Archetypes A Review For The Natural

Influences on Malamud’s The Natural The Natural King Arthur Legend Everyman Play Baseball history Archetypes ParzivalTragic flaw (hamartia) Grail quest Symbols Eddie Waitkus Black Sox scandal of 1919 Babe Ruth Ted Williams Motifs Colors Journey of the hero Themes The antihero Protagonist represents humanity Antagonists represent virtues or vices Antagonists attempt to either guide protagonist to or distract pro from the path of good Allegory

A Review of Archetypes  An archetype is an original model on which something is patterned or based.  This is one way to study literature because it provides a framework to approach any piece of fiction

Archetypes  Occur through all elements of the arts- literature, dance, painting, music and sculpture  Understood because they all come from nature or human nature

Archetypes of Literature  In literature archetypes occur as: Characters Colors and Symbols Themes Settings Life cycles

The Archetypal Characters  Hero  Villain  Fair Maiden  The Siren or Temptress  Mentor

The Archetypal Hero  HERO can either be male or female Usually superior to common people in three ways:  1. Physically  2. Mentally  3. Morally

The Archetypal Hero  Can be physically inferior and still be a hero. (Rudy)  Can be mentally inferior and still be a hero. (Hercules)  HOWEVER, a hero cannot be morally inferior. Moral superiority allows him to fight the villain, allowing good to triumph over evil

The Hero  1. Birth/Childhood A hero’s birth or childhood is unusual or marked by a unique event or experience. Examples: Ender is a third child in a society where only two children are allowed; Zeus, king of the gods, is Hercules’ father; Anakin Skywalker conceived by the Force

Hero  2. Preparation A hero must prepare for surviving on their own, the quest and the ultimate battle. Goes through mental, moral and intellectual development Often the hero leaves his family or home during this stage Examples: Frodo travels to Rivendell, then to Mordor; Peter Parker learns to control his powers; Batman trains with the League of Shadows

Hero  3. Quest Quest is the perilous journey that the hero must go alone. No one may help. The hero can try out what he/she has learned During the quest, hero travels to and through various wastelands. The hero sees the other side of life. Examples: Luke Skywalker must destroy the Empire; Frodo must throw the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom

Hero  4. Ultimate Battle To succeed on his own, the hero uses all the skills he has learned against the enemy. The battle itself becomes the initiation into adulthood and elevates them to hero status. Examples: Luke must fight Darth Vader and the Emperor; Harry Potter must duel Voldemort

Hero  5. Triumphant Return or Death Final Stage of Hero’s life Hero lives or dies – either way, the hero is honored

The Archetypal Antihero  An antihero is a protagonist who lacks a moral compass when he/she makes decisions.  Sometimes the antihero succeeds in the quest and destroys the villain, and sometimes the hero fails.  The antihero’s success depends on his/her ability to learn from experience, especially failure.

The Antihero:  Might go through all five stages of the hero.  Does not contain the noble qualities of a hero. Selfishness Ignorance Foolishness – repeating the same mistake over and over Jaded view of people and/or ideas Lack of courage, grace Pursues a noble cause, but willing to break the law to achieve his/her goal

The Antihero:  Could fail in the quest, ultimate battle, and triumphant return.  Could be loved or hated by society.

Examples of Antiheroes in Movies  Han Solo in the Star Wars series  Danny Ocean in Ocean’s Eleven  Michael Corleone in The Godfather  Max Rockatansky in Mad Max  Tony Soprano in The Sopranos

More Examples of Antiheroes  Dirty Harry in the Dirty Harry series  Porter in Payback  Luke Jackson in Cool Hand Luke  Napoleon Dynamite in Napoleon Dynamite  Snake Plissken in Escape from New York  Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean

Character Types - Villain  An archetypal villain is: At least as physically strong as the hero, OR At least as intelligent as the hero (or both) Not necessarily against the hero, BUT Their motivations will put them on a collision course

Character Types - Villain Usually dark in dress and colors Is the character the hero must battle in his search for himself Is the character the hero must defeat to conquer evil. Examples: Darth Vader, Voldemort, Saruman

Character Types - Fair Maiden  Archetypal Fair Maiden is: The romantic focus of the hero and/or the villain The victim who must be saved from evil. Pure and innocent of the world’s evil ways.

