The book that my group is reading is Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, and I feel that it is way deeper than a children's book, which it is categorized as. The story takes place through Jess' eyes. This story is definitely a loss of innocence book. One day while he was practicing his running he noticed that a new person moved across the street. Her name is Leslie. Eventually, they become friends, and they go on their own imaginative and spiritual journeys in their secret place called Terabithia. That is where the two of them can let their imaginations run free and be alone in their own kingdom. This story contains almost every archetype. These are the archetypes in Bridge to Terabithia:
The hero/protagonist in Bridge to Terabithia is Jess. I say this because he is the one changed by the journey and we are on his journey. He becomes more mature on his journey with Leslie as she mentors him. His goal is to mature with Leslie and let his imagination run free. He displays reflection by thinking about his action before he actually does it. Jess also displays courage by not caring about the weather and the extreme conditions, and still going to Terabithia. He even crosses the creek to get to Terabithia when there is a lot of water running across it. He displays self sacrifice by thinking the way Leslie has taught him to.
The mentor in this story is definitely Leslie. She is the one that takes Jess through all his journeys. She is the one that tells him to let his imagination run free and she creates many imaginative stories with him. She exposes him to many forms of literature, and she gives him life lessons to be a better person. Also, she gives him courage, because Jess wouldn't have crossed the creek if it weren't for Leslie who was by his side. Also, I noticed that there was this one part of the story where it was a symbol that she guides him. The symbol was when they were writing the note for Janice Avery, Leslie was telling him what to do, and he was just writing it. It is the same between Leslie and Jess at almost all times. Leslie is also the mentor, because Jess looks up to her. He asks her many questions, like how she knows that Terabithia is haunted.
The shadow/antagonist in this story is Jess' life outside Terabithia. His goal in this story is to mature with Leslie, but his life outside Terabithia just holds him back. At his house, all his family does is argue and complain. His parents are mad at him for playing with Leslie, his "girlfriend", and his mother always yells at him to do chores around the house, and never lets him have a chance to run his imagination and mature mentally. His family looks down at Leslie, and just doesn't want him near her. Also, at school most people don't like Leslie. At one part of the story, Leslie says to Jess, "Thanks to you, I have one and a half friends at school." Those one and a half friends are Jess and Janice Avery, but partially, because she is the school bully. Jess' life outside Terabithia creates the tension in the story, and opposes Jess, who is the hero.
The shapeshifter in this story in this story is probably May Belle. I say this because she changes from being immature to mature. She looks up to Jess sometimes and she is very nice and respectful to him, but at other times, she really makes Jess angry and gets on his nerves like any little sister would. May Belle looks up to him because like Leslie is Jess' mentor, Jess is her mentor. Jess enriches her knowledge and imagination, and she looks up to him because of that. At other times, May Belle just acts immature, like with her Barbie doll and how she needs it, and that gets on Jess' nerves. He has to help her fix Barbie's arm many times, and that just makes Jess angry. Also, when May Belle followed Jess and Leslie to Terabithia, she got on Jess' nerves. She is the shapeshifter because she changes from being immature to mature, and she keeps changing sides on maturity. She truly represents change and uncertainty.
These are the four archetypes of Bridge to Terabithia, and the story just wouldn't work without them. They create the whole plot and even story. When I first read this book, I really didn't pay attention about who are the archetypes, just basic main characters or supporting characters, but now since I am rereading it, I can pay close attention to the archetypes. I am almost done with the book, but with the remaining pages that I have, I want to see how the archetypes change.
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