Harry and
understand his desperate situation. It makes us aware of how badly he fits in in
the muggle world, and why it is so important that he attends Hogwarts.
Theme: Some of the themes in HP include: Wizardry and magic, death and the
effects it has, oppression within households, prejudice, and the search for power.
Symbols: Some of the symbols present in the compilation video:
 The scar symbolizes the duty he carries with him at all times to defy
Voldemort, but it also symbolizes the love of his parents, as they died
protecting him, enabling him to walk away from the fight with nothing
but that scar. It’s a symbol of Voldemort’s inability to kill Harry.
 His wand, it symbolizes the connection Harry has with Voldemort. It also
foreshadows that some kind of battle will eventually occur between the
two, as both of their wands contain a tail feather from the same bird.
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Flatfrom 9 ¾ symbolizes the transition from the muggle world into the
magical world.
The sock which Dobby receives from Mr. Malfoy represents his key to
freedom from slavery. By presenting a ‘slave’ with an article of clothing,
you free the elf from his duties as a slave.
The ‘Dark Mark’ tattoo symbolizes that you are part of the Death Eaters,
which is ruled by Voldemort. The skull that appears in the sky is also a
symbol of the death eaters and their return to power.
Mood: The mood is one of suspense, fear, and anger, but also of victory and hope,
depending on which part of the movie you look at. Usually the scenes with
Voldemort are filled with an atmosphere of hate and fear.
The purpose of creating a specific mood in a story is that it influences the way
you perceive what you are watching. The music and sound effects emphasize the
emotions and feelings that are being conveyed in the movie, and enhance the
viewer’s viewing experience.
Point of view: The viewers see the story from Harry Potter’s point of view.
Usually, we know nothing more than Harry Potter knows. The effect this has on
the audience is that is allows the viewers to really empathise with HP, as if they
are experiencing it themselves.
Alliteration: This is used when Professor McGonagall explains the origins of
Hogwarts. The founders of Hogwarts are: Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor,
Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. The reason they use alliteration in
these names is that is helps you to remember them, and it sticks in your mind.
Anthropomorphism: Nagini, Voldemorts snake, has the ability to communicate
in Parseltongue with other Parseltongues, and communicating by speech is a
characteristic usually associated with humans. Also, in several scenes of HP (not
present in the compilation video), there is a large spider which talk to Harry
Potter as well.
In the very beginning the snake also whispers ‘thanks’ to Harry Potter when
Harry unwillingly helps him escape from his enclosure in the zoo.
Deux ex machina: When Harry Potter is attacked by a dementor and is killed, he
appears in another world, where Dumbledore is also present. After this, he
magically returns to the real wizarding world, and this is an unrealistic solution
to a complex situation, which is representative of a Deux ex machina.
Foil: Hermione occasionally acts as a foil, because the disagrees with so much of
what Harry Potte says, and she questions his ideas and statements regularly.
This helps the reader to form an unbiased opinion about the events which are
occuring in the movie, as they hear standpoints from different points of view.
Foreshadowing: This is done in the beginning, when the children are crowded
in front of the shop window, gushing over the new Nimbus 2000. The fact that
the broom is mentioned in the beginning may lead the viewers to suspect Harry
Potter may be getting one later on in the story, which is true.
Another instance of foreshadowing is when the Ministry of Magic speaks to the
wizarding world about impending dangers associated with Voldemorts gradual
rise to power, which foreshadows the eventual return of Voldemort and the
negative implications of this message.
In the beginning, there is also an example of foreshadowing when Dudley’s
father, Uncle Vernon, explains to his son that ‘we’re not safe here anymore’,
which leads the reader to believe dangerous things will happen later on.
Parallelism: The main example of parallelism within the Harry Potter series is
the correlation between the Muggle World and the Wizarding World. Both
coexist in relative peace, at the same time, but the muggles are completely
unaware of the existence of the wizards and witches that live in the wizarding
world.
Pathetic Fallacy: A good example of Pathetic Fallacy is the thunderstorm during
the quidditch game. This scene starts with a black umbrella being carried by the
wind, twisted and pushed and pulled in different directions. Then the players
come onto the scene, drenched by rain and surrounded by endless grey skies.
This immediately sets the mood for this scene, and allows the reader to predict
that negative events will happen.
Personification:
 The chocolate frog that Harry and Ron have bought for candy on the
Hogwars Express is capable of jumping.
 The paintings on the walls within Hogwarts can move.
 Broomsticks can fly.
 The statues that are called to protect Hogwarts can walk.
Repetition: There are several cases of repetition within the movies:
 The famous spell ‘Avada Kedavra’
 Ron who says ‘Bloody Hell’ repeatedly