Jungian Archetypes

As promised, I’m going to proceed with some thoughts on Dumbledore, but we must begin with a quick overview of Jung’s “archetypes” as it relates to mythology. Whether you buy Jung’s “collective unconscious” stuff or not, considering his archetypal patterns enhances our understanding of many classic and contemporary works of fiction.

In short, “An archetype is an idealized model of a person, object, or concept from which similar instances are derived, copied, patterned, or emulated” (Answers.com). There are many archetypes (though Jung had them broken down into four main categories - self, shadow, animus, and anima), and these archetypes can be complex. Perhaps the best way to understand would be to illustrate. We’ll look briefly at three different archetypes: Hero, Wise Old Man, and Shadow.

The hero is perhaps the archetype we identify with the most, because the hero’s journey is supposed to take us, the readers, though our own journey. The hero passes through initiatory rites in the form of heroic deeds and quests to achieve stronger character and the prove his or her status as the hero of the story. Examples abound: each Star Wars film, for example, is part of Luke Skywalker’s development as hero. Clearly, in the Harry Potter books, Harry is out hero, and his yearly journey at Hogwarts is his heroic journey filled with heroic deeds.

The Shadow is the “bad guy” of the story, the presentation of the “dark side” of things. It’s important to recognize that the Shadow embodies the potentially negative/evil traits that exist within the hero, and hence the hero’s overcoming the shadow is simultaneously the hero’s overcoming the evil within. Voldemort is clearly the Shadow in Harry Potter, and the striking similarities between the two serve to illustrate the point well.

The Wise Old Man is the guide, the one who possesses wisdom and understanding that is needed by the hero in order to accomplish his or her task. Obi-wan Kenobi, Gandalf, Merlin, and of course, Albus Dumbledore fit this pattern. We’ll explore Dumbledore in coming posts.

There are, of course, other archetypes, but you get the picture.  We’ll start with the “Wise Old Man,” and perhaps move on to some others after that.