ARCHETYPAL ELEMENTS (11/23/07)
Description: In complete sentences, post an archetypal characteristic
of your hero (plot, setting, character, symbolism, etc.) making sure
that the element you've chosen does not duplicate that of any of your
classmates (first in wins). Based on your notes on archetypes and your
independent research,explain how this characteristic or element is
typical of archetypal heroes and their stories. AVOID PLOT SUMMARY!
Then make one comment about an element posted by a classmate. Is he or she
correct? Add insights or details to his or her posting. For a complete grade,
students should have one original post and one comment each. Get ahold of your friends! Ask them to comment (intelligently) on your posting!
Impress me with your perspicacity!
Mrs. Graham
92 comments:
Children Of Men by P.D. James, was the book that I choose to read. This story takes place during, a time were the whole world has become infertile. The last-born adult has just died. The setting is in New England the year is 2021.In this story Theo Faron is considered in my view to be the archetypal element due to the fact that he has an unhealable wound a long with other archetypal elements. This wound is unseen and for the most party unknown to most people. The wound is that he killed his one and only daughter by hitting her while backing the car out the driveway“ I remember the gentle bump under my rear left wheel like a ramp but softer, more yielding, more tender than any ramp. The immediate knowledge, certain, absolute, terrifying, of what it was (The Children of Men 28).” This lose made him loose his wife and home, he then moved back into the city of Oxford. While in Oxford he meet with a group of people that wont him to talk to his cousin Xan. His cousin Xan was the Warden of England. They wonted him to talk for the changes of things like the promotion of slavery, assisted mass suicides, compulsory fertility testing and state-run porn shops. He tried but to no avail the country had just become accustomed to the time and little to none thing could be changed. He would later meet a girl that was pregnant and he would dedicate his life to keeping her from becoming Xan Wife. The reason why he would do this is because everyone would see her as a sign of hope and in the wrong hands a sign of power and over whelming greed. This is why I found him to be an archetype.
An archetype I have found present in The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden is that of the devil figure portrayed by Idi Amin.
The devil figure is a common archetypal element found in many stories. He is the embodiement of evil that "offers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for the possession of his soul..."(Mildred C. Melendez, PhD). Idi Amin is the embodiement of evil in The Last King of Scotland. He was a ruthless, cruel, and unmerciful dictator of Uganda. His archetypal presence can be argued though because he is examined through the eyes of Dr. Nick Garrigan. I still find Amin to be representative of a devil figure because he appoints Nick Garrigan as his personal physician. Nick never protests for two reasons. He understands the power of Amin, and he is enticed by a better paycheck and moving to the city.
Another archetypal element in The Last King of Scotland is the fall of the hero. Nicholas Garrigan is the hero in the novel, he becomes indirectly corrupted and prefers to keep a more or less veil of ignorance to what Amin is doing.
The archetypal element I found in The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri was the quest. Gogol Ganguli throughout the book is on a quest for identity. He is on a search for his own identity. He is a first generation American who comes from an interesting family situation. When he finds it, he was able to make peace with his family. The archetypal element of the quest is the search for something, that when found will restore facility to a wasted land. This happens with Gogol Ganjuli and his search for identity.
The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden, was the book that I choose to read this quarter for English IV. The story takes place in Uganda, Africa were many of the people of Uganda are suffering from many diseases and depression. The story is about a young Scotish Doctor by the name of Nicholas Garrigan who goes to Uganda to go an practice medicine in Africa. However, once Garrigan had arrived he was called up to one of the most unexpected accident in which dealt with a car accident that involved running over a cow. Shortly after he soon finds out that it was Idi Amin who at this time is the dictator of Africa, and from this event is where the young Scotish Docter begins his journey towards his new destiny that might overcome his life. One of an archetypes element in my perspective I believe that the protagonist Nicholas has a quest in his life in which he has to journey to find greatness for himself in medical treatment. Another archetypal element that our hero has, is that he is a young man from the Provinces who arrives to Africa to do some tasks that he was willing to do,"and eventually he witnesses more than his fill of horrors before escaping with his life intact but his reputation marred"(Mosely, Merritt, The World We live in). In which this case he must find out a way to overcome the fatal, but horrifying grasp of Idi Amin.
Theo Faron is the "hero" of the book Children of Men by P.D. James. The setting of the novel takes place in the future and in England. The world together is on a quest to find the cure for infertility. Men are no longer are feritle and the human race is on a slow down fall to extinction. The antagonist can be seen as Xan, which is Theo's cousin and the warden of England. Another view of a antoagonist can be infertility. I say this because the world is agaisnt the fact that there is no way of reprodcution. Xan's downfall is his lust for power. In a way Theo represents the good while Xan represents the bad. A common theme in many novels is good versus evil(bad). This is seen in The Children of Men through the two cousins. This theme can also be seen with other chacarters in the novel, such as the Omegas and the normal people. The theme of good versus evil is the archetype I found to be apparent.
Aarington had a great view on the wound of Theo. The wound i unseen to many , howver the readers only know from his journal. it is unhealable due to the impact it has had on Theo's life. The killing of his own daughter did infact determine the outcome of the rest of his life.
In "The Children of Men" by P.D. James, the hero is, in my opinion, Theo. The reason why I believe this is because he is on a quest. Theo is on a quest in a way to find peace. He has killed his daughter, on accident, but he seems to never have forgiven himself for that. In his mind, his wife also has not let that tragedy go. Theo has a great task at hand, which is to safely bring the newborn child into the world. With all the chaos and destruction in the world, Theo has to constantly watch his back to ensure that the human race will not become extinct.
I agree with Aarington. Theo has an unhealable wound. He has to live knowing that he killed his only child. This child tore his life apart. After Olive died, he and his wife constantly fought, and eventually divorced. To make up for it, in my opinion, Theo is trying to help birth the child.
