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Fish and Death

  2. William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is replete with repeating motifs, including (but not limited to) the auditory image of Cash’s saw, Vardaman’s fishy preoccupations, Anse’s “I can’t be beholden,” and 🐙ANIMAL MAGNETISM🐙. Choose one of Faulkner’s motifs and track its evolution through the novel so far. How does the leitmotif transmute throughout the narrative? How does it relate to the hero’s journey? As I Lay Dying , one of the quintessential stream-of-consciousness novels, is usefully read and interpreted through the paradigm of the unreliable narrator. The novel is replete with motifs that exemplify the telling of the story from the various characters’ perspectives, each of which has their own shortcomings, biases, and strengths in understanding the narrative.  One of the most obvious motifs is Vardaman and his fish, which symbolize his childhood innocence and inability to process the trauma of death. The most clear of these symbolisms is his conflation of the death ...
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Feminine/Masculine Dichotomy in Quicksand

  Quicksand is perhaps most well known for its commentary on race. It is obvious that Helga Crane, as the protagonist of the story, has been deliberately designed to offer this commentary – as someone who has both black and white heritage, and someone who experiences aspects of both. However, Larson’s commentary doesn’t stop at the racial dichotomy – it uses other, carefully chosen aspects of Helga Crane. Most obviously, Larson ties the feminine/masculine dichotomy to the racial dichotomy through Helga’s parents and through the cultural setting Helga is surrounded by in various parts of the story.  Using clothing as a proxy for self-expression of femininity, we see that at the beginning, Helga is clearly Separated from the Feminine. She states that the Naxos attire is ““dull attire…Drab colors, mostly navy blue, black, brown, unrelieved…,” something which is conceptually linked to her distaste, boredom, and borderline despisal of Naxos (Larson 16). In this way, Helga is for...
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Katniss Everdeen as the Heroine in The Hunger Games

  1. Examine a film with a female protagonist that conforms to the heroine’s journey by reflecting on how either Maureen Murdock’s or Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s versions of that narrative archetype encourages us to understand the narrative. You can see Murdock’s and Schmidt’s versions here and here respectively. (Remember to use the Wikipedia entry for help understanding the steps in the heroine’s journey.) The Hunger Games Katniss Everdeen’s journey in The Hunger Games can be read as a Heroine’s Journey (Schmidtt), and with such interpretation, gives new insights into the underlying thematic structure. Starting in District 12, the poorest district, Katniss enjoys a relatively pleasant life hunting with Gabe, selling at the black market, and going through her lifestyle dynamic to provide for her mother and sister. By the standards of the dystopian District 12, this is a relatively “Perfect World,” whose Illusion is shortly shattered by the selection of Katniss’s sister for the Hunger ...
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Crossing the First Threshold in Star Wars: A New Hope

  2. Examine George Lucas’ Star Wars: A New Hope as a hero’s journey narrative. Try to focus on one scene in the film/step in the hero’s journey, and reflect on how Joseph Campbell’s monomyth encourages us to understand that moment in the narrative. It’s well known that George Lucas’ Star Wars: A New Hope was written with Joseph Campbell’s monomyth in mind. The plotline of the movie clearly reflects this, with most steps of the monomyth, particularly the separation and initiation sections, distinguishably identifiable. In particular, a distinctive moment is the switch from “Refusal of the Call” to “Crossing the First Threshold,” when Luke makes the personal decision to leave Tatooine and join Obi-wan in his journey. As the pivotal transition between the Separation and Initiation stages, it represents a transformation in Luke’s character, from a civilian to a member of the rebellion.  Campbell’s monomyth initially involves the refusal of the call to adventure, which is expli...
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