NCHS AP English Language

Archetypes by Kyle Smith

According to Jungian psychology and his philosophy on life, archetypes play major roles in people's lives. Archetypes are "collectively inherited" and contain unconscious ideas as well as patterns of thought. This instictive characteristic often appears in stories of mythology and religion due to a collection of many unconscious ideas. Each person has their own individual psyche which shapes what kind of person he or she may be. Jung (for whom the Jungian philosophy is named after) once said, "There are as many archetypes as there are typical situations in the human life"; this proves what has been said in the previous sentence. Our own archetypes can be affected by ure, race, and other factors that contribute to our daily lives. I liked an analogy Jung made in reference to the makeup of an archetype. He described how crystals give form to the molecules around them in a stereometric system, but in fact are quite indiscoverable, which relates to the definition of an archetype.

In Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Ishmael, the protagonist, has a passionate desire to sail on the great sea for an extensive period of time. He has no idea why he wants to do this, but thinks that this "dream" can be inherited from birth. This is his archetype! Also, his name brings a significant meaning to the novel. "Ishmael" means "outsider." This contributes to the story in a way such that Ishmael does not know what to expect on his voyage to sea and is kind of excluded by his seamates. His name was inherited, and not picked by choice by him. But this is not his only archetype, for he also has a prejudice against Queequeg when he first meets him. The tribal man's s and lack of proper language causes Ishmael to develop a bias against him because Ishmael had never interacted with a man of this kind before. He believes Queequeg is cannabilistic which forces Ishamel to be quite cautious along side the huge harpooner. But soon after meeting him, Ishmael warms up to him and removes his bias as he realizes the barrier between the two men was completely unneccessary. Ishmael's archetypes can only be derived from the meaning of a true Jungian archetype.

Kyle Smith

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 10:44 PM