Archetypes permeate through all forms of media. In the blockbuster classics of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, there a few common tropes. In both works we can see the archetypal mentor, hero, and villain. These are represented by the characters Obi Wan Kenobi and Dumbledore (Mentors), Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker (Heroes), Darth Vader/General Tarkin and Voldemort (Villains) respectively. The Mentor is a character created to guide the Hero via protection and wisdom. This character leads to the success of the Hero (AN). In Harry Potter Albus Dumbledore acts as a mentor to the hero Harry Potter by giving advice about the Mirror of Erised, and not to dwell on it’s visions. (HP pg.213), giving Harry …show more content…
Harry Potter shows his benevolence by standing up to Draco to help Neville (HP pg. 148), helping Hagrid get Norbert to Charlie Weasley (HP pg. 240), and rushing to find Hermione during the troll attack (HP pg. 173). He restores order by seeking out the sorcerer's stone, inquiring about Nicolas Flamel, investigating Snape, and saving the stone from being stolen by Voldemort (HP). Luke Skywalker shows his virtuous nature by looking for R2-D2, saving Princess Leia, continuing to fight for the rebellion, and attempting to convince Han Solo to remain and fight on the side of good. He restores order by destroying the Death Star and thus removing the most powerful weapon of the markedly evil Empire( A New Hope). Both Luke and Harry follow the flowchart of starting out not knowing their heritage, having an outside figure bring them into the conflict, being trained by a mentor, and ultimately resolving the conflict with help from supporting characters but with the pinnacle of the climax centered on them. This is characteristic of another archetype being The Journey. To elucidate, The Journey is a series of events that reveal aspects of a character’s personality or the nature of the world (AN) Both Luke and Harry are closed off from the world around them and their heritage, with Luke being stuck farming on Tatooine being kept home by his uncle, and Harry stuck with the Dursleys.
A mentor is a trusted guide who shows you the way in life. Through the mentors of Pi and Antonio, they help save and point them to the right way in life. In the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Ultima shows Tony that good can always overcome evil, no matter how evil it may be. Life of Pi by Yann Martel, shows that Pi can face his fears by the help of a big Bengal tiger in a small boat, and that the littlest things in life can change the course of how your destiny awaits.
Virtually all literature contain instinctive trends in the human consciousness to represent certain themes or motifs, these are defined as archetypes. Archetypes can be thought as blueprints or as bundles of psychic energy that influence the manner in which we understand and react to life. There are two different categories of archetypes, the plot archetype and the character archetype. The orphan, martyr, wanderer, warrior, magician, villain, wise child, temptress, rebel, underdog, fool, saint, virgin, wise, old man or woman are all considered to be character archetypes. Call to adventure, isolation, quest and monster that turns against its creator are all considered to be plot archetypes. The novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, contains archetypes.
The different archetypes are the shadow, the mandala, the great mother, the transformation, the hero, the spiritual father, and the trickster. All archetypes were drawn from a part of what makes us human and hidden in our subconscious. Many of the characters in the film often play more than one character. An example of this would be Ben Kenobi seems to play the archetype of Luke’s father, then he also plays the archetype as an old, wise man.
Everyone can relate to an archetype character in a movie, book, or television show. An archetype in literature is a typical character with an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature. Common archetypes of characters are: a hero, caregiver, rebel, damsel in distressed, lover, villain, or tragic hero. In the play, The Crucible, there are several kinds of characters with archetypes. Tragic hero normally are in tragic plays which also can be called tragedy. “Tragedy is a drama in which a character that is usually a good and noble person of high rank which is brought to a disastrous end in his or her confrontation with a superior force but also comes to understand the meaning of his or her deeds and to
One of those character archetypes is the mentor. In the story, the mentor is played by the great wizard Gandalf, an old and mysterious man with a talent for sorcery. By looking back at the Hero’s Journey Model, we see that the hero must be jettisoned into action by a mentor, and Gandalf does just that.Throughout the story, Gandalf guides Bilbo on his journey, keeping him on the right path and giving him the confidence to keep going. “That leaves you just ten minutes. You will have to run, said Gandalf. But-, said Bilbo. No time for it said the wizard. But-, said Bilbo again. No time for that either! Off you go!”(pg 28). Another character archetype in The Hobbit is the everyman. The everyman is the everyday person, the common man, the character the reader can relate to. In The Hobbit, the everyman is Bilbo. Bilbo is just a regular hobbit when he goes on an adventure for treasure and revenge for Dwarvish Homeland. “To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, a walking-stick or any money, or anything that he usually took when he went out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished and quite unwashed-up, pushing his keys into Gandalf’s hands, and running as fast as his furry feet could carry him down the lane, past the great Mill, across The Water, and then on for a mile or more”(pg 29). Another Character Archetype is the Evil Shadow or Final Boss. This is the
There are several different types of archetypes: situational, plot, character, symbolic, and setting. These archetypes are implemented because they hold meaning to society and “provide the deep structure for human motivation and meaning. When we encounter them in art, literature, sacred texts, advertising—or in individuals or groups—they evoke deep feeling within us.” If the audience or reader cannot relate to a certain archetypal symbol or pattern then they would be lacking some deeper meaning behind the sym...
