ARCHETYPAL SETTINGS 1. The River – Almost any source of water will focus on the importance of life. Without water there is no life. A journey on or down a river is often a metaphor for life’s journey or a character’s journey, especially if the river is shown as a road or means of travel – pulling or pushing a character through changes. (Twain’s Huck Finn) Rivers can also be a metaphor for the passage of time (Big Fish) or the stages of a human life (creek, roaring river, sea; or the crossing of the river Styx in Greek myths). Since rivers are often used as political borders or boundaries, crossing one may be seen as a “passing over” or a decision that cannot be taken back. In Africa, and thus African literature, rivers are the …show more content…
Journeys on boats are usually long and fraught with dangers that are overcome. Boats are also related to islands, since crew is isolated from the regular rules of society. 6. The Island – The Island is a metaphor for isolation. People on islands are separated from their society. This can have a positive or negative effect on characters (Robinson Crusoe vs. Lord of the Flies) Without the rules of society; the island setting strips away characters down to the very basics of humanity. 7. The Mountain – The mountain in Hindu (India) culture was seen as the center of the universe from which all things could be seen. Since people climb “up” mountains, characters that climb the mountains can be seen as moving upward on a spiritual/emotional journey. Biblically, mountains are places where God reveals his truths to man. In nearly all stories mountains are mysterious, powerful places. 8. The Wasteland – Often a desert, the wasteland represents an emotionally/physically barren place or time in a character’s journey. A character is usually cleansed of fear or doubt and reconnects to his/her sense of faith or inner strength. Characters usually emerge from the wasteland stronger and more focused. Occasionally the wasteland wins and a character emerges from the wasteland insane. 9. The Pasture/Field – The pasture represents a simple farming life that is predictable and calm. Often referred to as a pastoral setting, many characters either begin
2. Looking at the candle before me, it was hard to imagine that it was made from the tallow of a sheep.
How does the river function in the story? Is it a metaphor, a catalyst, or both? Is it a character?
After discovering a God-given talent, a young boy struggles to achieve his only dream; to become the best there ever was. Baseball is all he has ever known, so he prevails through the temptations and situations laid before him by those out to destroy his career. His hopes and dreams outweigh all the temptations along his journey. These hopes, dreams, and temptations are depicted through archetypes in the movie The Natural.
The short story “Everyday Use” focuses around a middle aged African-American woman who lives in an impoverished home in a time frame around the mid-20th century. This woman is described as having a rough life, having very manly attributes and somewhat a very simple woman. She has two children, one that lives with her still and another that has left home and pursued a vastly different lifestyle than that of her and her other daughter. The older daughter named Dee seems to have abandoned her emotionally in pursuit of an alternative way of embracing her heritage which appears to be towards traditional African values and culture.
Valley. It is "where the hot wind blows and the old ways do not seem relevant,
Rudolfo Anaya, author of “Bless Me, Ultima”, uses an analogy of a lake during one of his interviews. He states that the top of the lake is the story and as you go deeper into it, you discover several important symbols and archetypes. The archetypes he uses connects the audience to the “the collective memory” and “connects us to every human being who has ever existed”. Archetypes help authors develop their stories and/or novels with characters that symbolize something meaningful. People often can relate to certain books because of author ’s uses of archetypes.
Valley. It is "where the hot wind blows and the old ways do not seem relevant,
Insignificant droplets of water plunging to the ground, gradually elaborating into a system which proclaims its existence with such scintillation and momentous significance, the river. The river that carries the same inexorable rate which we live our lives by, parallels to the current of an unstoppable river. Shifted to different directions by the different obstacles encountered, the river finds different routes to get to the destination it desires and life mimics its nature as many avenues close and others open. But the river carries on and does not pass through the same obstacle twice, it does not struggle or brawl the happenings opposed to it, it simply takes another path and learns from its mistakes. The river symbolizes life. In the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. The river plays a significant role on a reflective surface which redirects his actions into the eyes of the protagonist, Siddhartha.
The novel that I have chosen for this project is Neverking by George Avgoustis, who is a Canadian author that resides in Cyprus. This book is about a group of friends who must travel across many harsh terrains and face off against even harsher foes in order to reach the man responsible for cursing the King to an eternal life as a skeleton. This book has a lot to do with the kinds of terrain that they must travel across, as that is what a majority of it is comprised of, and it definitely affects each character in multiple ways.
The theme of freedom, throughout the novel, takes place on the Mississippi River. In the story the main purpose of the river is to be a symbol of freedom. Rivers are seen as
In “The Open Boat”, four sailors survive their ship being wrecked and must continually fight to find land and to stay
Once there was a woman who told a story. However, she had more than just an entertaining tale to tell. She chose common images that everyone would understand, and she wrapped her story around them, and in this way she was able to teach the people . . .
In the fourth line of the poem Hughes speaks of the Euphrates River. This river symbolizes the birth of life and the beginning of civilization. This river represents the youth of the African American people. It speaks of their beginning. Then Hughes talks of the Congo River in Africa. This is an image of home for many African Americans. It represents a place of peace and tranquility in their lives. Hughes writes about the Nile River and the great pyramids in Egypt. The pyramids can be viewed as a symbol of slavery to many people due to the slave labor that it took to create these grand structures. Finally the great Mississippi River is written about. Many symbols arise from this river of the South. To many whites it represents prosperity, especially in the time of the Civil War when slave trade was one of the bases of economy. To many African Americans this river may represent the oppression of their people. The image of Abe Lincoln riding down the Mississippi can be seen as a symbol of hope and freedom to the slaves of the South. The very fact that he is on this particular river represents the times of change about to come.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, uses various concrete objects, such as rivers, to symbolize a diverse range of feelings, emotions, and even actions. The ultimate symbol in the novel is the Mississippi River. Rivers often
In the novel "Lord of the Flies" careful attention is payed to the way the in depth descriptions of the island was used to create imagery and pursuade the readers response. For example on page 14/15, there is much emphasis on the brightness and colour of the island. This influences the reader to think that the island is like a