Within The Children of Men, Theo portrays archetypal characteristics such as his heroic quest to revitalize human life. Theo is on a quest to restore new life into the world. From the looks of reality, the Earth is damned to total elimination of the human race. What Theo is attempting to revive can bring the human race away from its path of devastation. It is the fact that the human race is in need of being saved. It is the archetype, Theo, who leads it into deliverance. He is the archetype for finding something that improves an unfortunate circumstance. The struggles that Theo faces in The Children of Men revolve around an attempt to “restore fertility to a wasted land” even when literally this is exactly what he plans to accomplish. Theo stands out from the rest of the characters in that he has this archetypal element of being a lone hero in a quest against the masses but for the masses.
Alex M. made an interesting point of relating good and evil to the book. I never thought of any character representing evil.
During the reading of my book "The Children of Men" I found the archetypal element of "The Task". To understand why I chose this elemnent you must know a little background from my story. It is the year 2021 and the world is infertile. A child hasn't been born for 21 years. The last-born delivered in 1998 has just died. The setting of my story is in New England. In this time of despair England is being controled by Xan Lyppiatt also known as the Warden of England. He is more like the dictator of England if you ask me. He is exiling the old when they reach 60, encouraging and assisting suicide groups, and letting prisoners run lose on a island. The main charactrer who posses the archetypal element is Theo Faron. Theo has taken upon himself the task of making sure a lady's baby is born. This would be the first child to be born and to save the future and hope of the human race he plans to dedicate his very life to the delivery of this child. He must also go against his cousin Xan who will plans to make this woman his wife and use her as an example. I geuss you could also say Xan is the antagonist. Theo was once a introverted, shy, and depressed person. Which also adds to the archetypal characteristics. Theo changes on his journey and the characteristic is a slight change to accommodate present-day situations. Reasons above is why I chose Theo as my archetypal hero.
I agree with aarington's blog involving the unhealable wound. Also with what Ciera said. The only thing I can not agree on is that it is unseen. Anyone who has meet him in the book has realized that Theodore has been through somehting. That is why he acts the way he does. the reason may be inknown but the man reflect greatly that he is introverted and has been hurt in my opinion.
The book I chose to read was The Children of Men. The character that displays archtypal characteristics is Theo Faron in my opinion. He is on a quest to save the human race. To understand my last statement some background information should be stated. We learn at the beginning of the book its the year 2021 and the last person to be born was killed. All the men are infertile which means no more babies can be born. During Theo's quest he comes across this women who is pregnant. He thought something couldn't be right but it was true the lady was pregnant. He knew it was hope for the human race. This baby could honestly represent a whole nation adn theo would be apart of it. Keeping this secret from his cousin Xan, who is also the warden of England, placed a burden on his heart but it was for his nation. I also believe through all this confusion with his quest to save the human race he was going through a quest with himself; a quest for peace in his heart. Theo killed his daughter on accident he has never forgave himself and his wife never forgave him. So i believe bringing this unborn child into the world and risking everyhting he has will help him forgive himself.
Arrington's blog was terrific he couldn't have explained the archetypal hero any better. Im another person that agrees with him when he says Theo has a wound that is unseen which is Theo killing his daughter. An i love how alex used a theme thats is in most stories the theme of good vs evil.
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The book I chose to read is The Namesake. It is a story about a Bengali family trying to maintain their culture in america, which is not an easy thing for the son, Gogol, to do. An archetypal element about the story is the fact that he is struggling to find something valuable and important. In his case, he is struggling for his identity and his place in the world.
I agree with Kirsten that he is on a journey to find himself.
In Children on Men by P.D. James Theodore Farron can be seen as the archeypal hero through his actions and his past. The story takes place in England during the year of 2021. The last person to be born was now dead, which told the reader that human beings were a dying species. Theo's child hood was not very pleasent since his father died while he was still young. He was left with his mother and spent every summer with his cousin Xan and his parents, whom were very wealthy. During this time it seemed as thouhg he would only live, without faith and belief. Theodore Farron is introduced as a fifty year old man who is a historian and a professor. He is cousin of the Warden of England who is very powerful. One day, a women named Julain approaces Theo to ask for his help, and from this point he becomes involved with them until the end without realizing it at first. He becomes very much in love with Julain and is therefore ready to give his life up for her. At the end of their journey he is face to face with his cousin in which he has to make an important decision, whether to kill him or not. Xan is he antagonist of the novel and he is killed by Theo to keep Julian and her baby safe.
I chose the Empire of the Sun as my ROR book. The protagonist of my story is Jim, a young boy who is living with his rich parents in China while the war is about to explode. Jim starts to get worried when the news that the war is going to start circulates the town. When the war exploded, Jim got separated from his parents, forcing him to grow up and open his eyes to the real world.
One clear archetypal characteristic of Jim is that he starts a journey. At first his journey consists of hiding from the war. However when he gets thrown into prison, his journey changes, Jim starts to think a lot about his parents. So he decides to search for his missing parents. Throughout his journey Jim demonstrated a lot of courage. He is not scared anymore, and none can stop him.
This is a classic archetypal characteristic of any hero, because every hero is sent or decides to search for information or intellectual truth; Dante in The Divine Comedy, Canterbury Tales, and Lord of the Flies are some examples of this archetype.
I agree with Brett's comment because Theo is really a lone hero, he does things that he does not even realize and this is why he a perfect example of an archetypal hero.
The book I chose to read was Empire of the Sun by J.G Ballard. In this book the main character Jim has to learn to survive without his parents during the Japanese occupation of China. Jim lives in many different concentration camps along the way and becomes very independent person learning how to live without his parents aid. One archetypical element that I found was Jim’s initiation; this is because he must mature past his childhood into a more adult like person even though he is still very young. He also is participating in a long journey during the entirety of the war. He is trying to survive in order to find his way home and be back to his parents at the end of the war. He journeys to several different concentration camps and eventually makes it through finding his parents after the war. This can also be seen as a fight between good and evil. Good being the British that were living in China and the evil being the Japanese who tore them from their homes in China. These are the archetypical elements that are very apparent throughout this book.
While reading the book Empire of The Sun, the protagonist of the story is Jim, who is only a young boy when he is left alone to fend for himself when his parents never return home after attending a Christmas party. This leads to the archetype of becoming an orphan at an early age. It is often typical that hero’s become abandoned; this then leads to their humbleness and wanting to look out for others. Jim looks out for his parents even though he knows that they will not return. While Jim explores the city he looks and watches the people of the city and how they run from the war. while he also searches for his parents he beigns a journey which leads me to Igors blog.