Archetypes are pivotal to the structure of any story. Without archetypes, individuality is not expressed. The story will fail to have a characteristical context if not knowing the individual classification of personality for each character. It is as if reading an open book with blank pages. Using The Odds, by Homer.
When I was reading the how to read literature like a professor and the hobbits the three archetypes I saw was the communion at the beginning of the book, the death and resurrection that happen to our hero through the novel, and the hero quest that was going through the entire novel.
The first one portrayed was Harry, the supreme leader, god of all, he was the one who created earth and everything on it and has the power to do basically anything he wants. The next one would have to be the witch or mage, Bella, she is a witch who creates different healing potions or serums that can be helpful in different ways to the Cherokee tribe in which she is loyal to. The last archetype would be the hero, Rudy, he fits this description because when evil or chaos lurks he tries to find a solution to the problem. Though in this case he has to turn to a less hero-like answer, as most heros don’t kill the innocent, Rudy did so to save his son, later running into conflict and having to accept his sons fate to save the
In Star Wars, the hero is Luke Skywalker and in Harry Potter, it is Harry. They both had a tough upbringing without knowing their parents; an uncle and aunt who did not understand them took them in. In Luke's case, there was a lack of understanding of Luke's dreams of the future and in Harry's case, a misunderstanding of his magic abilities. Luke's uncle was Owen, his aunt was Beru, and they thought foolishly of Luke's father for becoming a Jedi. As for Harry's Uncle Veron and Aunt Petunia, they also thought foolishly of Harry's mom for becoming a wizard. The one key difference between the uncles and aunts were that Luke's uncle and aunt actually loved and cared for him, but Harry's hated him and treated him like an animal. In the case of both Luke and Harry, however, a stranger came along to tell both of them who and what they really were. The stranger who introduced Luke to his journey was Obi-Wan and he became his guardian and mentor. Kenobi rescued Luke and hid him from the Emperor with his uncle Owen. For Harry it was Dumbledore and Hagrid. Dumbledore was his guardian and mentor; he rescued him after his encounter with Voldemort and gave him to his Uncle Veron. Hagrid was the one who got Harry from his uncle's house and helped him settle into the magic world. Unlike Harry, Luke just came across Obi-Wan who took him under his wing and helped him figure out the Force. This sudden change in the protagonists' lives greatly impacted how they dealt with the conflicts with the Dark Side and the Dark
An archetype is a character, situation, or action, which represents a template throughout all forms of literature. These archetype templates have been used countless times since the existence of literature. Take the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf for example. The main character, Beowulf, is a leader that everyone looks up to in times of distress. He is an example of the “hero” character archetype. The “hero” archetype can be found in almost every from of literature, especially in eastern culture. In western culture, one of the most distinguished archetypes is the serpent. The serpent is a very powerful archetype dating back to the Bible. The serpent archetype represents deception, evil, and temptation. These devil-like attributes represent Claudius,
An archetype in literature is defined as a typical example of a certain type of person. A character in a poem or play can be placed into many different archetype categories. Archetypes help a reader to gain a better understanding of who a character in the work is on the inside. This deeper insight into the character allows the reader to follow the flow of the story easier and more effectively. There are many different archetypes that can help to advance the story. One of the most useful in advancing this story is the typical powerful character. Whether it be supernatural or cunningness this character always comes out on top in the situation and holds the most control over others and their actions. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”,
Without archetypes, characters would be harder for the audience to relate to and understand. They help people from all over the world comprehend foreign characters. Through The Odyssey and The Alchemist, the audience is exposed to a diverse group of characters with a variety of traits that contribute to their personalities and the way they are perceived. The Bildungsroman, vengeful villain, damsel in distress, sage, and flawed hero then become recognizable in other pieces of literature and in films. Therefore expanding the audience’s experiences and ability to understand diverse compositions and apply what they know to real life
An archetype can also explain antagonistic characters like the shadow or the destroyer, but what I am going to write about is the trickster archetype. The definition of a trickster is “a rebel who refuses to conform to societal expectations, but he is not a rebel without a cause” (Jung). Sometimes the trickster may very well appear to be minor character in a story. The most famous character is the Fool in Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear. The Fool character actually is very wise and street smart. In fact, it takes a fair amount of studying to enhance his wisdom which helps him come up with a series of riddles, puns, and puzzles. The Fool is not the cause of capturing King Lear yet is viewed as the wisest character in the play. In some stories, the trickster can also be someone who causes trouble for their amusement or to teach the hero a lesson. (Jung)
Heroes are often perceived as characters who leap great distances in a single bound. However, they actually have three distinct stages where they develop into the character we grow to love. In George Lucas` “StarWars IV: A New Hope.” Luke Skywalker is a quintessence of of an archetypal hero because he goes through initiation stage through distinct phases of separation, transformation and the return stage. Luke Skywalker begins his journey as farmer boy on a remote planet and becomes the hero of the galaxy. However, this process the not happen quickly. Rather, it is a difficult journey where is is faced with multiple tests and obstacles and pushes his endurance to the limit.