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Symbolism of where are you going, where have you been
Archetype essay
Symbolism of where are you going, where have you been
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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?”,
His power does not come from his physical strength it comes form his ability to persuade and control others against their will. She gives very few details on who or what the man is. And she gives no details as to where this power comes from. He wields it with grace and style, and without discrimination. By leaving out details about the man, the reader becomes suspicious of his intentions with the main character Connie. The reader fears for Connie’s safety almost as much as she must fear for hers when she realizes that she can not break his spell. Oates approaches her power archetype with a sense of mystery leaving the reader to subconsciously fill in any blanks with details that are daunting and frightful. This power is mysterious and seemingly unlimited in its effect and
Harrison displays no supernatural abilities; his power comes from within himself. He and he alone is responsible for his actions, he refuses to be further controlled by the government that seeks to oppress him and lock him away. Harrison contrast the mysterious man by the reader having knowledge of where Harrison’s power comes from. Harrison uses his power to try to save himself while the mysterious man uses his to take advantage of others. Harrison is also portrayed in different light than Yeats’ swan. The swan is revered by the author while Harrison is not. Harrison is not praised or looked up to by anyone. He is just a person, a regular person who wants to but has failed in trying to change the world. The swan, a god, does not fail at his goal but Harrison, the human, does. The reader is able to empathize with Harrison more than with the other two powerful characters because Harrison could be any person reading the story. To be Harrison is to be different and to be different is to be
An archetype, as defined by Literary Terms, is an idea, symbol, pattern, or character type that appears repeatedly in stories from cultures worldwide, symbolizing something universal in the human experience. There are three types of archetypes: symbolic, character, and situational. In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls employs each archetype to capture her difficult life growing up due to her father's alcoholism and inability to hold a job. These archetypes also play a crucial role in developing the novel's theme of perseverance. The central theme of the novel is perseverance, as Jeannette and her siblings worked hard and never gave up, managing to build a better life for themselves.
"The Devil and Tom Walker" is a short story by Washington Irving that many wonder about. It teaches a lesson and has many archetypes in the characters. In literature, an archetype is a typical character, a type of action, or a situation that leads to the representation of such universal patterns of human nature. An archetype may be a character, a theme, a symbol or it can even be a setting. Tom walker is the protagonist of the story he is the main character.
In literature, Archetypal Criticism is a critical approach where the reader interprets the meaning of a story by looking at the archetypal characters, events, and symbols that it contains. In general, an archetype is a universal, primordial representation of an event or character that is seen as a general blueprint for stories and myths, such as the Hero or Death and Rebirth (Meyer 1587). Archetypes can be very important in identifying and supporting a theme by giving us background and references for aspects throughout the story. Carol Joyce Oates uses a couple vital archetypes in her short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” a tale about Connie, a teenage girl, who goes through an innocence to experience situation, signifying a transition from childhood to adulthood.
Oates shows archetypes throughout the story. The symbolic archetype shown is “the friendly beast” or “the tempt”. The friendly beast, of course, would be Arnold Friend; Arnold never hurts or does anything to Connie, he just tempts her by saying, “we’ll drive away, have a nice ride.” The temptation for Connie is that she wants to grow up, get away from her family and live her own life. Although, Connie is very ignorant; Connie believes her looks will get her very far in life, but what she doesn’t realize is that ignorance does not equal bliss. In The Sitting Bee Dermot McManus talks about how Connie struggles with independence and how she wants to do things on her own. McManus says “that Connie still relies on others to take her home and other things, and how
protagonist pulls on different types of archetypes to learn from their mistakes and be different
Archetypes are found in every story that has been told; although stories may seem unique in their premise, every single story is actually interconnected in several ways by archetypes. Recurring themes are found in stories with even the most dissimilar settings and protagonists. In “Momotaro: Boy-of-the-Peach” and “Theseus”, several of the same archetypes are found, though the protagonists possess different goals and experiences. These archetypes include a valiant hero, an evil villain, and the hero undergoing a quest to defeat this villain. The “hero” archetype is especially prevalent among media.
The Maze Runner is a 2014 mystery/science fiction film that can be viewed from an archetypal perspective. An archetype can be described as a pattern that can and is copied and recurring symbols or characters. The concept of archetypes came from Carl Jung a psychiatrist who believed that all cultures use archetypes to build stories without communicating to each other about them. Two groups of archetypes are the character and symbolic archetypes. The film The Maze Runner should be analyzed through an archetypal perspective because it has character and symbolic archetypes.
Archetypes refer to the persistently recurring symbols or motifs in literature. The term itself has its origins in ancient Greek and continues to play a prominent role in analyzing literature. Archetypal images and story patterns encourage readers to participate ritualistically in basic beliefs, fears, and anxieties of their age. These archetypal features not only constitute the eloquence of the text but also tap into a level of desires and concerns of civilization. The Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, integrates many of the common archetypes that still exist today. The outcast archetype is one that particularly expressed the desires, anxieties and values of the people who lived during the Beowulf era. Grendel, a character of monstrous appearance and hazily human emotion, is portrayed as the principal outsider in Beowulf. The incorporation of a banished character against his fellow society effectively expressed the anxiety and fears that the Anglo-Saxon culture felt towards seclusion and abnormality, caused by a societal absorption in family lineage and traditionalism.
Psychologist Carl Jung proposed that humankind has a collective unconscious, which is manifested in myths and dreams, which harbors themes and images that all humans inherit. Carl Jung’s proposal about the collective unconscious is expressed when archetypal and mythological criticism applies to literary works (Archetypal Criticism). Neverwhere is a novel written by Neil Gaiman, which is heavily influenced by archetypal and mythological concepts. Neverwhere is the story of a young man who tries to help an injured girl named Door on the street, when he soon realizes that this is no ordinary person that he has come across and he has to go into the underworld to get her help. Richard goes to get her help from a man in the underworld named Marquis
Oates’ use of the way Arnold looks and acts so similar to the devil, her use of the words on the car meaning something foreign and her subtle symbolism with Connie’s attire make the story’s theme of evil and manipulation stand out so much more. Connie’s clothing symbolizing
... typical archetype. These characters are obviously supposed to mirror the archetypes that are common in fairy tales, but their flaws are contradictions to the archetypes that they are supposed to represent; through this Goldman mocks typical and standard fairy tales.
Some examples of archetypes are, the wounded child, the victim, the villain, the rebel, the savior, finding redemption, death, and the happy ending. Now that there is an understanding of what an archetype is we can look at four different archetypes in The Bell Jar.
When analyzing literature from an archetypal perspective, one does not simply look at the character’s behavior in that literary piece. Rather, when using the archetypal theory, one connects the traits and actions of the characters in the literary work, the settings, the surroundings, and the situations to a familiar type of literary character. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the characters Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Hale exhibit common archetypal behavior and fit into a certain archetypal figure.
Due to Harrison’s rebellious ways, the government puts him in jail and applies numerous handicaps on him just because he is strong than the “average” person. This makes Harrison want to rebel against these oppressions. Harrison breaks
Archetype is a set of pattern that is similar and inherited by all human beings throughout the history. Archetype exhibits same pattern regardless of time period in the history. While, a hero is born during dark times to maintain the world order and overcome the evil power for the welfare of being. A hero can have different characteristics as a hero is born to resolve specific world problems. Therefore, a hero does not exhibit similar pattern as an archetype does.