Archetypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

Archetypes are expected examples of a person, action, or thing. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, there are two archetypes I will discuss. The first archetype is the hero archetype, best portrayed by Christopher, the main character in the book. The second archetype is the evil figure with a good heart, best portrayed by Christopher’s dad, Ed Boone.

The characters of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird are all different in their own way. Sometimes they can seem like the most infuriating people in the world, but then again they can be helpful, loving, and caring. The citizens of Maycomb County are stereotyped a lot throughout the book. They are labeled as many different things, but some of the stereotypes made aren’t entirely correct. A lot of people in To Kill a Mockingbird stereotype others by the way they look or talk based on what society considers normal. Two of the main characters in the book are stereotyped; Scout and Atticus Finch.

    Of all the various approaches to criticism, the Mythological/Archetypal achieves the greatest impact over the entire literary scope, because the themes and patterns unearthed apply universally to all works, yielding results that can be applied to a great many texts. This is because the very nature of the Mythological/Archetypal approach is the exploration of the canon for widespread and pervading symbols, plots, and characters. These are all greatly extant in Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, an extraordinary examination of the Depression-era South through the eyes of a young girl with rare intelligence and insight, living in a small town

Stereotypes have been around for hundreds of years, from the “savages” in 1492 after european colonization, to gender and racial stereotypes during the 1930s, and many more still in place today. Everyone has to deal with them, and we all do it in a different way. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee includes characters that break stereotypes to show how they are restricting and harmful.

Whether in the form of a living person or a fictional character from a book or movie, heroes are prevalent in everyone's life. The typical view of a hero is someone who fights crime or saves people from mortal peril, but the true definition of a hero is a person of distinguished courage admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is the true definition of hero. Although he wasn't seen as a hero during the time the book took place, Atticus Finch is considered to be one of the most heroic figures in American Literature because of his courage, intelligence, and sense of what is right and what is wrong.

Literary criticism is informed, written analysis, evaluation of a work of literature based on literary theory. One literary theory is archetypal criticism which discusses reoccurring symbols, themes, and situations that operate on universal scales that are easily recognized and understandable by the reader. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee exhibits archetypal criticism. From the archetypes readers are able to understand the characters better and how their actions move the story along. Throughout the story, Harper Lee uses archetypes victim, mentor, and loss of innocence.

Stereotyping, a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing, plays a big role in “To kill a Mockingbird”, and it’s also a big role in the thirties when everyone was different. In the story there are three different groups of people, the wealthy, the poor, and the black. Each of these group with some exceptions like the Finch family, looks at each other with offset opinions. The stereotyping in this story makes it come true and really plays a big part in character development.

there to spread the word of their god, but are being mocked while they do.

An unlikely hero is someone who, despite being expected to fail, overcomes their obstacles and becomes a force of change. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee features many undervalued characters whose opinion is typically not respected. Despite facing harsh marginalization, characters like Calpurnia, Boo, Tom, and Atticus are still able to have major impacts on the way traditional stereotypes about racial equality, gender roles, and social class are seen through the eyes of Maycomb’s citizens and future generations, portraying them as heroes within the story.

Imagine you are a lawyer tasked with an impossible case, and everybody in your community is against you, but still there is a shred of hope you cling to. What might that be you ask? That to which you cling are your morals. In To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch had been given the Tom Robinson case, where a black man was convicted of raping a white woman. As a single father of two children, he continues to reinforce his values throughout the trial and during his daunting task of raising his children. In To Kill A Mockingbird what Harper Lee suggests about the nature of morals is that you should try to stand up for what you believe in even if people oppose or reject your ideals. Even when faced with an insurmountable opposition you should stand up for your morals because in the end if your don't follow your beliefs you are just contributing to the problem. We should try to create a voice for what we believe in and impress that upon the next generation so they can continue to exercise their beliefs to make the world a better place.

My t-shirt design is based on the character Simon, from lord of the flies. The t-shirt is designed in a specific way where it shows the stereotype on the left and the archetype on the right. The whole t-shirt is based on a school uniform. The cross on the right is based Simon archetype. The quote on the bottom right of the t-shirt represents how Simon thinks about the beast. This t-shirt’s target audience is ages from 8-12. That’s an age group where kids buy different types of clothes and this T-shirt could be one of them. The stereotype of the t-shirt is showing that Simon is being typical British school boy. The archetype of the t-shirt is Simon becoming a Jesus figure for the other boys on the island. The explicit message is trying to reveal by using this t-shirt is that what would a person wear who is very religious and is in school.

“Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes” by David Platt. David Platt’s quotes fits in with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain’s theme of learning and education and the archetype, The Orphan because it is talking about how you could oversee something or someone a million times, but once you actual know them, you start to care about them. The archetype the orphan motto is every man is created equal.

A hero is someone who is idealized for the courage they have and the person's noble qualities. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch displayed many of these characteristics of a hero and someone courageous. He was one of the most important characters in the novel due to his heroic and courageous beliefs. Atticus fits the attribute of “real courage” because according to him someone with real courage is when “you know[you've been] licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do”(112).

a) Scout Finch (Jean Louise) is the main character of the novel and is known to be a tomboy who gets into a lot of fights to deal with problems at school. She is “betrothed” to Dill who is the nephew of her neighbor, Miss Rachel and throughout the novel learns various life lessons as she is dealt with many difficult events.

In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Mayella Ewell, a young woman as well as the daughter of Bob Ewell, lives a life of insolence and isolation in the town of Maycomb. As a Ewell, which they are familiarized as being vulgar, uneducated, and indigent, Mayella is disrespected by the people of Maycomb as well as by her father. During the court case, Atticus shows courtesy towards Mayella by addressing her as a miss and a ma’am, which is not surprising for his values of equality. Mistaking his manners with sarcasm, she replies with, “Won’t answer a word you say as long as you keep mockin’ me” (pg.181). Harper Lee is demonstrating the amount of disregard Mayella faces in her life, so much that courtesy can’t be identified as just that. Mayella finds that Atticus is ridiculing her for what she doesn’t have, respect from others. With a reputation such as Mayella’s, people treat her like an outcast. Her lonely life can be a reason to explain why she always asked for Tom Robinson’s company, she wanted to experience friendship and perhaps love for the first time. Her loneliness was so clear to see, even Scout, who still has their childhood-innocent mind, can see through it. Scout compares Mr.Dolphus Raymond’s “mixed children” to Mayella because they both don’t know where to stand in their social class, “white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her