An archetypal journey is defined as a hero overcoming his or her obstacles to reach a final goal. The plot of the movie Little Miss Sunshine written by Michael Arndt and the novel As I Lay Dying written by William Faulkner is essentially the same in each. The Hoover family must travel to Redondo Beach, CA for the “Little Miss Sunshine” Beauty Pageant to fulfill the daughter’s wishes, while the Bundren family has to travel to Jefferson, Missouri to fulfill the mother’s wishes. Both families are dysfunctional units acting together to reach an end goal. Their end goals may be entirely different but their journey’s are similar. The movie Little Miss Sunshine is an effective modern depiction of the archetypal journey portrayed in As I Lay Dying because both the movie and the novel have different character developments, motifs, themes. The first way Little Miss Sunshine relates to the journey in As I Lay Dying is through each character’s development. The protagonist of the movie is Richard Hoover. Richard identifies with the archetypal character of The Hero. He relates to this character the most because he is the protagonist of the movie who also undergoes a dramatic change. Similarly Richard begins the first words of the movie which are, “There’s two kinds of people in this world -- Winners...and Losers”
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Although not explicitly stated, it is assumed that Frank is atheist. The topic of religion is brought up by Olive when she asks Uncle Frank if he thinks there’s a heaven. She goes on to say that she believes their is and that all get in. This idea is similar to Addie Bundren’s view in the novel. Addie does not believe she has sinned when she says, “I would think of sin…the more utter and terrible since he [Whitfield] was the instrument ordained by God who created the sin, to sanctify that sin He created” (Faulkner, 180). Religion in both the novel and the movie convey the idea that it is whatever you want to make of
Although not explicitly stated, it is assumed that Frank is atheist. The topic of religion is brought up by Olive when she asks Uncle Frank if he thinks there’s a heaven. She goes on to say that she believes their is and that all get in. This idea is similar to Addie Bundren’s view in the novel. Addie does not believe she has sinned when she says, “I would think of sin…the more utter and terrible since he [Whitfield] was the instrument ordained by God who created the sin, to sanctify that sin He created” (Faulkner, 180). Religion in both the novel and the movie convey the idea that it is whatever you want to make of