Character Types – The Temptress/Siren  The temptress or siren: Is often a secondary love interest for the hero Is a contrast to the fair maiden or damsel in distress Lures men to their doom

Character Types - Mentor  Archetypal Mentor is: Is the one who prepares the hero for the journey and the ultimate battle Is the person who provides the lessons the hero uses during the quest and ultimate battle Has lessons that provide moral strength

Character Types--Mentor May give up his life or make sacrifice to save another or save the cause Also known as the shaman or wiseman Examples: Gandalf (Lord of the Rings) or Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)

Archetypal Colors and Symbols  Archetypal colors get their meanings or symbolism through their existence in the natural environment.  Each color has positive and negative meanings associated with it.

Colors  RED Seen in nature as blood symbolizes passion (both love and anger) symbolizes courage, violence Negative: associated with sin (scarlet woman) Valentine’s Day

Colors  BLACK recalls the night source of fear, coldness, scary things that go bump in the night (evil) death sin Examples:  Poe stories, Darth Vader, Bad Guys, mystery, the devil, not being able to see or penetrate the darkness Positive: Elegance, sleekness, simplicity

Colors  WHITE associated with light, day, goodness things untouched by human hands symbolizes innocence and purity Examples:  Good guys wear white hats, brides, fair maidens, knights, unicorns Negative: Sterility, heat, sickness, nothingness

Colors  BLUE Think of the sky, or still water symbolizes peace, tranquility Negative: bruising, sadness, lack of oxygen, and death

Colors  GOLD / YELLOW Think of the sun created awe in people--wealth think of the precious metal ore remains the same, does not tarnish symbols of gods and royalty fullness of life, ripeness, harvest Negative: deceit, cowardice, treason, jaundice, sickness

Colors  GREEN Think of spring freshness renewal symbolizes growth, life and fertility Vegetation myths (their gods were little Jolly Green Giants--of the earth--rejuvenation each spring) Negatives: Jealousy, Inexperience

Colors  PURPLE Royalty Purple dye is hardest to process, only the wealthy could afford it. Wisdom, valor Negative: bruising, rotten

Symbol  Acts as both itself and something else.

Archetypal Themes  Used in literature to express the need “to set the universe on the right course.”  Basis of legends and myths  Need for righteous life  It is the moral life succeeding

Archetypal Themes  Think of themes of westerns, “Star Wars”, cartoons, comic books with heroes and villains, legends and myths.  The bad deserve to lose, the good should always win, the power of love should be stronger than the power of hate.

Archetypal Themes  The 3 Big Ones: Love conquers all Good will triumph over evil Hate, if victorious, will destroy all

Setting  Setting includes time, place, and atmosphere  Pay attention to the time of day a story takes place.  Settings are carefully chosen by the author to emphasize point of story  DAY=Good things, rational things  NIGHT=Bad things, confusion

Setting  Two basic settings: Garden OR Wasteland  Often find the journey is the destination

Setting: Garden  The place that man has always struggled to return to (reminiscent of the Garden of Eden)  The symbol of a perfect society  Where man “lives happily ever after”  The final destination of the hero’s journey

Setting: Garden  Eternal Spring Temperate climate Abundance of everything (food, water, shelter) Innocence and simplicity of life Harmony between man and man, man and nature. There is leisure time and love.  In short, this is utopia  Garden colors are green and gold

Setting: Garden  Garden Characteristics WATER:  the most important garden characteristic  can’t live without it  Large % of body composition  Needed for crops, growth, rituals, transportation, renewal, cleansing  Some water is holy; some restores youth

Setting: Wasteland  Wasteland Characteristics Either no water or too much water antagonism, hatred, war, problems society is complex and difficult to understand Dangerous, unhappiness Extreme temperatures: too hot or too cold Nature is not calm; it destroys (fire, flood, hurricane, droughts, plagues, etc.)

Setting: Wasteland Man must work all the time Loss of innocence Wasteland colors: gray, brown, black Ironically: as man attempts to build his own garden, he is often destroying it for others. Example: sometimes business men are so busy trying to work so their families can have garden existence (suburbs) that they create a wasteland of their lives (workaholics)

Archetypal Life Cycles  Cycles are the circles or patterns of life  They are understood by man as being constant and unchanging  A cycle repeats itself over and over  As life ends for one, it starts for another

Archetypal Life Cycles  Affirms Jung’s theory that we know some things by viewing our natural surroundings  Human life Cycle encourages thoughts of life after death the dawn follows night, spring follows winter

Archetypal Life Cycles  Common Life Cycles Life  birth, childhood, adulthood, and death Seasons  spring, summer, fall, and winter Time  dawn, daylight, dusk, and night Meals  breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner

Parallel Cycle  In literature: If it’s night, the presence of evil lurks If it’s autumn, things will go sour soon