ipl-logo

The Journey Archetype In Our Town By Thornton Wilder

432 Words2 Pages

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 journey can be done in two ways; physical or emotional. The type of journey that Emily went through in Our Town, is an emotional journey. The reason why it’s an emotional journey instead of a physical journey is that she is going back to a memory. She is not traveling anywhere to accomplish a mission. Instead, she is going back in time to her twelfth birthday. She is watching the memory to get one last glance on what life is like. While she is watching this memory she says, “... I love you all, everything. -- I can’t look at everything hard enough” (Wilder 105). The reason why she …show more content…

After Emily came back from traveling through time to her twelfth birthday, Mrs. Gibbs asked her if she was happy on that day. She said that she was; then after she went back in time, she realized that she wasn’t as happy as she thought. “Were you happy?’ ‘No… I should have listened to you. That’s all human are! Just blind people” (Wilder 109). This shows that Emily realizes that it’s not only her who doesn’t appreciate life, but it’s everyone else. People just go day to day motions thinking “It’s just another day,” and it’s not positive. They don’t think about how happy that they should be that they have another day to live. Some people are not fortunate enough to live another

Show More
Related

  • A Rose For Emily Character Analysis Essay

    926 Words  | 4 Pages

    Miss Emily Have you ever felt like you can’t let go of the past? In the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner Miss Emily struggles with letting go of the past. She cannot let go of her loved ones. Miss Emily is far from okay with losing loved ones and is in denial that they are dead. She doesn’t want to let go and move on.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Mental Illness In A Soldier's Home

    1008 Words  | 5 Pages

    Since Emily is so off from the world, this makes the understanding of what she is dealing with even harder. If she was more outspoken with the people of the town, rumors would have not grown about her, and caused even more

    Read More

  • The Use Of Doubles In Tillie Olsen's I Stand Here Ironing

    1025 Words  | 5 Pages

    While the narrator feels regret for not being able to raise her daughter right, she understands that mistakes will be made and her children can still grow up to be okay in the world. While Emily learns from her past and works towards a new future, it is important to remember that there is no such thing as a perfect child. In realizing that the narrator and Emily are very similar in their personalities as well as their young adult struggles, it is important to lean on family members for support in times of

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Things They Carried

    788 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “A Rose for Emily,” the author, Faulkner, describes the life of a women after the death of her family and the abandonment of her friends. The story is about a female named Emily whose father dies of natural causes, and she is left with little money except for her house and an African American manservant. The manservant is a very loyal person who stays by Emily’s side till her own death. This story is depicted from the neighbor’s point about the lady Emily. It recounts her life as she lived it from an external perspective.

    Read More

  • Sonny's Blues Poem Theme

    916 Words  | 4 Pages

    The narrator regrets the neglect towards Emily while even her thoughts about her regrets are being interrupted by the cry of her infant son. She understands that it was she who influenced her life choice: “My wisdom came too late. She has much to her and probably little will come of it. She is a child of her age, of depression, of war, of

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast A Rose For Emily And A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    1094 Words  | 5 Pages

    Not only that, as Homer becomes a popular figure in town and is seen taking Emily on buggy rides on Sunday afternoons, it scandalizes the town and increases the condescension and pity they have for Emily. They feel that she is forgetting her family pride and becoming involved with a man beneath her station. Even though Emily is from the high class family, it does not mean that she is living up to the pleasant lifestyle. As a matter of fact, she is actually living a gloomy and desolate life, which is essentially the opposite lifestyle expected for Emily's rank in society by the townspeople. Although Emily once represented a great southern tradition centering on the landed gentry with their vast holdings and considerable resources, Emily's legacy has devolved, making her more a duty and an obligation than a romanticized vestige of a dying order.

    Read More

  • A Rose For Emily And Cathedral Analysis

    1268 Words  | 6 Pages

    Both Emily and Robert are prematurely judged by the narrators in both stories, and the assumptions are so far fetched from the reality. Miss. Emily is perceived to be a lonely old woman, whom nobody ever spoke with. Since they never talk with her or learn anything about what is going on in her life, the townspeople begin to gossip to make up for this. They knew her father had driven away any man from becoming close to her, and they just thought to themselves, “ poor Emily” (32).

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Miss Brill And Emily Grieron

    1015 Words  | 5 Pages

    When Emily’s father dies and shortly after Homer’s disappearance follows, we see a depressed and a lonely Emily who never leaves the

    Read More

  • Comparing Sonny's Blues And I Stand Here Ironing

    1093 Words  | 5 Pages

    Her mother is persuaded to send her to a covalent home and Emily had a difficult time there because they didn’t allow any of the girls to keep personal belongings or "love anyone" (Olsen). After Emily came back from the covalent home, she became distant and refused her mother's attempts of comfort. A bright spot in Emily's life is her gift in comedy. The biggest obstacle for Emily would be not believing that she is helpless to the hardships life has thrown at

    Read More

  • Reverend Hale's Pride In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    140 Words  | 1 Pages

    Reverend Hale’s pride for his good intensions separates him from his morals to help the afflicted avoid punishment. Hale’s arrival in Salem sets the hysteria in motion, as he is a extremely enthusiastic and committed servant to the mission of eliminating witchcraft and the Devil’s work in society. Hale is confident that there is the presence of evil and that the townspeople should be aware that “the Devil is alive in Salem, and [they] dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points” (71). Hale is captivated by the idea of witchcraft that he is determined to do right in the society. He is encouraged by the apparent need for his services.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Local Milkman And Howie In Our Town

    1068 Words  | 5 Pages

    Soames is still seen full of interest regarding the lives of those around her. She does not dwell on the misfortunes, but instead focuses on the positive aspects of life (“My, wasn’t life awful- and wonderful.” Act III). Mrs. Soames recalls Emily’s accomplishments, such as her wedding and graduation. When Emily insists on returning to the world of the living, Mrs. Soames advises her against it, as she knows that Emily will be disappointed and hurt.

    Read More

  • A Rose For Emily Isolation Analysis

    1189 Words  | 5 Pages

    She was alone, she was humiliated by the town, she had to hide away because she was not able to cope. In Tim O’Brien’s article he states, “After her death, Emily is reunited with the other members of her southern class …”, which means, in death, with the people she loved she will no longer be alone” (O’Brien

    Read More

  • Short Story Analysis: A Rose for Emily

    923 Words  | 4 Pages

    The story revolves around a southern woman named Emily Grierson who is the protagonist of the story. The time period of the story happened roughly around late 19th to early 20th century. The setting took place in a fictional town of Jefferson, Mississippi. The narrator of the story is the people around Emily, which is full of judgmental and gossipers. In the story the narrator describes how Emily change physically and mentally over the years.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Mental Illness In A Rose For Emily

    1852 Words  | 8 Pages

    In many situations, the people within the town notice Miss Emily’s odd behavior, but they choose to maintain peace with her instead of helping her when she clearly needs it the most. However, this need to preserve the respectful image of Miss Emily ultimately leads to her emotional breakdown of isolation and

    Read More

  • Literary Devices In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

    910 Words  | 4 Pages

    When Emily’s body was found dead, her servant for someone who is visiting and as soon as he realizes she is dead he “walk[s] through the house and out the back and [is] never seen again.” To him he thinks that the town is going to blame him for Emily’s death even if he didn’t do it. He believes the town is going to kill him because that’s what they did back

    Read More

More about The Journey Archetype In Our Town By Thornton Wilder

Open Document