Baxter1

ThomasBaxter
Mrs.Reid
English10
March1st2016

Howis
StarWars
theperfectexampleofarchetypesinamovie?
AnArchetypeisasymbolofsomethingspecificthatoccursthroughdifferentstoriesand
cultures.
In
StarWars
,therebelallianceistryingtocollapsethetyrannicalgalacticempirewhich
usesthedarksideoftheforce.ButLukeskywalker,ayoungfarmerfromtheplanetofTatooine
willlearnthatheisthelastJediandmustusehispowerstohelptherebelsanddefeatthedark
sideandtheempire.Whydoesthissimpleplotworksowell?Itisbecauseofthearchetypesthe
moviesuses.
In
StarWars,
thecharacterHanSoloplaysintotheoutcastarchetype.Thisisbelievable
bylookingintohischaracter.Heisalonewolfandmercenarywholldoanymissioniftheprice
isright.Thereareonlyafewpeoplewhodontwanthimdeadandfewerthatlikehim,leaving
himwithaneverymanforhimselfattitude.Thisisveryevidentinmanysceneswithhansolo
throughoutthemovie.HantellsLukeskywalkerthathewouldnothelpLukedestroythedeath
star.ThisshowsthatHanhasnosideheworksfor,heonlyworksforhimself.Thisisoneofthe
reasonwhyhefitstheoutcastrole,hewasntoutcastedbuthechoosestobeanoutcastfrom
factionsinthemovie.

Lightanddarkrepresentsthejediandthedarkside.

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Everythingaboutthejediandthesithrepresentgoodvsevil.Thejediusealess
aggressiveformoftheforcewhilethedarksidepreferusingtheforcetohurtpeoplefor
examplewhenDarthVaderstartedchokingoneofhislieutenants.Themainweaponofbothis
thelightsaber,apowerfulweaponthatcancutthroughanything.Lukeslightsaberisblue,a
lightcolor,whileVaderslightsaberisdeepred,averydarkcolor.Thewholeempireand
rebellionareverycookiecutterinthegoodvsevilidea.Evenintheopeningcreditstheempire
issaidtobeTheevilgalacticempireitbecomesquiteclearthatthisideaofgoodvsevilisvery
apparentin
StarWars.
Butthisdoesntmeanthatthestoryisbland.Theempirevstherebelsis
aperfectexampleofanarchetypebecauseitssosimple.Theempireareabigpowerfulforce
ofterrorwhiletherebelsareasmallgroupofragtagstryingtofreethemselvesfromimperial
control.

Thequestin
StarWars
isdeliveringthestolenplanstotherebelbaseinordertohelp
themdefeattheempire.Thisisthemainquestandplotofthemovie,todelivervitalinformation
totherebelalliance.Thisinformationcausedmanydifferentsmallergoalsthroughoutthemovie
suchasrescuingtheprincessfromthedeathstar,whichendedupbeingoneoftheturning
pointsinthefilm.Thisquestcarriedtheplotbecauseitwasabletointroducenewcharacters
alongtheway,andspanmostofthemovieuntiltheclimax.Inaddition,manycharactersjoined
ontohelpinginthequestofdeliveringtheinformationtotherebelalliance.Lukeskywalkerwas
astarryeyedfarmerboywhoneverexpectedtoleavethecitybutwhenhisauntandunclewere
killed,hedecidedtohelpr2d2andc3po,twodroids,delivertheplanstodefeattheempire.Han
solodidntneedtoreturntosavelukeduringthefinalscenebuthedid.Notbecausehewanted
moneybutbecauselukewasafriendandneededhelptofinishhismissionhesetoutonlong
ago.

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Inconclusion,
StarWars
isaperfectexampleofmanyarchetypes.Thereisaclear
hero,goodguysandbadguysandaplotthattakesallthesearchetypesandmakesthemflow
together.Themoviereliesonasimplequestarchetypebutisabletousethatandturnitintoa
featurelengthfilm.Onemustwonderwhatotherarchetypescanbefoundindifferentmovies.
WouldRaidersofthelostarkhavesimilararchetypesto
StarWars,
asbothwerewrittenby
GeorgeLucas?Oris
StarWars
justasimplemoviethatwasnevermeanttogetasbigasitdid
andthatswhyallthearchetypesinthemovieareveryobvious,ifyouthinkaboutthem.You
couldevenargueveryminorcharactershavearchetypes,suchasJabbatheHuttservesasa
devilfigure,eventhoughheonlyhasafewminutesofscreentime.Tofinish,thearchetypesin
StarWarsareverysimpleandatthesametimeworksowellthattheywereabletocreateafan
followingofthesecharacterswhothencreatedtheirownstoriesaboutallthesecharactersand
plotsthatallhavesimplearchetypes.