Igor stated in his blog that jim was on a jounery for his parents, this is true. It is interesting that only a young boy could be abel to become so strong and fearless. This shows how determined Jim is and how connected he feels to his family
"The Children Of Men" by P.D. James is a terrifying look into the future of our world. The protagonist of the story is a man named Theo Faron. Theo is a man is his fifties who has grown apathetic towards life. He no longer finds joy in living, and he has lost hope living in their apocalyptic world. Despite all of this Theo shows many archetypal elements when he meets the woman and her baby. His hope is revitalized and he risks his life to make sure that the woman and her baby survive. He takes on the task of getting them both to freedom.
"The Children Of Men" by P.D. James is a terrifying look into the future of our world. The protagonist of the story is a man named Theo Faron. Theo is a man is his fifties who has grown apathetic towards life. He no longer finds joy in living, and he has lost hope living in their apocalyptic world. Despite all of this Theo shows many archetypal elements when he meets the woman and her baby. His hope is revitalized and he risks his life to make sure that the woman and her baby survive. He takes on the task of getting them both to freedom, and doing this makes him the hero of the story.
I chose children of men as my book, although many say that Theo is the hero,i would have to disagree. it could be argued that Kee who is the mother of a new born is the hero. I consider her the hero because the world has less than a century to live and the only hope they have is with the baby Kee had. The baby she had is a mysterious birth and where she came from exactly nobody really knows except that she is a fugee from Africa.Kee is also on a quest to get to the scientist as much as Theo is except that its more of her quest as she is the one with the baby. The setting alone is archetypal because everything is chaotic and disordered with civil war going on. Her weakness is that she is handicaped with a baby by having to look out for it and taking care of it while she avoids conflicts. I think her being the one to save the world symbolizes women as saviors of the world while men are the destroyers of the world, as all they've accomplished is war among themselfs.
I agree with Ja nee, the unhealable wound that Theo has is obviously seen. Having killed his own daughter has changed him drastically while torturing himself mentally. Perhaps he would not be helping out Kee if the incident was to not happen.
I agree with Ja-nee. Theo took it upon himself to ensure the lady's survival. He saw the lady as the hope for the world and a better future. He helped her for the good of all mankind.
First I would like to Thank all those how agreed with me on my blog. Secondly I agree with Alax and Ja-nee even though the wound was unseen people could tell that there was a problem and that it did have a lot to do with ever thing he did in the story. With out that tragic accident he probably would not have done the thing need to keep the pregnant woman alive and safe.
The Last King of Scotland, by Giles Foden, is a book about a very powerful dictator’s, Idi Amin, rule in Uganda, Africa. This book is told through Nicholas Garrigan’s, Amin’s personal doctor, point of view. He is not your typical hero because he starts off as Amin’s friend. The archetypal element in this story that sticks out to me is the fact that Nicholas Garrigan is naive. He is one of the closest people to Idi Amin but he does not see the true evil that lies within him. He is blinded by the dictators appealing side and either does not see, or does not want to see what is really happening around him. It takes a visit to the Amin’s torture chambers to really open his eyes to the horrible truth of whats going on in Uganda.
I agree with Alyssa about Idi Amin being the devil figure in the book. He isnt recognized by the hero, Nicholas Garrigan, at first because he is blinded by ignorance. Amin is a perfect devil figure because he is appealing in personality but still a murderous person on the inside.
The book that I chose to read was "The Children of Men." I believe that the hero in the book is Theodore Farron. An archetypal hero consists of many characteristics. One characteristic that the hero possesses is that of the "caregiver." The caregiver is on a quest to help others without gaining anything for himself. Theodore is a great example of the caregiver because he helps protect a pregnant lady whom he does not know. He does everything in his power to make sure that the baby is born and is safe. This is why Theodore Farron is the archetypal hero in "The Children of Men."
I would definitely have to agree with Aarington and his view of the unhealable wound that Theodore must live with. It is undoubtedly correct that Theodore's wound is unseen. He lives his life as if nothing has happened and I believe that this wound led him to dedicate his life to the birth of this child.
I will have to agree with Jerrett perspective toward Nicholas and the friendship with Idi Amin. He is blinded by the dictators appealing side in whether he is a good man, but underneath Idi there is a hideous and gruesome mind that Idi has that Nicholas does want to see the truth.
The character in my novel, "The Last King of Scotland" who I think has archetypal elements is Nick Garrigan. I chose Nick Garrigan and the archetypal element of "usually handsome, hunky, and intelligent". I say this because he used all three of two of them during two different events, then all three of them when he was with General Amin's wife Kay. When he first arrived in Uganda, he was on the bus and met a beautiful young Ugandan woman. While on the bus, he charmed her with his smile, his innosense, and sense of humor. When her stop arrived she was giving him hints to get off. She was basically saying "Get off the bus, and come have sex with me because I think you are hot!" The second reason I chose him and this element is because he really used his intellegence in this next scenario with the American doctor, at his new job in a Uganda village. When he arrived at his new job, the female doctor he was eyeing was the wife of the head doctor that hired him. After a couple of days getting to know her and her husband, he realized that she was not happy with her marriage because her husband always put work first then her, plus he was always gone. This intrigued Nicks lust for her, and she was also growing strong feelings for Nick. But, she just could not cheat on her husband for Nick, but she still had very strong feelings for him. The final scenario Nick used his archetypal elements is when he met Kay Amin, General Amin's wife. When he met Kay, it was at a banquet and he was also Idi Amin's personal physician at the time. When they met, Kay eyed Nick up and down in amazment(handsome). Nick and Kay's relationship started when her son was having a seizure, and he came over to help him. He told her what was wrong with her son and what she needed to do from this happening again(intelligence). The climax of this story is when Kay and Nick start to develop feelings for each other, and had sex at one of General Amin's parties(hunky).
So, this is why I chose this archetypal element for Nick.
I agree with J. Will because Nick was being so dumbfounded and blinded by the violence that was putforth by his efforts of being General Amin's personal advisor/physician. He just could not see through that Mercedes-Benz that Amin was a very insane, corrupt man that wanted power, and would do anything to get it!
