Archetypes Related to the Journey: The Seeker, The Creator, The Destroyer, and The Lover

Archetypes Related to the Journey include the Artful Dodger, the Billionaire, the Bourgeois Gentilhomme, the Creator, the Destroyer, the Lover, the Misanthrope, the Miser, the Seeker (Picaro), the Professor, the Skipper

Carl Jung said that there are archetypes related to The journey itself (the seeker, the destroyer, the lover, the creator).

The seeker moves from wandering aimlessly and trying out new things through trying to climb the ladder of success to looking for spiritual guidance. Examples include Goldilocks, Indiana Jones, Don Juan, Leo the Late Bloomer, Luke Skywalker, and Pinocchio.

The Destroyer moves from confusion over experiencing pain and death of a loved one through accepting mortality to letting go of what is not important. Examples include Beowulf, The Big Bad Wolf, Samson, The Terminator, Darth Vader, and Lord Voldemort.

The lover, friend, or sidekick is incomplete without the other lover, friend, or sidekick. Examples include Shadow examples include Bathsheba, Delilah, Don Juan, Don Giovani, Byron’s Don Juan, and Cassanova.

The Creator moves from daydreaming and imagining through knowing what is really important to allowing dreams to come true. Examples include Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, Frederick, and the Purple Crayon. Can you think of additional archetypes and shadow archetypes (ala Northrup Frye and Carl Jung) related to the journey?

Don and Alleen Nilsen “Humor Across the Academic Disciplines” PowerPoints:

https://www.public.asu.edu/~dnilsen/