This essay will discuss some of the major archetypes employed by Eugene O’Neill in Emperor Jones and how each of these archetypes plays a role in foreshadowing Jones’ multi-layered downfall. By creating the myth of the silver bullet, Jones essentially becomes the embodiment of the trickster archetype in the play. The planter or slave overseer archetype takes different forms in the play, whether it is Smithers at the beginning, the slave auctioneer or even the prison guard, they all represent white domination over blacks. Finally, Jones’ three mortal sins can be depicted by a triangle; synonymous with the trinity archetype.
The trickster archetype originates from Greek mythology, Norse and Slavic folktales and Native American lore . A trickster is someone who plays a trick on people or who breaks the rules of god or nature. In American literature, the trickster is often represented as a symbol of ultimate anarchic freedom; a humorous way of representing the contradictions between American ideals and practice. In African-American literature, the trickster has often been adapted as a “no win” to reflect the situation in which they found themselves in the United States. In the play, Jones creates a myth around the silver bullet to instill fear among his subjects and retain illegitimate power over them. The myth consists in the idea that he can only be killed by a silver bullet. What he has yet to realise is that the joke is on him as he cannot build an empire on something that is not true. His entire enterprise depends on empty air, and it’s only a matter of time before it crumbles under his feet. His arrogance does not stop there; he also carves himself a silver bullet. The fact that, at the end of the play, he kills h...
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...e constantly forced on black people at the time.
Works cited:
Books
S. Rice Kim, World of a slave: encyclopedia of the material life of slaves in the United States.
Morgan, Wrinifred, The Trickster Figure in American Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Print.
E. Wiethoff, William Crafting the Overseer's Image. University of South Carolina Press, 2006. Print.
L. Rothgeb, Carrie, Abstracts of the Collected Works of C.G. Jung. Karnac Books, 1994. Print.
Websites
"Trickster." Wikipedia, n.p. n.d Web. 17 February 2014
"Trinity." Wikipedia, n.p. n.d Web. n.d. 18 February 2014
Other works consulted
Lafontaine, Lewis "Carl Jung on Trinity" Carl Jung Depth psychology, n.p. 24 February 2014. Web. 26 February 2014.
http://www.eoneill.com/companion/jones/characters.htm
Ranald, Loftus, "Emperor Jones", Study Companion, O’Neill.com, n.p. n.d Web. 21-22 February 2014
“The Passing of Grandison” debunks the stereotypical image of a slave in the 19th Century. The author Charles Chesnutt uses his personal background and ability to pass himself as a white man to tell a very compelling story. Grandison was more than an uneducated farm hand doing his masters bidding. “The Passing of Grandison” provides evidence that while the society of the time thought of slaves as nothing more than property to be bought and abused, slaves could be much more than what was on the surface. In Chesnutt’s “The Passing of Grandison” Grandison is a plantation slave in the early 19th Century who through his actions eventaully escapes and aquires his own freedom as well as that of several family members. Most people have been in a situation where they wish they could outsmart or outwit another. Whether it is a peer or a higher-up, many wish they had the ability or courage to get the better of others. Is it possible for a subordinate to really fool their superior and eventually gain what they really wanted in the end? This is accomplished through the actions of an trickster figure. A trickster is a character in literature who attempts to outwit and outmaneuver his or her adversaries. The trickster uses whatever means necessary to reach whatever goals they might desire. , Trudier Harris states, “tricksters achieve their objectives through indirection and mask-wearing, through playing upon the gullibility of their opponents” (Harris, 1). In “The Passing of Grandison”, Chesnutt uses a trickster figure to achieve that one-ups-man ship and plot twists while providing social commentary to present part of his own belief system as it relates to the treatment of slaves in the 19th century. Two characters in “The Passing of Grandis...
To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...
Freud, S., Strachey, J., Freud, A., Rothgeb, C., & Richards, A. (1953). The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (1st ed.). London: Hogarth Press.
The "American Slavery" Book Review This book achieved its goal by reflecting on the past and history of American Slavery. We can see in much detail what America was and has become throughout the era of slavery. It was the Colonial era that America began to see what true slavery would soon become. The author, Peter Kolchin, tries to interpret the true history of slavery. He wants the readers to understand the depth to which the slaves lived under bondage.