I agree with Roger's blog, because when Nick arrived in Uganda, he said he came to make a difference. He made a tremendous difference when he started work in the village helping the sick and giving them shot. When he did all this, he basically became a local celebrity. I believe in Roger's perspective of Nick having to be on a quest medical of success for the Ugandan people.
In the Children of Men by P.D. James, the main character, or protagonist, is Theo Faron. He is encounters a group of people that wish for a better England. One could observe that his acceptance to their cause was an archetypal element through a quest to rid the land of danger. The five fishes believe that England is improperly run by Theo's cousin Xan. An archetype for hero's is that they struggle for something valuable and important. I think that Theo does this once he finds out about the women with a child. He struggles to keep her safe because of the hope she holds for the human civilization.
The Empire of the Sun is my ROR book. The protagonist in the story is a young boy named Jim. He is living with his parents in China during the winter of 1941 which is around the time of The Pearl Harbor attack. This leads me to an archetypal characteristic of Jim which he is threatened by something and that something is the war and the fear of living without his parents. When the war began to kick off, Jim was separated from his parents. He struggles on his own trying to survive in order to find his way back to his parents, and eventually makes it through finding his parents after the war. Igor stated in his blog that jim was on a jounery for his parents, which is true. He enters many concentration camps and learns many new things. Then at the end of the war he eventually finds his parents.
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND WAS THE BOOK I CHOSE, AND I BELIEVE THE ARCHETYPAL ELEMENT THAT IS PORTRAYED THROUGH THE STORY IS THAT OF NICK GARRIGAN'S JOURNEY FROM JUST BEING IN UGANADA TO BEING APPOINTED AS THE PERSONAL PHYSICIAN OF IDI AMIN. IDI AMIN TRYS TO MAKE NICK BELIEVE THAT HE IS A GOOD MAN AND IT ACTUALLY STARTS OFF WORKIN. NICK IS TOO IGNORANT TO SEE THAT IDI AMIN IS NOT WHAT HE SAYS HE IS. HIS MIND ISNT OPEN ENOUGH TO SEE ALL THE TORTURE THATS REALLY GOING ON AROUND HIM. HIS JOURNEY IS LIFE CHANGING THROUGH ALL THAT HE SEES AND IT CAN MAKE YOU WANT TO STAND UP AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. HE'S NOT GOING TO JUST SIT THERE AND LET IDI AMIN JUST RUN THIS COUNTRY LIKE THIS AND KILL ALL THESE PEOPLE. SOMETHING INSIDE NICK IS GOING TO TELL HIM TO STAND AND TRY TO MAKE A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER OF THESE PEOPLE.
Empire of the Sun takes place in the time of World War II, where war, corruption, and bigotry ruled and forces a young boy named Jim into an archetypical journey. The novel takes the liberty of following along him archetypical journey, as he experiences at an early age the affects of war. He is robbed of his riches and prosperity and thrown into a whole new world deprived of his parents. From here he embarks on a journey in search of his parents, and a place in the world.
It is evident that Jim struggles to find out who he really is; what he believes and what he doesn’t. Though he does experience a physical journey, he also journeys through his own thoughts in order to find himself. From questions about helping people by running errands for them, to asking a woman in the cemetery about God in the sky, he did this to gain knowledge about aspects he didn’t understand. As he grew older he became a thinker, who began to observe situations, events, and objects as if they were times of enlightenment. Even in the midst of danger he thought about optimistic conclusions that bring questions to the readers mind. Events of enlightenment and maturity continue to signify that Jim still looked deep into the truths of the world around him. Many symbolic moments in the book mark times of growth and also the beginning and end to his many adventures. The journey begins with the booming of battleships to the witnessing the atomic bomb explosion on Nagasaki some hundred miles away.
Towards the end of his journey and finding his parents, he developed a relevant outlook on life and death. Life as a time of torture and adventures, and death was a time of remembrance, sorrow, and peace. The Empire of the Sun maintains a story line based upon the archetypical element of journey, and it is without question the task that is placed upon our hero Jim, who not only journeys through a deprived and torn city, but also through himself as he matures and gains new understanding of himself and the world around him.
I agree with Igor’s choice of the archetypical element of journey, because it is obvious to say that Jim does enter into an unknown world, and now he is forced to survive in order to be with those he loves once again. When Igor quotes “Throughout his journey Jim demonstrated a lot of courage. He is not scared anymore, and none can stop him”, this is a major event in the story because now he is ready to fight this new challenge and against the evil around him in order to regain his life again. Jim journeys for a cause that it full of righteousness, in order to find his family, and on the way he learns a lifetime of knowledge and understanding about the world and himself.
I agree with Kirsten that Gogol’s archetypal element is his quest for identity. In fact, it is the most prominent one. Isabel’s is also one that is recognizable, but personally I see his first name as his unhealable wound throughout the novel. Gogol is so ashamed if his name, he feels as if he does not fit in, it eventually becomes such a burden and embarrassment that he legal changes it to Nikhil. This name change serves as a ritual that allows him to blend in to the American society by not having such an odd name.
The Archetypal element that stood out to me the most in The Children of Men was how Theo represents the hero and this is backed up by how he is orphaned and is also on a journey. His quest is to find a way to prevent the human race from dieing out.
Another element that appears is the unhealable wound, Theo has to deal with the fact that he has killed his own daughter. Aarington made some good observations about this point. I agree this tragedy did in fact change his entire life.
I chose to read to book Children of Men by P.D. James. This story takes place in England and all mankind is steril or infertile to have childre. In opinion, Theo Faron is the protagonist. One of the achetypal elements of Faron is that he has an unhealable wound, of the guilty conscience by killing his one and only daughter.
The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden, was the book I choose to read for this quarter. The story is about a young Scottish doctor by the name of Nicholas Garrigan who is strong, hansom, and smart. He teams up with the dictator of Uganda. As Nicholas pleasures the girls and saves the dictator (Ida Amin) from minor cuts and bruises. Are protagonist seems to find him self in a bind and must find a way to escape form Uganda and the grasp of Ida Amin.
