During the whole entire book, my classmates an I were trying to figure out what roles did the characters play. Now that we have an understanding of the word Archetypes we were able to figure out thier roles and how their personality and actions had an effect on the type of journey the character took.
Wilbur played the role of the hero. Even though it didnt seem like it at first, eventually his emotions, courage, and reflection towards the end of the book showed the hero inside of him. The journey he took is considered the "Loss of Innocence." This is basically a maturing story. In the beginning, middle, and most of the end you could tell he was still that helpless, fun, and immature pig that he was when Fern actually cared about him. But at the end of the book, when time started breezing by, Wilbur started to understand Life and the world around him. This was that point in the journey, where the mature part settled in.
Charlotte had the role of the mentor. She assisted Wilbur in making him, "Some Pig." She also very much symbolized wisdom, knowledge, and experience. She also acted as a teacher, but not purposely, it was just something that happened when her use of strong vocabulary confused the mind of Wilbur. Her journey was the "Task." She had the assignment of making the web describe the pig with suitable words to stop Mr. Zuckerman from making Wilbur into bacon.
Templeton had the role of the Shadow. He was always opposing Wilbur and at some points didnt care about if he lived, or died. The "Quest" was his journey, and did a lovely job of searching for the words that played a big role inn Wilbur's life. But nobody didnt seem to notice that he was a big part of Wilbur's life. (nobody being the animals)
Before knowing about archetypes I didnt realize all characters have a journey or a role. I think all characters have some type of role but sometimes, its hard to figure out what it is. Before I finish this blog post, I want to add that E.B. White did a tremendous job of showing us the roles and journeys, of each, Wilbur, Charlotte, and Templeton.
Isaiah, I think you did a really good job on this blog post. You backed up your thoughts with evidence that really made sense. I especially think you had very interesting and deep thoughts about Wilbur. The maturing idea is really cool, but I feel that the other archetype ideas weren't as strong as the one about Wilbur. It's not that it was bad, it's just that you lost energy in your thoughts. I think you should go deeper with Templeton. Maybe add why he the animals didn't think of him as an important part in Wilbur's life.
ReplyDeletei reslly liked this entry. especially in the seond paragraph where you explaind how wilbur is a hero. this explanation really helped me because i didnt quite understand how wilbur was a hero. it would be great if you could explain a bit more about how he was maturiing, maybe some examples of wilber then and wilbur nnow....
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I didn't realize that Wilbur could play the role of a hero, I always thought he was a lost character that needed assistance. This post helped me understand the true meaning of a hero and why Wilbur fits this role. But, even though Templeton has a little bit of "Shadow" in him, I think of him as a shapeshifter. He goes through different stages of personality. Either way, this piece was really great.
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