Archetypes In The Wild Hero's Journey

The ability to trust others is a good quality to have, but too much trust can lead to betrayal which then can cause a change in someone. The dystopian novel Unwind by Neal Shusterman is about kids ages 13-18 trying to survive in a disloyal world from getting killed and stripped for body parts. In the novel The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, there is an alien invasion where all the aliens manipulate all the human’s fears and weaknesses to eventually kill them off. Both authors of the stories use character archetypes and symbolism to indicate the theme that people who have been betrayed in the past, tend to change as a person whether the change is good or bad.

The hero’s journey archetype has appeared in many forms of literature and will most likely continue to do so for as long as long as literature exists. The story of Equality 7-2521 and his journey to find the true value of individuality is one example of this very commonly used archetype.

2. A hero's journey is often a search for something of great importance. It may be an ideal, a question that must be answered, or an item of great importance. Often the heroes neglect all else until they have found it. How do people's individual journeys through life mirror this same search? What do you seek that is important?

Every story has some common elements. In the Hero’s Journey; the elements are organized in a way that allows for infinite possibilities to occur. The ordinary world lets the reader get to know the hero by understanding his feelings, problems, and life. One common elements are stories have is they all have a problem. Every hero has a quest. Every hero is afraid of something. someone or something always helps the hero during his journey. All stories have a central dramatic question. All heroes have a test of some of their characteristics. The journey is long and always riddled with self-reflection. Finally, the reward was worth the trip. On the return trip, the hero’s story can always change. In the resurrection, it can be physical or emotional,

Fairy tales are a way of using a big metaphor to teach children and society in general about the morals in life. Because of their moral teachings and the extensive appeal to both children and adults, fairy tales are still applicable to the lives of an average person dealing with everyday struggles. Reading fairy tales, like the famously known “Cinderella” by the Grimm Brothers, can help children who are struggling to mature or understand certain reasons for doing something in life. When taking a well-known fairy tale like “Cinderella”, and discovering its history, archetypal elements, and psychological meaning, it can help to come across deeper meanings within a story.

The psychologist, Carl Jung, says that universal characters reside within the collective unconscious of people around the world. These characters are called archetypes. According to Jung, every story has similar archetypes to each other. The Pearl, written by John Steinbeck, also has archetypes. There are many different archetypes in the novella, The Pearl. Three of these archetypes are the hero, the trickster, and the shadow.

Around the world, there are very different myths and folklore, each suiting a specific culture’s beliefs. Nonetheless, amongst those different narratives, there are certain elements, such as themes, character types, and design, that keep manifesting. These recurrences are labelled as archetypes. One type of archetypes is character archetypes. Prevalent in myths from Sigurd the Volsung to The Epic of Gilgamesh, character archetypes are types of characters that are conventional amidst literature. In the Medieval British legend King Arthur three character archetypes are prominent; the Hero, the Mentor, and the Villain. These archetypes are universal, found in myths from around the world.

The hero’s journey describes the pattern of a story that is seen in myths, drama, fantasy and others. It includes specific archetypes that create that pattern . Without the majority of these archetypes, the story could not be defined as thus. Star Wars: A New Hope is a classic example of the hero’s journey. Luke is the hero, while the others play essential archetypal characters. One of the most important is Princess Leia. She first plays the vulnerable damsel in distress, but she quickly changes into a powerful character. She soon becomes the goddess for Luke and the temptress for Han Solo. Princess Leia plays three vital archetypes throughout the journey, the damsel in distress, the goddess and the temptress.

Everyone can relate to an archetype character in a movie, book, or television show. An archetype meaning to me is when a character can resemblance a certain topic. Example of common archetypes would the following a hero, caregiver, damsel in distressed, lover, villain, or tragic hero. In the play, The Crucible, we learned that some of the characters had common archetypes. This was a tragic play which means it has a tragic hero. Tragic play is similar to tragedy means, “drama that deals with sad or terrible themes, as opposed to comedy.”(SD,332) A tragic hero normally has the characteristics of a person of noble stature, not an ordinary person, someone who is good but not too good, causes his own destruction for a greater cause, and the death will be seen as a waste of human potential. The tragic hero in this play would be John Proctor because he has a high social status, is good but not too good, and the audience shows pity for him.

As the creator of the 25 epic hero steps, Joseph Campbell said: “We must let go of the life we have planned to accept the one that is waiting for us” because every epic hero must put aside his own plans for his life to accept the one that was meant for him. In order to maintain the title of an epic hero, a champion must complete the hero's journey steps. The words from Joseph Campbell describe the journey of our once comfortable hobbit, Samwise Gamgee’s transition to becoming an epic hero in The Lord of the Rings as a epic hero must be willing to step out of something they are traditionally comfortable with. Along next to the mighty Odysseus

When watching movies or reading books, you may notice a pattern or similarity in the stories. This is called an archetype. The hero’s journey is one example. Authors have different ways of expressing their thoughts in their hero’s journey. The Hobbit is about the journey of Bilbo Baggins and 13 dwarves who journey to get their treasure back. I Am Malala is a nonfiction novel about a girl who fought for her beliefs and as a result, suffered through a big crisis. There are similarities and differences between the way the authors of these two novels portray the hero’s journey.

“Dances With Wolves” directed by Kevin Costner was released worldwide on November 21st, 1990 and won great praise for its story and characterization by critics. the movie was latter known as one of the best portrayal of Indian tribes and their perilous lives during the era of Civil War and development of the American Nation. The movie won majority of their accolades for their use of unique literary devices. Their execution of foster’s Archetypes were incorporated into the movie to signify the protagonists(John Dunbar) growth thru the film. The director/screenplay of the film connotes this idea by showcasing his quest for identity and his loyalty towards the Sioux.

Superman, Gandalf, Jay Gatsby, and Harry Potter. All of these character have something in common, all of them are heroes. Heroes are common in many literary works. They help portray messages and feelings in ways the reader would understand. There are three main archetypes of heroes. “These heroic archetypes pop up all over Western Lit. They are: Stereotypical/Classical Heroes, Everyday/Everyman Heroes, and Anti/Un Heroes” (Bunting). Each type of hero is used for certain reasons; not all stories use the anti-hero and the classic hero is not always the way to go. There are many reasons why an author would choose to use a certain type hero in their work.

In every book, there are archetypes. Archetypes are defined as “A typical character, an action, or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature” (literarydevices). Archetypes are basically the character’s personality and trait. In the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder, the character Emily goes through the journey archetype. The Journey Archetype helps the character understand themself or society better (literarydevices). In Act III of the play, Emily goes back in time to her twelfth birthday. In that moment, Emily realizes that no one appreciates life in the moment.

The archetypal Hero’s Journey is a pattern found in literature throughout many novels. In the novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien it shows a hobbits’ journey through a tough world on a quest to defeat a dragon. The hobbits’ name is Bilbo, and he and his acquaintances undergoe many trials and obstacles trying to reach the dragon. The novel A Dog’s Life by Ann M. Martin is about a dog who started out in a shed and is trying to survive out in the world as a stray. The dog’s name at birth was Squirrel, she withstands many trials such as fights and injuries with her companions. So, both authors portray the hero’s journey, but there are equal similarities and differences in their techniques.