I agre with Gabrian Kings point on how Nicholas Garrigan is the archetypal hero because of his hansom looks, hunky shape, and his intelligents. He used all three characteristics of the archetypal hero.
I agree with Virginia's view on the other archetypal characteristic of Jim. Although at the beginning of the novel we don’t whether their parents are dead or not, we can consider Jim an orphan because his parents are not around and he is by himself. A lot of heroes from the past were orphan, but they still had the strength to overcome their problem.
The children of men by P.D. James was my choice for my reading. The story takes place during a time where the world has become infertile, not only this but the last human born adult has just been recently killed. That adult's name was Joseph Ricardo, also Ricardo was born in the year 1998. The setting of the story takes place in New England, year is 2021 where a child has not been born for over two decades. In my view Theo Faron is the main character with the hero in the story. Because early on in Theo's life he has gone through some horrible things in life, that main one is that Theo killed his own daugther while backing out of the driveway. But Theo has now moved on and is on a quest to save the human race. One point in the story leads to Theo making sure a womans baby is born. It would be the first baby in over 20 plus years. The antagonist Xan. He is the cousin of Theo Furon. Xan is also the warden of England. Xan tries to get the woman and plans to marry her only for his selfish plans. Theo tries to keep this woman away from Xan, because evrybody sees this woman as a sign of hope and try to revive the human race. The archetypal element in the story is survival, because of the human race trying to survive. These are reason why I view Theo as a Hero.
I would agree with arington because Theo's unhealable wound makes him a depressed man. Theo has to live through and deal with the death of his only child, I think that Theo is making up for it by helping make this child be born.
Nick H. makes a very good point on how Ida Amin is trying to bully Nicholas into beliving he a good man the only thing left for Nicholas to do is to stand up to Ida Amin.
I AGREE WITH OTIS. WITH NICK HAVING TO FIND A WAY TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE GRASP OF IDI AMIN, THATS GIVES HIM AN ARCHETYPAL ELEMENT IN ITSELF. IN A SENSE HE HAS TO BE THE ONE TO BRING DOWN THE EVIL AND ARISE TO BETTER OFF EVERYONE ELSE
An archetype can be found in almost any story you read. There is a hero there is a beautiful women, evil etc. The same applies to the book The Children of Men Written by P.D. James. Theo Faron is out on a so called "quest" to save the human race's last chance for exsistance.
This is one example of why Theo Faron is an archetypal hero, his undertaking of this quest, a quest wichh the exsistence of the human race relies on.
Another element, as many of my peers have pointed out already[by the way i agree with all of you on this] his unhealable wound. The killing of his own daughter. "the humiliation. I couldn't move, i couldn't get out of the car, couldn't even streach out my hand to the door...i can't pretend i wasn't responsible" (pgs. 28-29)
Here Theo experienced a pain an anguish so big- never in his life time would it be able to heal. This wound though would both hinder and help him on his quest to save the human race.
SInce the story takes place in the Year 2021 in the state of chaos. Theo attempting to make it through this chaos and distractions adds to the archetypal setting. Getting through the obstacles that life itself throws at you.
I agree with Brett's post.
Theo is a Hero "not against the masses but for the masses" He is trying to not only save himself, but the whole of humanity. Whih would maybe would give him another chance at having decendants again.
While reading the Children of Men by P.D. James one archetypal element present a reversal of fortune. The story takes our minds to the future in the year 2012. We are presented with the overwhelming scare of infertility. We are faced with the death of last human born, which makes the reader examine the end of time. Theodore Faron is the hero in this novel. To me, he experiences a reversal of fortune, because of his normal and substantial past. He used to be a family man; he was married and had a young daughter. The reversal comes when he kills his daughter living him an unhealable wound. Shortly after he and his wife get a divorce and he is left without a family. The overall plot of the story gives the world a reversal of fortune due to the fear of the death of the human race and the end of the world as we know it.
Children Of Men by P.D. James was the novel i chose to read. The novel takes place where the world is infertile. The last person to be born has died. The story takes place in England around the year 2021.I think that kee is the hero in the story because she is the one that helps fertile the world again. Her childs birth is also mysterious but it is the key to the future so Theo Faron has helped kee through the hard times in order to keep the human race going again. So to me Kee is the archetypal element because she is the one that will fertile the world again so that the human race can go on and everything will be normal again.
I would agree with arrington because Theo killed his own child so he is always depressed. So to make up for it he helps kee get through all the mess and makes up for his childs death by continuing life by helping Kee get away so that life can go on and the human race would not go extinct.
In the contemporary novel, Children of Men by P.D. James, the protagonist as well as the archetypal hero is Theo Faron. This novel is set in the year 2021, when humans have become unfruitful and generations of people are dying. Theo in many ways is lost and is alone on his quest to cure the infertility in women. As he is also wounded in many veiled ways, he for see’s his quest as something that should be changed almost immediately. Theo is initially wounded by the death of his daughter which is a scar that has forever been unhealed. Another wound that has hurt him to go forth on his quest is the injustice of his cousin Xan. Another archetypal element Theo possesses is that of being a selfless person. As he is on his quest to help a lonesome pregnant woman, he is nothing but sympathetic and supportive of her. This is one strong quality that many archetypal heroes acquire.
I agree with Mikey’s comment on the element that Theo possesses. His fight for this grand cause is something that takes courage and strength which is what Theo has. I also agree with Silvia on how his unseen wound is something that is in his conscience, yet is something that is pushing him forward in helping this young lady.
I agree with Erica, because his task becomes evident as he is helping to save the pregnant women. Her child gives hope to the whole human race. This is the climax of the story, because saving the human race could be possible. At the beginning, we fear the end of the human race and now we are enlightened with the hope of this child. His task to save the human race gives the story an emotionally overpowering thrill. This portrays a hero.
In the book "The Last King of Scotland", the setting of the story is located in Uganda, Africa. It is a very sickly and depressing dreadful place. The hero og the is a man named Nicholas Garrigan. He is a Scotish Doctor. The antagonist of the story is Idi Amin, who so happen to also be the dicator of Uganda, Africa. He is kind of seen as the "evil warlord" of the story.The archetype of the story is Nicholas Garrigan, because his plot, or quest or task is to make Uganda a better place live iwithout sickness.
