Many deaths have occurred in natural disaster, but in this instance a heartbreaking story takes place when a volcano erupts and destroys a city. Rolf Carlé, a news reporter, is sent to report on the natural disaster when he is assigned to report on a girl named Azucena who was trapped in a mud pit when the eruption happened. In Isabel Allende's short story "And of Clay we Created" it will go over Campbell's classifications of "The Call to Adventure" (Campbell 1) and “The Supreme Ordeal (Campbell 3). In Allende's heartbreaking story And of Clay We Created, the author accurately represents Campbell's classification of "The Call to Adventure" (Campbell 1). This becomes noticed to the reader when when Rolf is put on the story of Azucena when he
This story gives a reflection on the role of the media because it demonstrates how news matter when a catastrophe occurs. Media is there to inform the public and increase their popularity but they are emotionally detached on what Azucena is going through. Allende makes media react in a particular way on how they should act with the people and be in guard on what to film, to please the public. The media only follows the company’s demands which is to bring more money for the company and that they shouldn’t take daily events emotionally. Though there’s Rolf Carle, who is different toward Azucena and distracts her from her hurt and loss of hope.
Even in the middle ages of literature, a story such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight had many aspects of Joseph Campbell’s view of the hero’s journey. In the story of our character Sir Gawain accepts a “Call to adventure” (Campbell 45) and goes on a quest that will go through many of the archetypes. Likewise, there lies one character, The Green Knight, that can be many of the archetypal characters in the cycle of the hero’s journey. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight dramatically demonstrates how a single character can play many archetypal roles.
The “hero’s journey”, coined by Joseph Campbell, is a pattern in the plot structure of literature, myths, and oral tradition in which the hero is consistently faced with similar obstacles and achieves many of the same goals. The first part of the hero’s journey is “The Call.” The hero is usually living a very comfortable and easy life, unaware of the journey ahead. The hero is then faced with a situation or dilemma which eventually causes them to seek change. The hero, at this point, tends to refuse the call to adventure in fear of the unknown. Once the hero has been given the strength to push past the unknown, they have entered the threshold. The hero will experience many challenges and temptations where the hero is tested, eventually reaching “The Abyss,” the most difficult challenge. The hero is then transformed by these trials and returns home to every-day life and begins to contribute to their society. The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist, Janie, experiences the hero’s journey first-hand through overcoming obstacles and transforming herself. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the heroine Janie overcomes many obstacles and is therefore transformed into a self reliant woman.
The archetype of the Hero’s Journey holds a prevalent pattern in the works of “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, “A & P” by John Updike, and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. These works all follow the 17 stages of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth which are separated in three stages; separation, initiation, and return. The main characters have different characterizations; however, they all follow the basic structure of the Hero’s journey archetype. There are many similarities and differences between the stages that are shown through many context clues and literary devices in each work. The Hero’s Journey archetype expressed in these literary works follow a similar and direct narrative pattern.
In “The Myth of the Latin Woman” and “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” the subject of feeling like an outcast due to being of a non-white culture is examined. From the perspectives of two different women from two separate cultures (Puerto Rican and Indian), a series of anecdotes show the discrimination they face throughout their lives, all because their heritage does not match up with the world around them. “The Myth of the Latin Woman” focuses primarily on the stereotypes of Puerto Rican women, and how these stereotypes have followed the author no matter where she traveled. “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” focuses on the lack of belongingness felt by the author both in childhood and her adult life through food.“The Myth
A key to understanding his writing, says author Tom Robbins, is a knowledge of Greek myth. A particular influence on him is the life and work of Joseph Campbell, author of several books on mythology (Hoyser and Stookey 9). Campbell, in turn, owes influence to the insights of analytic psychologist Carl Jung. Jung recognized the patterns within myths --- throughout the world and across all cultures -- of characters, situations, and events, and identified these recurring images as archetypes (Harris and Platzner 40). Campbell
The author’s thesis was, “Campbell focuses on the initiatory paradigms of universal myths and formulates the hero's rite of passage into three major stages: ‘separation [departure]—initiation [action]—return [reflection]’ (Campbell 30) (Khoury 1).”
In the story “And of Clay Are We Created”, Isabel Allende displays through the main character “Rolf” the struggle of living with a past full of pain, horrible memories, and regret; which leads the audience to the theme of the story: in order to move on in life, people must confront their own past and inner demons first. Allende uses fictional characters to describe a real event that took place in South America in 1985; when a volcanic eruption killed over twenty thousand people. Rolf Carle, a reporter who was sent to cover the rescue of a little girl (Azucena) that was stuck in quicksand mud, finds himself in a situation where he’s forced to confront his past and all the pain that he had to go through as a child; Carle identified himself with
Henry James presents American literature in The Beast of the Jungle altogether from a different perspective. In other words, the narrative forces the reader to read in between the lines in order to find out how light and darkness contributes to the story. James’s unique and vivid themes of seasonal and light/dark imagery also allows the reader to come up with many different possibilities of what the meaning of the story could be. The theme of light versus dark is prevalent throughout the story. Light is described as knowledge, wisdom and promise and darkness is described as confusion, depression and uncertainty. The Beast of the Jungle suggests two main reasons for the use of light and dark imagery: to create uncertainty on the reader to pinpoint who or what the beast is and to refer to Marcher’s belief that at some point in his life he would experience a traumatic event that would change his life.
Countless quest narratives – ranging from modern texts all the way back to ancient texts – have all conformed to a certain archetypal structure. Christopher Vogler writes:
The traditions of storytelling have long been used as a means to impart wisdom and life lessons to others. One of the most effective ways in which this is done is through the use of archetypes. While it is possible to look at these images in a general way, one may also focus an analysis on a single tale. In this way it is possible to explore the particular images used and their significance in a given situation, (often a coming of age rite of
In the book Isabel Allende experiments with various literary devices. The many different narrative voices used in this book allow the reader to understand the book from dissimilar perspectives. As the story unfolds, one can see the symbolism that occurs in many of the events. The story revolves around the different generations of the Del Valle family. Symbolism is used as a literary device in this book to apply ideas and images to explain something in particular. Symbolism provides meaning to the writing beyond what is actually being described. The plot and action that take place in this story can be thought of as one level, while the symbolism of certain things in the writing of this story act on another level to enhance the story.
Both of these stories are about a young girl being stuck. “And Of Clay Are We Created” a short story written by Isabel Allende. “Girl trapped in water for 55 hours dies despite rescue attempts” is a news article written by Julia Preston.
The story begins with another subtle biblical allusion, this time to the prophet Moses, as the narrator relates the story of how Eliza, as a baby, was abandoned. The memories of that day are mixed. Eliza believes that she was lying in a soapbox, for she remembers the scent; but Rose says that she found the baby Eliza in a wicker basket, reminiscent of Moses's adoption. Although the details of her life are not significantly tied to the story of Moses, Eliza is, in her own way, a leader, demonstrating through her adventures that there is a path that women can follow which will lead to freedom.
Isabel Allende uses storytelling to depict real stories of women across the world being abused and suppressed by men at a TEDTALK conference during her presentation “Tales of Passion”. She does this to educate her audience on how women are less empowered by using evidence of anecdotes about women suffering abuse. For example, she tells the story of Rose Mapendo who was a prisoner in the camp for Tutsi refugees in Congo. Allende illustrates how Mapendo’s life in the prison camp was petrifying for a mother protecting her child: “When the soldiers burst in her cell to rape her oldest daughter, she grabs hold of her and refuses to let go, even when they hold a gun to her head”. As a result, Allende wants her audience to feel the fear that Mapendo felt during her experience at the prison to develop her speech.