Bravery And Archetypal Characters In Cassandra Clare's City Of Ashes

When I started reading the book City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare, I set my focus on the lens of social issues, and my frame of archetypes/archetypal characters. All of these components add up to show important themes. After reviewing my notes, I realized that there is a seed idea of “bravery” that the the main character shows through my lens and frame. Clary (the main character), is worked up by the thought that her father is trying to take over the Shadowhunter world and enslave all of her kind, which is the social issue. Clary is trying to work out the best of her abilities and not only be brave, but be the hero, which is the archetypal character. Page 27, “...her father was trying to seek all power of Nephilim…” Now I’m thinking that since Clary is striving to be the hero of this situation and is not achieving her goal, she is playing the archetypal character role of the reluctant hero. Based on the social issue, I thought that she was the reluctant hero because she’s having a hard to being not only brave to other

Most heroes in books and movies are brave or show bravery through their courageous acts; bravery is like the foundation of being a hero, without it, characters don’t really achieve their full potential. Since Clary’s lack of being brave, I wonder if the social issue is causing her to be this archetypal character? After reviewing my notes again, I noticed how everytime this social issue pops up, Clary is trying to do something to try and stop it, but doesn't succeed in the process. This gives me an idea that, part of me believes that this happens because she’s not trained well to achieve her goal. The other part of me believes that it’s because Clary’s too scared and brave to do this on her own. Since it seems as if the author is trying to get the point across that Clary is an reluctant hero, I believe that it’s because she’s too scared and not brave enough to do this on her own. Now I understand