I read the Children of Men by P.D. James for my research paper.
It takes place during, a time were the whole world has become infertile. The last-born adult Ricardo has just passed away in the beginning of the book, “the death of Ricardo effected the entire world,” (James 5). The setting is in New England in the year is 2021 Theo Faron had a life tragedy that changed his life forever. Theo killed his little girl Dylan on accident by running her over, “I remember the gentle bump under my rear left wheel like a ramp but softer” (James 28). Theo lost his wife and his lively self. The world around Theo was out of control. Theo had a boring job in Oxford and just needed to get away, so when the death of baby Ricardo happened he took the escape. Theo went to see his father. Theo’s father taught him what his son needed to know in life in order to live. Theo never took care of anyone for a long time, so when his quest was to keep the woman safe from not being Xan’s wife it was hard for him. Theo is a mentor-pupil relationship because he had to teach the woman what she needed to know about being a mother. He also had to teach her how to protect herself and how not to trust everyone. Theo believed that there was no way a woman could get pregnant and bare a child. Theo’s heart began to fill with hate for the world and everything in it, just like everyone else did. Theo’s quest was given to him by his ex-wife. The wife kidnapped Theo and told him what he was going to do in order to help her anarchy group she wanted him to talk for the changes of things like the promotion of slavery, assisted mass suicides, compulsory fertility testing and state-run porn shops, but he did not want to. His wife then gave him a quest to find the human projects, and help the woman have her baby. The quest was hard for the Theo because he was scared of being killed before he found the human projects. The task was to help the woman get to a boat in the human projects and wait for a second boat by the bayou to send her away to be able to raise her baby with no harm in store for it. Theo had no idea that the woman was pregnant until she showed him her belly. Theo knew then that he was going to be in danger during his quest. Theo learned truth when he found out the woman was pregnant. Theo had no hope at first that the world’s population would stop being rude to one another. Theo later found that hope and dream that came true. Theo got the woman close to getting a boat when a man from the group he was helping stole the woman and the child. Theo knew he had to be a survivor in order to help the woman and child. Theo went into a building and found the woman and child in a corner scared for their lives because of the civil war that was taking place. Theo got the woman and child was shot by the man who stole her. Theo got the woman and the child, which was a baby girl out of the building. The baby girl was crying and the crying stunned everyone even the soldiers and anarchy groups that were fighting. Theo had hope then that his task was close to being over and he knew that one day love could be stored in people’s hearts. The woman was scared that they were too late and that the other boat had already came and she was out of luck. Theo survived long enough to finish his task and see the joy in the woman’s heart but not to live the joy with her. Theo learned something about himself and the world. Theo learned that he did have enough knowledge to teach someone how to live and that the world would store fertility in the future. Theo’s gun shot wound was the cause of his death. Archetypes sometime learn what they needed to learn and then die because of a wound that happened within his or her journey.
I agree with Brett K. because Theo believed that the world was damned. Theo then got hope that the world will have love again after he saw the fighting stop when a cry of a baby was heard. Theo may not have lived to see if that is what happened but he saw the beginning of a new start. Theo not only helped bring a baby into a hateful world but he helped the baby and the woman escape from a evil world. Theo was a hero also because he had to teach someone the way to raise a baby even after the fact he killed his own child. He tried again to love someone and help them survive.
The novel "Children of Men",by P.D. James,is an fascinating, suspensful, and provocative story. The setting of the story is in New England. The human race is became terrorized as it is become infertile and the last-born,Joseph Ricardo, has died. The protangonist in this story is Theodore Faron, an Oxford historian, who bascially holds the key to saving the human race. Faron to me contians a couple of archetypal heroic elements. He suffers a mental unhealable wound, which contains to him running over his daughter accidentley. He is also in love with a beautiful women, Julian."She was perfectly polite, unagressive. He might have supposed that she was puzzled by his comment by puzzlement she was surely unjustified. His remark had been inept, unthinking, condescending perhaps, but it hadn't been ridiculous. And if this encounter was the preliminary to a request that he should give a talk about the social histiry of the nineteenth century it was an unusual one",(Children of Men 41). He struggles for something very valuable, the human life. He runs into many monstorous people over time. The climax to me of this story is when Faron finds out that there is a young that is pregnant. This is why I consider Theodore Faron an archetypal hero.
The book I chose to read was The Namesake. In the Bengali family, Asima is a strong and courageous woman. She makes many sacrifices within her family to make them happy. I find many archetypal elements within her character. The fact that she had to leave everything behind in Calcutta and that she even had a arranged marriage to someone that she did not even know shows much courage. I also find that she is a risk taker because she moved with some man that she had never even see before in her life and to go with some stranger to some country is a scary feeling within itself.
I also agree with Isabel's comment because I also see how Gogol struggles to find his own person due to the fact of his family's culture and trying to fit in with the American society.
I also happen to agree with Aarington about his thoughts and facts aboout this novel. He did a really good job talking about Theo's unhealable wound and I don't think it could get any better.
I also agrre with Ciera, as Theo Faron trying his best not to let the human race become extinct.
A common archetypal element of most novels is the quest a hero embarks on to find himself. In the novels "Empire of the Sun", Jamie embarks on a journey to find his independence. At an early age Jamie lost his parents during a war in Shanghai. After the disapperance of his parents, he quickly has to learn that life was not as easy as expected. He was a raised in a high society where he was living lavishly. Once Jamie is found and taken to a Japanese conentration camp he soon realizes that he must collobrate. He also learns the trade of theivery which helps him to survive. At the end of the novel, the Americans take over the camp and everyone is released. Jamie is sent to an orphanage where he is reunited with mother.
