The Symbolism Of Tunnels In Literature

The Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling are a well known and highly celebrated series. In the first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the audience is introduced to the main character, Harry. Harry is an embodiment of many common themes and devices in literature. However, Rowling manages to employ these literary tropes while creating a story entirely different from any other. The novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone provides an example of how to effectively utilize common literary motifs and archetypes without being cliché.

This essay will involve an exploration of images or image clusters which circumscribe the archetypes of the hero, the shadow, the anima, and the Self.

A hero is someone who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Today, hero’s still do exist. Most of the time whenever you hear the word “hero” you automatically think of a superhero which is okay, but those are not the only hero’s. People do not have to fight battles to be a hero, you can be one by helping someone out, being somebody a person looks up to, or simply someone who made a change for the world.

The short story Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing is full of symbolism about the transition out of childhood. Doris accomplishes this by writing about a young boy named Jerry and his journey swimming through the tunnel. During this difficult transition the main character gains the tools he will need during adulthood. Lessing uses symbolism abundantly in Through the Tunnel to emphasize on the theme of the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Archetypes play a big role in many books, short stories, TV shows, and movies. There are several different kinds of archetypes, but many of the same archetypes can be repeated throughout a storyline. An archetype could be a character, theme, symbol, or even a setting. Some examples of those include: The Bully (a character who intimidates others), White (a color that represents purity and peace), and The Garden (a setting in which fertility and love are symbolized). In Snow White and the Huntsman, many archetypes are brought to the viewer’s attention.

Explain which Archetypes are represented by which characters in the novel. Write a paragraph on each of the 7 archetypes, explaining which character(s) represent the archetype (Remember that there might be more than one character representing each archetype, some characters might embody more than one archetype, and some archetypes might possibly be missing.)

What is a hero? A hero is a person that helps someone and stands up for what is right.

A hero is someone who helps others and strives to make the world a better place. Our world is shrouded in the darkness of others and heroes are often the light to our darkness. While most people get lost in our world, some people help shine a light on others and make the world a better place. An example of this is a mission worker spreading hope and joy throughout the world. Heroes often sacrifice themselves or their power for a greater good.

Archetypes are utilized to analyze the common patterns of human nature in literature and major motion pictures. In the poem Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, Gawain accepts the challenge the Green Knight has to offer and goes on a quest to redeem the honor of Camelot. The Green Knight teaches Gawain a lesson which changes his values. A number of archetypal situations occur in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that serve to promote Gawain’s moral development.

2. Archetypes can be a “character, a theme, a symbol, or even a setting in a novel”

Archetypes are a recurring actions or attributes that represent definitive events in a person's life or a specific character. They are universal emblems in literature that correspond to various aspects of human, behavior, and culture. They are usually incorporated, by writers to symbolize relationships between divergent charterers, situations or symbolically natural opposites. They are a major factor in writing literature because they help shape a piece of literature. Archetypes are a major part they help illuminate the purpose of different characters and bonds between each other. The film Big is a classic film due to, the captivating idea of turning a boy into a man and the use of specific archetypes such as mentors, earth mother, star-crossed lovers and much more. It also is an excellent presentation of the archetypical cycle.

A hero is a person who demonstrates tremendous courage, displays noble character, and accomplishes extraordinary achievements. Sir Gawain, The Knight from Canterbury Tales, and Beowulf all help define what a hero is like.

In different type of stories, authors tend to use various amounts of literary devices to help their story flow freely. Some examples of literary devices include: allusions, flashbacks, or metaphors. Another literary device is an archetype. An archetype is commonly referred to as a hero, villain, or damsel in distress. This literary device can be found in the three stories “The Devil and Tom Walker”, “A Christmas Carol”, and “Devil and Daniel Webster”. This is evident in the text because the author is trying to refer to a person, a concept or an object that serves as a prototype of its kind. This concept of writing is clear in the story “The Devil and Tom Walker”.

Prior to reading a novel, simply by looking at its monomyth archetypes, it becomes apparent to one what common patterns are found when following along with the hero’s journey. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, readers follow Gawain on his quest to redeem the honor of his community. A number of archetypal situations occur to Sir Gawain and serve to promote Gawain’s conflicts, character, and theme development.

The uses of archetypes are crucial in helping in the development of a story. They come in handy in helping the writers to avoid the use of some clichés as well as negative things that may be viewed by the audience as being socially unfit and entirely unethical. Being significantly employed in the classification of characters, they play a crucial role in the determination various qualities that the characters may share. In the context of the Greek mythology, non-Greek as well as in the modern-time stories, different archetypes have been used including the heroes, shadows, mentors and much more to help in the classification of various characters. This paper will, however, focus on an in-depth exploration of shadows with a central focus on how the use of Villains and enemies have been used to classify characters in the context of Greek mythology, non-Greek mythology as well as the stories of the modern times in general.