PROJECT-PAPER

Archetypal Patterns in Groundhog Day __________ / 150 pts.  _______ %

Write an essay (be on the fifth page – 1.5 spacing; indented paragraphs) identifying and
explaining the use of three or four archetypes in the film, Groundhog Day. Those
archetypes you pick should be somewhat connected in order to make a coherent
essay. 

Pay attention to your essay and paragraph construction – if you are not sure what this
means, please see the Introduction to Literature PPT posted in your folder: ELL 101
IntroLit - 3 How to Write and Organize an Essay. 
 NB: Give your essay a title (centered); 
 You may use ONLY the film, your journal notes and the “Archetypes in
Literature” work-sheet to complete this exam; you may not access the PPTs,
the internet, or any other resources: 
 Download this document, rename your document ELL401F21 PROJECT-
PAPER Enver Hoxa and upon completion, upload to Google Drive (share/can
edit);
 Submission date: Sunday Dec 12 12M; NB: NA for late submissions. 
NB: All essays will be checked for plagiarism. 
NB: You have plenty of time to submit a solid essay; I (strongly) suggest that you do not
submit when you think you are finished. Every edit will improve your work – don’t rush
it. 

Grading: 

Format (including grammar, spelling, mechanics, quotations, etc.): ____ / 30 pts. 

Essay construction: ____ / 40  

Thesis and argument: ____ / 40  

Use of text: ____ / 30  

My subjective evaluation: ____ / 10  

NB: Begin your essay on the next page…

 The theme of spirituality; the changes that make Phil find his true self.