The story that I read was the Children of Men by P.D James. The story is basically about the world becoming infertile nobody else can make babies the world ends when people die and its just like that.So the archetype that comes into the story is Theodore Faron and I feel like he is the protagonist of the story and many people are going against him throughout the whole story he tries to make it to where the world can still be alive and people can still live and make babies and carry on their legacy with one another. The way that he had it set up was different he wanted people to live even though it had to be to the point where he ended up sacrificing his life. Theodore was a person whom you can say is a great hero because of all the obstacles that came in the way with having the world still live and be alive still.Theodore was a going through things such as seeing his friends die. He was married and then he was going through a divorce his kid dided and he basically felt like the whole world was going to end because he couldn't even make babies anymore because of what was happeneing in the world, but just being able to see what could actually happen out there is what made him be able to go out there and actually save the world. Theodore also went through things that could happen in the Bible and that it also made him a stronger person and made him get through things easier no matter what was really going on in the world he was determined to fix the world and have it keep going no matter what was going on. Everything worked out for the best in the end.
I agree with everything noel said about the story and everything that went on with julian and her life he was definetley the true hero!
In the book The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden there is a Doctor named Nicholas Garrigan. who comes form Scotland. He graduated in Scotland and wanted to have something different than his father. SO he decides to go be a doctor in a small country in Africa called Uganda. So he could see the different types of medicines in the world. I think that the dictator in the book is Idi Amin not b/c he was a good guy but because he turns form a good guy that gives and help his doctor Nicholas but then when Nicholas stops doing what he wants he starts to torched him. but I think the Protagonist Defiantly is Nicholas because he stays strong in his beliefs and he puts up with the worg but then he had seen to much wrong so he leaves back to his country he could not put up with it any more. So I think he is the Protagonist because he escapes form Idi Amin and all the wrong that he was doing.
I agree with what sarah a. said about reversal of fortune. I never would have thought of that archetypal element. He did completely have a reverse of fortune.
I agree with Zenia because if you kill your Daughter you can not be healed by that. That wound will always be with you in what you did. I think that it would also be hard to over come all the pain that was cused in all the cauase.
The point that John brings up about The Last King of Scotland and it's archetypal hero as Nicholas, because he decides to take this journey to help people and encounters himself with "evil" otherwise known as Idi Amin, who at first is his friend and companion then turns on him- having to fight off this evil and return home.
Jim in my eyes is a true soldier. After being separated from his parents during a time of war, Jim is faced with many boundaries to overcome. He is living in China during the outbreak of WWII. He is a British youth who is curious about the world and everything that surrounds him. He likes to dive into an imaginary world filled with epic battles and thousands of fighter planes performing an epic light show in the sky.
After Jim is separated from his parents he is forced to survive on his own. An archetypal element that captured my mind was one that was probably overlooked by most people. Jim past over a large body of water believe it or not. He was assisted by two American soldiers in hiding, and in order to "hide out" with them for a few days, he must get in their boat and cross this large body of water. This element is important because it shows the extremes that Jim went to in order to survive. It may have been something that most people overlooked, but when I was reading the book I actually thought to myself "ha...an archetypal element!"
An archetypal element that is present in the novel, Children of Men, is the fall of the people which is a plot archetype. In the novel, due to the infertility of the human race, people began committing suicide and Xan, the dictator of Warden of England, began taxing surviving family members to reduce the suicide rate. The fall is a typical element of archetypal heroes in that, it is usually the hero’s responsibility to find a solution to the problem which is causing the fall of the people. This is what the quest or journey of the hero is based upon. In this novel, Theo, who I believe is the hero, has to find a solution to the infertility of the human race which would be his quest. Theo, the hero, would be described as a “caregiver” in that his quest is to help others. I do not think there can be a story that does not have a fall because it is basically the conflict of the story.
In the novel "The Last King of Scotland" the main character Nicholas Garrigan posses the archetypal characteristic of a mysterious birth. At the beginning of the story the reader is not told any preceding events. The way Nicholas just appears and helps Amin gives him a mysterious aura. This element is true about archetypal characters because of their occurrence in major literary novels. The comment that alyssa made about Idi Amin being the devil element has good insight. The actions that Amin commits shows his evil characteristics. He is the ruthless dictator, the devil.
I agree 100% with Virginia F. Jim is orphaned at a young age and it is up to him to figure out how to survive. Jim grows as an individual after becoming an orphan. He encounters boundaries and must learn to fight for his life, and if possible, help others too. Sometimes he found it hard because he was facing the possibility of starving.
By the way, I forgot to mention symbolism earlier. Symbolism can be found in the empire of the sun when Jim is looking into the dark sky and see explosions and lights flash before his eyes. This was from the aerial attacks. These flashes of lights remind Jim of the joys he used to have before the war: big parties and a life full of excitement!!!
I also agree with arington. Killing his daughter is something Theo will live with for the rest of his life. I do not see a way he would just forget about it something like this which makes it a unhealable wound.
Children of Men by P.D. James was the book that I chose to read. The story takes place in the future which the main hero of the story is Theo. He has many archtypal elements becayuse he has suffered in life with the death of her daughter and the divorce of his wife. He still has memories about them but he tries to stay strong.
The book I chose to read for my research paper was The Empire of The Sun, written by J.G. Ballard the main shift of the plot takes place when Jim who is the protagonist of the story is wrenched from his comfortable, privileged life in Shanghai. Jim is then forced to live like the poor Chinese, with deprivation and the constant threat of death following their every move. An archetypal characteristic of Jim, would be the fact that he is naïve also, I felt that the author was using him as spokes person, representing a whole society, this is also another archetypal characteristic that can be clearly seen in Jim. Furthermore, after being separated from his parents he would approach enemy soldiers with out fear. The reason he had no fear of them is because Jim is a young adolescent and does not know why he should fear them. Also, Jim represents a whole society. I believe that the author is using Jim to portray the American society at this time to the concept of a full scale world war.
The book I read was The Children of Men by PD James. The hero of this book is the main character, Theo. His archetypal element is the Man versus Nature concept. The human race is plagued with infertility and various countries are basically racing to find the cure. The hero, Theo, has come across a woman who has become pregnant (the nature part) and must protect her from society (man) in order to revive the human race.
I agree with Michael's element. The journey is a very prevalent archetype in hero stories. The journey across countries in that setting is a very difficult task for the protagonist of the book.
