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Ryan Mikeals
Ms. Plummer
English 10 Honors
25 May 2016

All across the world, you find many different countries and areas all with their own
unique aspects. Included in these aspects are the differing stories told over history. Despite the
many differences, there are similar themes and ideas throughout them all. These repeating
characteristics are known as archetypes, of which there are three main types: character,
situational, and symbolic. Archetypes are ideas that pop up in all mythologies despite barriers
such as geography or language.

The three types of archetypes all differ from each other. Character archetypes include
living things that possess a specific characteristics. They tend to react in certain ways in certain
situations and are known to perform certain actions. Examples of this include the witch, the
creator, and the trickster. A situational archetype contains an event known to happen across all
cultures. These event will without a doubt happen at some point across the mythology.
Situational archetypes include creation, the journey, and the task. Finally, there are symbolic
archetypes, or items that are known for representing something else. These items tend to stand
for a more important idea or theme than what they really are.

The guardian, a character archetype, is someone who protects the scared and weak.
Guardians are stronger than the average person and keep evil away from those he cares for. In

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Native American mythology, animals are commonly guardian spirits. One story with an example
with this is the story of Plain Feather. Plain Feather was an Indian who went who went on regular
hunts. Accompanying him on these hunts was his guardian deer. The deer protected Plain Feather
and in turn he promised he would never kill more than he needed. One day, however, the deer
warned him of a long, harsh winter and told him to stock up on food. After initial resistance and
ridiculing from his tribe, he complied. Plain Feather and his tribe were then able to survive the
winter due to this warning. This story represents the guardian archetype because a protector gave
guidance to another and was able to save them.

The task is a situational archetype. It is characterized by a part of the heros journey. The
hero must complete some objective, often supernatural, in order to achieve his overall goal. A
Native American myth showcasing this is the message to the sun. On the first day of every year,
the best warrior of the empire was to be sent to send a message to the sun. This message was
delivered in order to prove the Indians loyalty to the sun. In order to accomplish this task, the
messenger would chase after the sun as it was setting and meet up with it in the horizon. This is
an example of a task because the messenger is required to see the sun yearly in order to
accomplish his yearly mission of ensuring his loyalty.

One example of a symbolic archetype would be anger vs. wisdom. This archetype is
essentially two opposites coming into conflict with each other. Wisdom represents peace,
harmony, and gentleness. Those with wisdom tend to give guidance and advice. Anger is quite
the opposite. Anger represents aggression, deceit, and agitation. Those possessing anger tend to
be resentful or hostile towards others. One myth containing this archetype is the Native

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American myth of the two wolves. One day, a young boy struggling with anger issues consulted
his grandfather. His grandfather told him a tale of two wolves, one of which was white and one
of which was black. The white wolf represented wisdom and was very docile and wise. The
black wolf, however, represented anger and was very hateful. He told the boy that both would
attempt to take control over his heart. The boy then asked his grandfather which would win, to
which the grandfather replied, The one you feed. This myth shows anger vs. wisdom by taking
the two polar opposites and having them oppose each other.

In conclusion, archetypes, or reoccurring themes, appear throughout every culture in the

world. One type of archetype is the character archetype, such as the guardian spirt who is
stronger than others and keeps those he protects safe. Another type would be situational
archetypes, like the task where a hero must complete his objective for his overall goal. The final
type is symbolic architypes, such as wisdom that represents peace and guidance or anger that
represents hate and deceit.