Archetypes are characters, symbols, and situations that represent universal patterns and symbols in human nature. These symbols and patterns appear in countless pieces of literature and media. The 2009 film, Avatar, written and directed by James Cameron, is a modern-day prime example of a hero’s journey also containing many character and symbolic archetypes. Avatar is a science-fiction in which humans have drained all of earth’s natural resources and have been searching exoplanets and their moons for vital materials to sustain the human population. The protagonist and hero, Jake Sully, is sent to a moon of the gigantic exoplanet Polyphemus named Pandora, which has a poisonous atmosphere and hostile native species, but holds a valuable metal, unobtanium. There he has to take his twin brother’s place controlling an avatar in the Avatar Project, a system of mind controlled bodies made up of cross-bred human DNA and the DNA of the natives. In his Avatar form, Jake is accepted into a tribe of the natives known as the Na’vi. Though his mission …show more content…
The initiation is when the hero enters the “special” or unknown world and goes through a series of trials leading up to the supreme ordeal, which is usually the climax of a story. During the initiation the characters are further developed and more characters and symbols may be introduced In the main plot of Avatar, the initiation is when Jake begins crossing over into Avatar form with his human mentor, Grace Augustine, and gaining the trust of the Na’vi. In the initiation stage of the Na’vi subplot, , Jake is accepted into the Na’vi people and Neytiri is assigned as his mentor. Jake begins to learn the ways of the Na’vi and begins to gain their trust. The initiation stage is important because it challenges the hero and both shapes and develops his or her character. Almost every story centered around a developing character has some degree of an initiation
Archetypes, in literature, represent a universal pattern through a character, symbol, event or situation. Many uses of archetypes are found in the graphic novel, American- Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. Chin- Kee, the shadow, is the physical representation of what Danny/Jin Wang. Danny, the outcast, constantly has to move after his, very stereotypical Chinese- American, cousin Chin- Kee comes to visit, due to the embarrassment. The Monkey King, the hero, must go through a journey to find his identity and accept himself as a monkey.
Character Archetypes are varieties of human beings who possess certain qualities, based on their ambitions, fears, and ways of life.
An archetype is a model or ideal example in which other things are patterned. There are many archetypes that could represent many characters; but for my character, Haley Kincain, the caregiver archetype represents her the best. Haley represents a caregiver due to constantly caring for her father and his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, along with helping her friends with problems like divorce and bullying. I found her to be pragmatic, considerate and patient throughout the book.
Many people find the story, “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkein as just an invigorating story of a normally unadventurous hobbit who goes on an adventure. Others may “read between the lines” and see that each event that takes place within the book is a symbol. These symbols are called archetypes. An archetype is basically a symbol or character in a story that represents common experiences, and has become patterns in English literature. In The Hobbit, the archetypes/symbols include: a quest, communion and, death and resurrection/ descent into the underworld.
With every corner we turn in today’s culture, we become more and more aware of the archetypes that surround us. Archetypes are the works of a typical character, situation, setting, or symbol that can be found in fantasy and reality. An example would be the renowned medieval story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Pearl Poet. The author permeates the story with situational, symbolic, and character archetypes that illustrate the profound life of Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain was apprehensive of his journey at first, but as time passes, he began to make choices that unveils to the audience the true flawed knight that he was.
Archetypes are in every movie, book, tv show, and so on. An Archetype is a typical character, an action, or a situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature. There are many different archetypes in the movie The Princess Bride. Westley is a great example of the chief archetype. The chief archetype is known and born to be a leader.
Plato was one of the first known people to talk about the theory of archetypes. His idea was that archetypes were imprinted onto people’s soul and their life played out accordingly. Now though, archetypes are used in movies, literature, and to define the human race. In George Lucas’s Star Wars, archetypes are used deliberately in the story. Lucas modeled many of the characters after the “Jungian” archetypes. Some of the prominent archetypes in Star Wars are “Good vs. Evil”, “Hunting Group of Companions”, and the “Initiate”.
The archetypes reflect dreams and relate to cultures. In different cultures, the “archetypes” (2005) would be different. However, Joseph Campbell comes up with the Monomyth, which believes myth is metaphor. Joseph Campbell demonstrates that all stories are expression of the same story-pattern. The hero’s journey all follows the departure, initiation and return.
Escape from civilization is quite a common theme throughout American literature and cinematography. Among numerous examples, one should pay particular attention to Jon Krauker’s writing Into the Wild that is based on the real life of Christopher McCandless, who was an energetic life explorer. The reasons for the human conscious choice to leave the habitual environment and society can differ. According to a Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, such choice is predetermined by the deeply underlying set of needs and convictions that can let one distinguish between various archetypes. Although McCandless obviously had everything to live a great life in the civilized world, happiness meant something different for
In Homers epic poem “The Odyssey” there are many archetypes, many of which were the origin of the archetype. An archetype is a character type, place, or symbol, every culture shares. In “The Odyssey” Homer uses archetypes to evoke meaning to the story. Some examples of archetypes in “The Odyssey” are the temptress, and the father-son conflict.
Archetype refers to a generic version of a personality. Archetypes are continually present in folklore and literature for thousands of years, including prehistoric artwork. The identification of archetypes in literature is to primarily find the behaviors and characteristics of the main protagonist, it is important to discover the ambiguity of how the traits change and develop throughout the rising
The first phase of the hero’s journey archetype is called the “ordinary world.” according to Christopher Vogler, this is the stage in which “The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma.” In the beginning of the story, the author discusses how the story makes him uncomfortable:
According to the dictionary, an archetype is “the original pattern or model from which all things are the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.” Archetypes are the basic building blocks of any story that is told whether it’s an epic fantasy novel or an intense autobiography about some white guy from 100 years ago. An archetype can be any type of character such as a jester, hero, or a princess. However, archetypes can also be experiences like coming of age. Feelings are also a type of archetype like fear or joy. In the books The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and The Odyssey by Homer some of these archetypes are shown through Fatima, the Princess (damsel in distress), Calypso, the Temptress, the Alchemist, the Sage, and Odysseus and Santiago, the Flawed Heroes.
Avatar is a 2009 film of the epic science fiction genre, written and directed by James Cameron. It has been described as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time by many movie critics and has been awarded three Academy Awards. In the film, James Cameron conveys multiple key ideas, such as the dangers of ecological destruction and betrayal and redemption, through various stylistic features including character development, symbolism and costuming. The film was created to make the audience realise what the humans have done and will continue doing to their own planet. It also makes the audience sympathise with the Na’vi and want to be different to the humans that were shown in the film.
Archetypes can be seen in many places, such as books, poems, movies, and more. In Homer's The Odyssey, there are examples of archetypal heroes. Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus are all archetypal characters.