Groundhog Day is a movie that was created by Harold Ramis and it was a well-received work
of cinema. This movie contains many themes, but the theme that is throughout the entire movie
is the theme of spirituality. Spirituality revolves around the concerns for the human spirit or the
soul, in this case Phil’s soul. There are three archetypes that support this theme of the movie:
archetypal journeys, revolving around Phil’s quest for identity and around the events of the
journey; symbolic archetypes that focus on the objects that Phil finds during the loop and finally
the heroic archetype that explains what kind of hero Phil is. These archetypes help the reader
understand the theme of spirituality by exposing them to the moments that make Phil question
himself and what he truly is. The director of this movie purposely uses these moments to portray
the changes that happen inside Phil’s soul, possibly as a comparison to “A Christmas Carol”.
The first archetype or archetypes revolve around the journey of Phil, filled with events and no
repercussions. Phil’s journey in this movie becomes a spiritual one when he finds out that he is
trapped inside the loop. A reason why this archetype is crucial for the theme of spirituality, is
because it tells the reader or the watcher, the journey that a person must take in order to find
himself. This movie tells the watcher that there can be special or terrible moments that can make
people think about discovering their true identity. It helps the watcher fully understand the
obstacles that Phil has to overcome and it’s specific purpose is to make the watcher relate to the
character in a personal level. The example of this archetype is the whole journey that Phil has
involuntarily taken, since he was trapped in a loop without his knowledge. It begins from the
beginning of the movie and ends with Phil understanding his true identity. his journey is full of
action and moments that shape Phil into a better person. Despite being the only example of this
archetype, it is an example that is full of events, which are the situational archetypes.
These two archetypes come as a pair, meaning that you can’t separate them and expect to work
perfectly on their own. They are intertwined together because without the events you can’t have
a journey and without a journey you can’t be influenced by the events that happen. While the
first archetype talks about the spiritual journey of Phil, this one focuses on the main events of it.
This archetype helps the reader understand what makes these events spiritual and slowly, the
reader or the watcher of the movie pieces these events together and connecting them with the
theme of the movie.
The original quest of Phil was to over the story on Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney. But this
quest changes when he is stuck in the time loop and his real quest is now to escape this loop. It’s
this change of quest that sparks the beginning of the spiritual journey of Phil. His journey is also
transformed into a journey of change, going from this type of anti-hero that doesn’t care about
anyone into a proper hero, having learned from his constants mistakes of his past and the loop,
that lead to him finding himself. Phil’s behaviour has also changed a lot in the movie, which is
the same as the change that happened to Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol”.
The lines below are an example of the type of person Phil is in the beginning, ignorant and very
annoying to be around.
[PHIL] YOU ARE NEW, AREN’T YOU? YOU
KNOW,PEOPLE LIKE BLOOD SAUSAGE TOO.
PEOPLE ARE MORONS.
[RITA] NICE ATTITUDE.
[PHIL] LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND SEE
WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE DOING THAT LITTLE
GROUNDHOG THING. FOR ME, ONCE. HE
COMES OUT. AND THERE HE LOOKS AT HIS
LITTLE SHADOW.WOULD YOU LIKE SOME
BLOOD SAUSAGE? I HAVE SOME HERE…
Phil’s companions are also an influence of this change, since they tell him their feelings about
him, by comparing him to a glass that is half-full, which is something that a pessimist would say.
[GUS] YOU KNOW, SOME GUYS WOULD LOOK
AT THIS GLASS AND SAY, “THAT GLASS IS
HALF-EMPTY.”OTHER GUYS WOULD SAY
“THAT GLASS IS HALF-FULL.” I PEG YOU AS A
“GLASS IS HALF-EMPTY” KIND OF GUY.AM I
RIGHT?
These lines really stick with Phil because they serve as a punch in the gut to him. His personality
is so unberable in comparison to the two drunks, because they are drunk and nothing should be
taken seriously. But to Phil this is seen as a wake up call and later on, he decides to experiment
with the loop, since there are no consequences to handle.
[PHIL] WHAT IF THRER WERE NO TOMORROW?
NO TOMORROW?
[GUS] THAT WOULD MEAN THERE WOULD BE
NO CONSEQUENCES. THERE WOULD BE NO
HANGOVERS. WE COULD DO WHATEVER WE
WANTED.
[PHIL] THAT’S TRUE. WE COULD DO WHATEVER
WE WANT.
Sometimes heroes are destined to fall and Phil is no different. Phil’s battle is internal, because is
in a constant battle with himself, trying to find out the real Phil. His failure to seduce Rita leads
him to a chain of suicides, because he feels broken by the fact that he can’t make her fall in love
with him. These acts of suicide lead to his rebirth and his change in behaviour and mindset. He
knows that death won’t always be the answer, he is determined to not lose against this loop.
The third archetype revolves around symbolic figures, which are connected with the theme of
spirituality because they have a deeper meaning beyond their appearences. These help the reader
understand that there are objects or events that have deeper meanings for Phil and also support
the other archetypes. The symbol that is light against darkness represents Phil’s true self against
what he is showing on the outside.; the crossroads representing Punxsuatawney that forces Phil
to make some changes in his life; the maze being the loop itself, which Phil is trapped in,
punishing him to relive the same day over and over until he finds the exit of the loop. One
symbol that is only present in the end of the movie is the snow falling down, which makes Phil
smile because snow hasn’t fallen the previous days. This symbol in particular signifies that the
loop is broken with Phil finally understanding himself and what person he is.
[PHIL] SOMETHING IS DIFFERENT.
[RITA] GOOD OR BAD?
[PHIL] ANYTHING DIFFERENT IS GOOD.
[RITA] MMM…
[PHIL] BUT THIS COULD BE REAL GOOD.
WHY ARE YOU HERE?
[RITA] I BOUGHT YOU. I OWN YOU.
 [PHIL] BUT WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?
[RITA] YOU SAID STAY, SO I STAYED.
The last and final archetype that supports this theme is the heroic archetype. Phil’s case is special
because he doesn’t join the common hero archetype but is more of a transcendent hero. But how
can Phil be a transcendent hero instead of anti-hero or a hero as a lover? It is quite simple,
because this kind of hero experiences a tragedy that happens because of a flaw that they have and
in Phil’s case, his own rotten behaviour is the cause for this loop that he is stuck in. Phil’s change
comes after spending many days in the loop, prompting him to change himself. He is affected by
the loop and the words of the people that are “stuck” with him. Phil goes through a lot of pain
and suffering and ultimately finds his true self. Some examples that explain the agony and
suffering that he is having revolve around his behaviour with his crew, the people around the
town. But there are some examples that show him benefiting from this loop as he seduces Nancy
and begins to learn new skills like playing the piano or sculpting. Again, the words that Gus
utters are also an important part of this transition to a transcendent hero, as seen in the lines
below.
[GUS] YOU KNOW, SOME GUYS WOULD
LOOK AT THIS GLASS AND SAY, “THAT
GLASS IS HALF-EMPTY.”OTHER GUYS
WOULD SAY “THAT GLASS IS HALF-FULL.” I
PEG YOU AS A “GLASS IS HALF-EMPTY”
KIND OF GUY.AM I RIGHT?
To sum up, the theme of spirituality is a very delicate topic and quite hard to understand at first.
It mostly comes up to the watcher after he has seen the movie again, but this time with a more
vigilant mind. This theme adds a lot more meaning to the movie and can relate to people who
have trouble in finding their true selves. The main archetypes that help to support this theme are
archetypal journey, situational archetypes, symbolic archetypes and heroic archetypes.
Archetypal journey helps to define the journey of Phil, making it a spiritual journey in order to
find himself.Situational archetypes focus on the events that happen to Phil that make him
question himself, leading to this change.Symbolic archetypes help to find the true meaning of
what the author is trying to achieve with these symbols.And lastly, heroic archetypes that help
define what kind of hero Phil is, being more of a transcendent hero.