The Sea: A large body of water (can include lakes, rivers, etc) that plays a significant role in the story, either positive or negative Tanya, Andrea, Jack, Claire p.4
The Role of the Sea The sea remains a constant fixture in our lives and entices us with romanticized ideals of love, adventure, freedom, self-discovery, and even danger. It is seen as containing the feelings of reawakening, freedom and realization, as well as danger, challenge, captivity and mystery. Usually can be more than one and plays both a positive and negative role in the hero’s journey.
In Pirates Of The Caribbean... Adventure Danger Freedom Love The Sea represented: Negative: Often causes setbacks for Jack Sparrow. For example, stormy seas and windless seas act as both a danger and a prison for Jack and his crew. The Kraken and pirate enemies make the sea a more hostile environment. Positive: Captain Jack Sparrow once remarks that “[his] first and only love is the sea. The sea is commonly Jack's escape from imprisonment, or danger that waits for him on land.
In the Lord Of The Rings… The Sea Represented: New Beginning :(sea) The elves take the boats to go to a new land across the sea and begin an entirely new chapter of life. Time always moving without physical change (rivers) Purification: In "The Two Towers" the ents break down a dam whose waters then flood the fortress of Saruman, the bad guy, and wash away his evil soldiers and factories, thereby purifying the land he had tainted with his occupation.
In Harry Potter… The Sea Represented: Mystery/Unknown Deadly challenge Danger Example: The Lake in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" supported all of the archetypal characteristics to the left. Harry must delve into the calm surface of the Black Lake only to find himself immersed in an unknown realm where he will face many life threatening challenges. He must fight through mer-people and other underwater dwellers in order to reclaim the most important thing to him. It is a time where the hero must face the trials of the sea, or lake in this case, to reach a final goal.
In the Little Mermaid... The Sea Represented: Captivity: throughout the entirety of the disney classic, Ariel yearns to be up on the land with the humans, but her father won't allow it. so she is trapped under the sea.( listen to "Part of Your World" no one says it like Ariel.) Despite her feelings at the beginning of the story she later realizes the water was home to her family and even she could be happy " Under the Sea".
The Odyssey WHAT WE SAW Deadly Challenge/Danger: Odysseus and his crew encounter many dangers on the open sea such as sirens, whirlpools, and other creatures who lead them astray. Captivity: When there is no wind, and the ship is out of reach of land, the crew is trapped in the sea, and cannot get home to Ithaca. Freedom/escape: After Odysseus had been trapped in the cave of the Cyclops they escaped into the sea, and were free from the danger that remained on land. Realization: After going through all of the trials the sea put forward Odysseus realizes he wants nothing more than to be home with his wife again.