These theoretical concepts developed by Dr. Jung are what caused the hypothesis and negativity of my original consideration of him to be replaced by a deep respect and, in fact, an almost gleeful fascination with his work. I am discovering that quite a few people find that Jung has a great deal to say to them. This tends to include writers, artists, musicians, film makers, theologians, clergy of all denominations, students of mythology, and of course, and many psychologists
Stanley Kubick's Spartacus In the 1960 film Spartacus, directed by Stanley Kubrick, the character called Spartacus is depicted as a revolutionary who leads an army of slaves against the oppressive forces of Rome during the first century B.C. Though the overall story is true, and most of the main characters are real, the presentation of their character is entirely fictional. Spartacus and the other characters have been split into groups epitomizing good and evil, and the story itself has been vastly romanticized. This essay will address the ways in which the story deviates from reality and finally will show how Kubrick and those before him have used such interpretations as a valuable tool for social change.
Man and His Symbols, edited by Carl G Jung and M.-L. von Franz, Joseph L. Henderson, Jolande Jacobi, Aniela Jaffe, published by Dell Books, non fiction.
Titus Andronicus is a play marked by acts of horrific violence and littered with death and the destruction of others. Each violent act, however, serves to explain and sometimes encourage the motives of the play's memorable characters and impart a very tightly knotted plot. The structure of the play employs well-defined heroes and villains. Revenge is their key motivating factor. All of these elements combine to form a cohesive plot and contribute to the overall success of the story.
Jung, C. G., and Marie-Luise Von Franz. Man and His Symbols. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964.
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Northup, Solomon, Sue L. Eakin, and Joseph Logsdon. Twelve years a slave. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Print.
Jung, Carl. “The Personal and the Collective Unconscious.” Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. A World of Ideas. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martin, 2010. 490-500. Print.
Jung, Carl G. Psychological Types. Princeton N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1971. 3, 333. Print.
Carl Jung was born in 1875 in the country of Switzerland and later passed in 1961. He was a very influential psychologist who founded the habits of analytic psychology in response to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. He had many findings and research that still affect psychology today. As a child, Jung spent most of his time alone and, thus, had a rather disappointing childhood. He felt happiest wh...
In Eugene O'Neil's play, The Emperor Jones, he presents a crucial lesson to mankind: one should not pretend to be someone who he is not. Multiple repercussions may occur to someone who denies their background and race. For example, in The Emperor Jones, the character, Brutus Jones, dissembles as a free white man (Jones was really black and was supposed to be in slavery during that time). Because of Jones' denial, he encounters numerous illusions in the forest of his black heritage, which haunt him until he is finally killed by his natives, under the accusation of an insurgence against his people. O'Neil introduces the theme of denial bluntly. In the opening scene of the play, it is clear to the audience, from a nineteenth century perspective, that Brutus Jones' physical features oppose his personal opinion of his individual status. Jones, a colored man, was expected to be a slave during the eighteen hundreds. Ironically, Jones proudly claims to be a white man and is portrayed as a powerful man in this first scene. After O'Neil presents his theme of denial, he supplies following scenes with the consequences of illusions, displaying his true lineage. One apparition Jones encounters is a gang of Negroes chained, working on the road supervised by a white man. The anticipation of the audience is that Jones will assist the white man with managing the slaves. Instead, Jones is ordered to work; subconsciously, he proceeds to the slave work with his fellow natives. Jones finally realizes his actions and shoots the apparition, which immediately disappears. Jones experiences a similar illusion later of chained blacks, sitting in rows, wailing, awaiting their slavery. Intuitively, Jones joins their rhythm and swaying and his cry rises louder than the others. This illusion leaves on its own and Jones advances through the forest. These two apparitions demonstrate that inside, Jones really understands that he is colored, but he cannot admit it. The next two of Jones' illusions display that the other people realize that Jones is black which aggravates him even more. First Jones confronts a slave auction. He spectates until he realizes that it is he, who is being auctioned. As a result, Jones loses control and goes wild. Finally, Jones witnesses a religious sacrifice, one similar to his native religious. It is not until Jones realizes that the witch doctor is offering him as a sacrifice, to be eaten by the crocodile, that Jones loses control once again.