SOCI

Sociology 1301

8 December 2017

Sociology within “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”

Section 1: Introduction

Sociology is a subject that can be found in almost every aspect of a person life. It is a subject that is made up of many different subtopics that are littered everywhere. One area that demonstrates sociological topics is in movies. One movie that discusses sociological topics very well is the second movie in the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second movie in the Harry Potter series. This movie, like the other seven films, follows Harry, Hermione, and Ron on their adventures at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. On the surface, this movie deals with Harry and his friends during their second year at Hogwarts discovering the dark secrets and historical facts about their beloved school. The main characters investigate the multiple petrifications in order to figure out who has released a monster into the school and who looks to harm certain students. Below the surface, the movie deals with deeper topics that have plagued many countries at one point or another. This movie specifically deals with the social standings in the wizarding world and the connection one has to those around them.

Section 2: Analysis

Listed below are the sociological terms and the examples from the movie that go with them.

1. Concept: Social Solidarity

a. Definition: The social ties that bind a group of people together.

b. Illustration: Each student and teacher are sorted into houses that relate to their personalities. Each member of a house share an apartment like section to the castle with other members.

2. Concept: Norms

a. Definition: Rules of conduct through which societies are structured.

b. Illustration: The wizards keep their presence hidden from the muggle world in order to stay safe. If exposed, the wizarding world would be in conflict with the muggle world.

3. Concept: Ascribed Status

a. Definition: The status outside of an individual’s control.

b. Illustration: The blood status of each individual is not chosen, but they have to live with it. Hermione is born a mudblood and has no control over it, nor the chance to change it.

4. Concept: Class Consciousness

a. Definition: The awareness of one’s own ranking in a society.

b. Illustration: Demonstrated when Dobby acknowledges his ranking in the world as house elf. Even though he does not like it, he recognizes his place/status in the world he lives in.

5. Concept: Peer Group

a. Definition: A group made up of people with similarities.

b. Illustration: Harry, Ron, and Hermione are a form of peer group due to their similar ages and interests in solving school mysteries. The students with each house are also peer groups due to their similar personality traits. Another example of eer group is the class grades: first years, second years…..

6. Concept: Authoritarian Leader

a. Definition: An individual with power and control over others.

b. Illustration: Dumbledore, as head of the school is an authoritarian leader. He is in charge of everything that goes on in and around the school.

7. Concept: Negative Sanctions

a. Definition: Punishments for violating society’s norms.

b. Illustration: Due to Harry breaking wizarding rules (being seen by muggles in a flying car) he had to serve detention with Professor Lockhart.

8. Concept: Media

a. Definition: All forms of communication.

b. Illustration: Media can be seen as Professor Snape is yelling at Harry and Ron for being seen by muggles. He picks up a newspaper illustrating the ordeal.

9. Concept: Class System

a. Definition: Social standing based on social factors and individual accomplishments.

b. Illustration: Hermione points out to Draco that Harry was able to earn is spot on the Quiditch team and Draco had to buy his way in. In this moment Harry is seen as having a higher standing than Draco based on his accomplishment.

10. Concept: Caste System

a. Definition: Social standing that one holds from birth to death.

b. Illustration: Argus Filtch (the janitor at Hogwarts) is born a Squib (muggle born to wizards parents) and will retain the social standing that goes with being a muggle in a wizarding world.

11. Concept: Chattel Slavery

a. Definition: A form of slavery in which one person owns another.

b. Illustration: Dobby, as a house elf, is born to serve one family his entire life. He is born into slavery and forced to serve the Malfoy’s until hey free him.

12. Concept: Dominant Group

a. Definition: A group of people who have more power in a society than other groups.

b. Illustration: The professors at the school demonstrate power over the students due to their higher ranking in the school system. They are dominant due to their superiority.

13. Concept: Extended Family

a. Definition: A household with one parent and child as well as relatives outside of immediate family member.

b. Illustration: Harry Potter was orphaned as a child and since then has lived with his uncle, aunt and cousin in their home.

14. Concept: Cult

a. Definition: Religious groups that are small, secretive, and highly controlling and lead by a charismatic individual.

b. Illustration: Lucius Malfoy works under the instructions of Voldemort as a death eater. He plants the cursed diary in Ginny Weasley’s cauldron at the beginning of the movie in obedience to his leader’s wishes.

15. Concept: Sorting

a. Definition: Classifying individuals based on academic merit or potential.

b. Illustration: Each student that comes to a wizarding school is sorted into houses based on their personality and which house best represents them and their work ethic.

16. Concept: Power Elite

a. Definition: a small group of powerful people who control much of a society.

b. Illustration: The Malfoy family has a lot of control in society due to their blood statues and wealth. Lucius is able to use his power to get his son on a sports team, gets Hagrid arrested, and tries to have Dumbledore removed as Headmaster of Hogwarts.

17. Concept: Legitimation

a. Definition: The act of a physician certifying that an illness is genuine.

b. Illustration: Madam Pomfrey, the school physician, assesses Harry’s missing bones and works to cure him health issues.

18. Concept: Conventional Crowds

a. Definition: People who gather for a regularly scheduled event.

b. Illustration: Due to Hogwarts being a school, there are classes, clubs (dueling club), and sport games (quiditch) in which students attend on a regular basis.

19. Concept: Triad

a. Definition: a three-member group.

b. Illustration: Harry, Ron, and Hermione are one group of friends seen. Draco, Crabb, and Goyle are another set of three friends seen in a group.

20. Concept: Endogamous Marriages

a. Definition: Unions of people within the same social category.

b. Illustration: Molly and Arthur Weasley are individuals in the same social category that married each other. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy are also in the same social category and are married. Lastly Vernon and Petunia Dursley are married and share the same social category. The only difference between the three couples is the social level in which they both stand.

Section 3: Reflection

The chance to look in depth at movies that have played a large role in many people’s lives is both fun and interesting. By looking into the finer details of the movie, you tend to see or think about things you would not have noticed from just watching it in general. The finer details that you gloss over when mindlessly watching a movie can be some of the most revealing details about a society. In “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” people don’t tend to really think about how important social standings are in the wizarding world, nor do people fully grasp the idea of a house elf. They do not realize when they watch it for the first time how harsh and cruel the role of a house elf actual is.

I have seen the Harry Potter movies many times so the details do not jump out at me anymore, but needing to go through the movie and systematically point out the issues was an odd experience because it highlights everything wrong with the magical world that touched many children’s hearts. The fact that so many people wished they were in this world rather than the world we have is interesting because the similarities are very close.

The most interesting thing I learned from this class was the hidden ideas found in the world that are only discovered when thoroughly looked through. It is not just in media sources that these terms can be found. They can be found in schools, work places, families, and even friend groups can contain multiple sociological terms. It is not until a person looks into it and thinks deeply about the dynamics of the area/group that they begin to realize how much sociology is in their daily lives. People do not tend to think about how many sociological aspects are imbedded in their daily lives. If they were to really look into their lives they would find an abundant amount of examples of sociology working in and around their society. The only issue with learning about things terms and ideas is that once you are aware of it, you start to see it everywhere. Then, once you see something as that term or idea, it is hard to see it as something other than that term or idea. Sociology is everywhere, but it is not until you know about that you realize it.