The Chamber of Secrets is a hidden part of the Castle of Hogwarts t hat Salazar Slytherin, one of the Founders of the School S chool of Witchcraft and Wizardry, himself constructed. The story revolves around the adventure that emerges when this Chamber is opened.
Marxist Theory:
Marxist literary criticism is based upon the political and economic theories of the German philosopher Karl Marx. In works like The German Ideology and The Communist Manifesto, written with Frederick Engels. Marx proposes a model of history in which economic and political conditions determine social conditions. Marx and Engels were responding to social hardships stemming from the rise of capitalism. The theory focuses on the Socio-Economic conditions existing in the population. We generally see a dominant sector of t he narrated characters who suppress the ot her "lower" counterpart. The Society is divided into classes according to which the status of the concerned are respectively arranged in desce nding order. Human beings are not motivated by ideas but t he material concerns tend to form ideas for survival. Thus, appropriately, the theory is formulated specifically to analyze how society functions in a state of upheaval and constant change. We see that Harry Potter's world, the Muggle (non-magical) world, but especially his magical world illustrates the properties of a Marxist society.
Analysis: In the series, as such, a group known as the Ministry of Magic governs the m agical world. It is reiterated time after time in the novel that the rules set down by this governing body must be adhered at all times or the punishment shall be severe, for example imprisonment in the Wizard's prison of Azkaban where the mind is virtually erased. Or a much worse sentence could be handed down that being death. This ministry uses the veil of intimidation to coerce the witches and wizards into following their rules much like Karl Marx wanted his followers to do. Thus, the Ministry of Magic constitutes the Repressive State A pparatus (RSA) for this movie as well. Right at the start of the movie, we have Harry living with the Dursleys (his Uncle, Aunt and Cousin). The Masons, a business family, are visiting their home to invest in a firm that Vernon Dursley owns. They are here for business purposes or "To strike the best deal" for t he Uncle. We see here that the Masons control some monet ary benefit and hence, to welcome we lcome them and to impress them there have been rehearsals in the most extensive way. "Material Reality is F undamental", is what Vernon realizes and hence, is taking t he required efforts for his gain just like Marx has predicted in his theory.
We see a new Working class in this movie - The House Elves. Dobby, the House Elf, has been serving the Pure Blood B lood Family - The Malfoys since a very long time. He is a complete slave and his mindset has become wholly submissive. Kindness has never been showered upon the poor cre ature. All that Dobby has seen is work, suffering, orders and the only one cloth that he wears on him. An interesting event that occurs is t hat Dobby comes to visit Harry Potter at Number 12, Privet Drive by running away temporarily from the Malfoys. This is a serious offence on his part and he realizes it. He keeps punishing himself for that by hitting a lamp on his head etc. Even though Harry, a Wizard, shows some respect toward the creature, it reacts in the most weird ways saying that, "Never has Dobby been asked to sit down by a Wizard, like an Equal." Thus, we see that Dobby has ac cepted the age old custom of the Wizarding Families dominating over his race. He unconsc iously accepts the subordinate, inferior position. The Hegemony of the Dominant class is thus seen here. In Hogwarts, we see a constant tussle between the members of the Four Houses namely - Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. We can say that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are regarded as the lower class in the movie as we see no focus on their members or their actions in the movie. These houses just merely exist like the lower classes in the society. Slytherin and G ryffindor on the other hand are t he dominating class. Even in the game of Quidditch we see that these two houses are given the most importance. The Socio-Economic condition of the population is mentioned as the supposedly higher classes of the Pure B lood families occupy the wealthier position in the society. The Weasleys on the other hand are Pure Blooded but their economic condition is not that stable. The reason is due to their high number of family members, but either way, they are heavily treated as subordinate, especially by the Malfoys. Another reason for their inferior treatment could be because of, as Lucious Malfoy says, "Association with Muggles." This gives us the Dominant Ideology present in the Wizarding Wor ld. Those individuals who have the potential of performing magic but don't have parents who possess these qualities are termed as "Mudbloods." It is mentioned that "Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective of the students admitted to Hogwarts." The higher, dominating classes of the wizards did not want the schools to be polluted with the Muggle-Born types o f persons. They wanted to maintain the pure blood line all along. They were of the view that these inferior individuals should not be educated in the magical way nor be allowed to practice magic. However, we have Hermione Granger herself showing us that even though she is Muggle-Born, she is one of the brightest witches. "There is not a single spell that our Hermione can't do." Thus, what we see here is the Emergent Ideology. Even the inferiorly considered Mudbloods can be great sorcerers too. When Salazar's demands for admitting only the Pure Bloods were not agreed by the other House Heads, he left the school. The ideology of the Muggle-Borns being of Dirty Blood was abolished by many. However, we still see the psyc hology of the Pure Blood families of the Malfoys, and
in later parts - The Blacks, not budging from the purity criteria. Even after these many years, the feeling of superiority still remains which shows that this is is an example of Residual Ideology. The main character, Harry Potter, is a neutral with respect to the class ideology. He is famous and the higher classes, even t hough have enough hate for him, do not subordinate him like t he Muggle-Borns are. So, thinking in this perspective, we see that Harry resists the bourgeoisie values and has no problem with the Impure Blood. He is revolutionary in his actions but not for the resistance to the treatment of the inferiors specifically, but he just opposes the Evil present in the world narrated. As such the text doesn't quite resist the dominant ideology. There are cer tain ruptures where the higher classes have been tried to be suppressed, tricked and in some cases, there has been some success.
