Douglas Green

Archetypal Criticism focuses on the two levels of unconscious: the personal and the
archetypal. The personal level is comprised or repressed memories that are a part of an
individuals psyche. The archetypal is built on the racial memory of a collective
unconscious, a storehouse of images and patterns, vestigial traces of which inhere in all
human beings and which find symbolic expression in all human art.

The Grinch is a poem in which the main character the Grinch is set on destroying
Christmas all because of what he believes is good and what is not. The Grinch has a deep
hatred for Christmas based on nothing but the prior memories in which over a course of
fifty three years the Grinch had to listen to the excessive noise and feasting going on at
the bottom of his hill. Throughout the poem it is obvious to notice that this biased opinion
about how awful Christmas really is based solely on the Grinchs false pretense. The
archetypal is made of the Grinchs past experiences with the Whos Christmas. This
means that the Grinch had witnessed something that he was not fond of, it mad him mad
that the Whos in Whoville were allowed to celebrate on Christmas. Because of this past
memory all of the Grinchs feelings towards Christmas have been negative with no
resolve.

The personal level found in the poem changes from the feeling of deep hatred from the
past to the Grinch accepting the celebrations and even joining with outstretched arms.
The repressed memories that the Grinch had lead him to believe that Christmas was an
awful thing. When the Grinch decided to act upon his feelings and in turn steal
Christmas he realizes that what he thought of Christmas in fact wasnt the truth.
Christmas wasnt solely based on the presents and the party but on the friendship and
community. When he saw this the Grinch was dumbfounded because he finally saw that
his perception of Christmas was all wrong.

The Grinchs feelings were built up on his perception of Christmas, his past experiences,
rather then the raw feelings and emotions found when he finally participates. At the end
all of the Grinchs feeling and desires and opposite to his initial feelings, which shows
that even reality, can go against your initial consciousness.




Work Cited
Www.library.utoronto.ca. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 July 2014.