The book I chose to read was called "Empire Of The Sun" and it was by J.(ames) G. Ballard, the setting is Shanghai, China the main character is Jamie who prefers Jim, but I have decided to name a few elements, just as a precaution. Permit me to begin with the fact that when he comes home (both to his actual home and when he meets his parents) he does not even recognize himself, he realizes that he has not only changed in appearance, but in maturity. He has a mentor, or rather, a few mentor figures throughout his travels (I will not touch upon his journey since it has been repeated continuously) His first is Mr. Maxted, who talks with him and during the first part of his troubles, tried to convince him to surrender, the next of his mentor figures is Basie, an American soldier that is brought into a concentration camp alongside Jim, and who also teaches Jim how to survive and get food when Jim is sick. The last mentor-like figure is Dr. Ransome, who mentors Jim as to his education, and is more of a literal sense of a mentor rather than Basie and Mr. Maxted, of whom are more considered teachers rather than mentors (or vice versa). Next I would like to state the fact of going into hell, or a place that represents hell, which in this case can be many places. First of these places is Shanghai, before the chaos, it was a jovial and thrilling city to be in and to live in, there are people dancing outside the theater and there are hardly and harmful beggars, but afterwards, all the dancers are gone, patrol cars roam the streets, thugs lurk around corners, and it has turned into a place where evil (symbolically) lives. The next place is in the POV camp at Lunghua, which is more of a literal hell for Jim, he gets sick, people fight, he has to work for his food, etc. etc. This is a place that is so close to the thoughts about hell, that it is the main place of Jim's suffering, which brings me to the last archetypical element: Suffering. The Hero must suffer, in this case, Jim suffers greatly from the disappearance of his parents, the loss of his home, the disapproval and "shooing" off from Mr. Maxted, the rejection from most of the japanese, the sickness that befalls him in Lunghua, the struggle to survive and to collect food, all of these are instances where Jim has suffered, or where Jim has been hurt, whether physically, mentally, or emotionally, Jim has been hurt.
i agree with what michael said that in jim's situation he must adapt to his new surroundings in order to survive.
Children Of Men is the book I’m posted my blog. Children of Men is a book about a man who is living in the future and at this time the world in total chaos. In over twenty years no one has had any kids and the world is on its verge of extinction and woman or looked at as very worthless. I would compare him to Moses from the Bible. If you think about it Moses lead his people out of the slavery of Egypt and to the land of milk and honey. Before Moses was lead to this movement he made mistakes and he fled the city while society was crumbling for his people. When Moses was a baby Pharaoh had all the little boys his age killed and that connects with how two generations of humans are extinct. Here we have Theo in our novel trying to save the world by bringing this new born child into the earth and is about to be successful.
I agree what Taylor W said because Theo proved to everyone that he was the archytpal character. Even though he had his faulst with his wife and child, he still managed to be the hero.
The Children of Men is a quite interesting novel by P.D. James set in 2021. This novel centers on the results of the infertility in England. Theo simply fits the position of an archetype in this novel. Throughout this novel his quest is to restore better renewed lives for people. The last person to be born was now dead, which bothered Theo. He made it a mission to give to others instead of himself. Which in my opinion had to do with him accidently running over his daughter Natalie.
I definitely agree with Aarington. Theo did have an unhealable wound and I also agree that it was not visible. It wasn't a wound from falling off a bike or getting hit in the eye, rather a more interal wound. A wound of pain and love, this would was untangable.
Another person I agree with is Taylor. She made a couple of good comments about Theodore Faron. We both had a couple of good thoughts that were kind of similiar.
I agree with andre P because of how he thought about theo and how he is the hero. Also i agree with what he said about Phorah. Our views are somewhat the same!
first I disagree with what virginia said, first because they do return from the christmas party, but instead of going home, they decide to go to a hotel near the river because there is a problem with the chinese person who owns their home, and Jim is never abandoned, he is separated from his parents, his parents dont die, but are separated (contrary to what Igor said, leading me to disagree with Igor too) his dad is taken into a hospital, and it is said that his mom had escaped. Next I disagree with Igor, and what virginia said about Igors post by stating that of the archetypical journey's that we learned about in class, none of which are for parents, there are: for identity, knowledge, salvation, vengeance, to rid the land of danger, and to rescue the girl. None of these can relate to what is said about Jim's parents, thus, I would like to render Igor and Virginia's statements null and void
Next I will choose to disagree with what was stated by Caleb, which was "I believe that the author is using Jim to portray the American society at this time to the concept of a full scale world war." I will now tell you why this is not an opinion, it is outright wrong. One, J.G. Ballard was alive during the second World War, two, he was only a child during the time, three, the nickname for James, is Jim, four, it clearly states in the foreward of the book "Empire of the Sun describes my experiences in Shanghai China, during the Second World War, and in Lunghua C.A.C., where I was interned from 1942 to 1945. For the most part this novel is an eyewitness account of events I observed during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and within the camp at Lunghua. So, I would also like to declare Caleb's personal view on this topic to be, WRONG. Jim, or rather, James was an English boy, born in China, hence his parents moved to China, then had him born, save the meeting of the American soldiers, this has nothing at all to do with America, in the end, they (Jim and family) leave for England.
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The Children of men was set in the year 2021, in the last working government, Britain. The archetypal element found in my story that stuck out for me was that the protagonist, Theo he had an insatiable love for a beautiful "maiden", Julian. It is evident through Theo's loving care in his protection of his wife.
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I believe what Michael R. said ( without me reading the book) makes a case not only for the initiation element but also for the orphaned at an early age element. But non the less that evidence brought forth by Mr. Rudduck seems valid and fits the with the element discussed.
I agree with Caleb’s view other then the fact of representing the American society. If anything I believe it would represent the English society due to the fact that Jim was English. I also thought of the possibility that the author may have been using Jim as a representation of a whole society due to the fact that Jim is the most outspoken of the bunch for the most part leading the society to freedom towards the end of the novel.
Also, to comment on a novel that I have not read, I found Chad’s evidence about the insatiable love for a beautiful “maiden” in The Children Of Men to be a valid argument for a archetypal element due to the fact that while watching the movie based off of this novel, I felt as if the director was trying to exemplify this element throughout the movie.