Food As A Social Adhesive In Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone

Rufaida Hashmi
Professor N. Rose
English B35
28 March 2016
“The Family That Eats Together Stays Together”: Food as a Social Adhesive in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
In C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Edmund Pevensie is lured into the White Witch’s trap as a result of his greed and desire for the “enchanted Turkish Delight” (38). In a similar though less consequential way, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone mirrors this gluttonous behaviour in Dudley Dursley, who is described by Harry Potter as a “pig in a wig” (21). It comes as no surprise then that as gluttonous children, Edmund Pevensie, who was foolish enough to shut the wardrobe door behind him,

A community then, as a macrocosmic entity that reflects all of its individuals on a larger scale, can be unified only when the relational ties between its individuals are strong. Food, as it is established in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, is the means by which these relationships are secured. For instance, the moment when Harry meets Ron Weasley aboard the Hogwarts Express demonstrates the power of food in securing these relationships. Having bought “some of everything,” Harry brings the candy “in to the compartment” to share with Ron (Rowling 76). The act of bringing the food “in to” their compartment encloses Harry, Ron, and the candy within a private and closed space. This physical proximity not only allows for a close fellowship between Harry and Ron, but it also inevitably prompts conversation, especially as they bond over shared candy. This act of sharing is foundational to the development of their friendship; Harry, who “never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with,” experiences this companionate moment for the first time with Ron over “Chocolate Frogs” (77). In the realm of fantasy literature, the frog signifies the transformative moment

However, it sometimes does so by keeping others out. For instance, Harry wants to buy “as many Mars Bars as he could carry” on the Hogwarts Express, but there are none (Rowling 76). Given the fact that Muggle-borns are also on the train, the selective placing of only magical candy on the food trolley is an assimilative mechanism that distances all of the passengers from the Muggle world. Because space is relative, leaving one place inevitably means reaching another; likewise, as the train travels further away from the Muggle world, it is simultaneously traveling towards Hogwarts. So as Harry leaves Muggles and the Mars Bars behind, he is getting closer to the Wizarding world, which allows for a heightened sense of belonging and community. Moreover, Harry and Ron become friends over Chocolate Frogs in a train compartment; although the compartment provides the pair with proximity, it simultaneously incites a binary, such that something or someone is inherently and purposefully being kept out. The intimacy between Harry and Ron is inaccessible to Draco Malfoy and his cronies, to the effect that they are kept from fostering friendships with Harry and Ron. This inaccessibility comes into play when “Goyle reach[es] towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron” but is prevented from eating any (82). Given the significance of the Chocolate Frog as