As asserted by psychologist Carl Jung, humans express their fears and desires through the use of archetypes which he defines as conscious manifestations of the collective unconscious part of the human psyche (Haslam 301). The unconscious structure of the human psyche retains an ability to manifest archetypes in similar ways across individuals, time periods (Haslam 302) and is an active force that is continuously grouping and regrouping its contents (Haslam 65). This aspect of Jungian psychology in particular is what may cause archetypes to be portrayed the same way across all mediums, as the structure of the psyche is the same in all humans the portrayal will remain familiar. Both the film The Cabin in the Woods and the short story “When it
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The Cabin in the Woods is a horror/comedy film centered around five friends who believe they are going away for a break from school, until things start going terribly wrong. The films ending reveals that the five characters - Curt, Holden, Marty, Dana and Jules - are made to embody archetypes that are fit for a sacrifice that needs to be made (Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods). In addition to those imposed archetypes the film, from a Jungian psychoanalytic perspective, it seems to contain other manifested archetypes illustrating a human desire for protection expressed through the use of the archetypal role of the male as the protector and female as helpless. In addition the film reproduces patriarchal gender roles through the stereotypical and archetypal portrayal of the male characters as alpha and female ones as passive. The human desire and need for protection is reflected in the film through the use of the male characters - Holden, Curt and Marty - in three predominant instances. All three males take on the role of protector at a point in the film, Holden being the first of the three. When terrible things begin to happen, the members of the group separate and end up locked in their individual rooms …show more content…
Considering her career, beginning with the writing of her first novel in 1965, spans the four decades succeeding in which second-wave feminism actively developed (Tolan 1) the short story contains a puzzling portrayal of the male and female gendered characters as unequal. Containing examples of what Jungian psychoanalysis would classify as archetypal representations of the universal human desire for protection in addition to archetypal gender expectations, the entirety of the short story is seemingly regressive considering the state of feminism at the time. The story is told with an internally focalized narration through the perspective of Mrs. Burridge, whose first name will never be known. This is the first indication of the unequal gender representations that exist throughout the story, as Mrs. Burridge is given no personal identity and is never independent of the name linking her to her husband Frank Burridge. His character doubtlessly comes to represent the role of protector in a singular instance when Mrs. Burridge is watching him walk hunched over; she ponders to herself “He can’t protect me” (Atwood 282) and one can conclude that this is a concern for her. She places emphasis on it not only being him who has ‘lost power’ but all of the men, stating “You can tell by the way they walk” (Atwood 282). Her concern is not unusual or offensive to Frank, as revealed earlier
The Cabin in the Woods is a horror/comedy film centered around five friends who believe they are going away for a break from school, until things start going terribly wrong. The films ending reveals that the five characters - Curt, Holden, Marty, Dana and Jules - are made to embody archetypes that are fit for a sacrifice that needs to be made (Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods). In addition to those imposed archetypes the film, from a Jungian psychoanalytic perspective, it seems to contain other manifested archetypes illustrating a human desire for protection expressed through the use of the archetypal role of the male as the protector and female as helpless. In addition the film reproduces patriarchal gender roles through the stereotypical and archetypal portrayal of the male characters as alpha and female ones as passive. The human desire and need for protection is reflected in the film through the use of the male characters - Holden, Curt and Marty - in three predominant instances. All three males take on the role of protector at a point in the film, Holden being the first of the three. When terrible things begin to happen, the members of the group separate and end up locked in their individual rooms …show more content…
Considering her career, beginning with the writing of her first novel in 1965, spans the four decades succeeding in which second-wave feminism actively developed (Tolan 1) the short story contains a puzzling portrayal of the male and female gendered characters as unequal. Containing examples of what Jungian psychoanalysis would classify as archetypal representations of the universal human desire for protection in addition to archetypal gender expectations, the entirety of the short story is seemingly regressive considering the state of feminism at the time. The story is told with an internally focalized narration through the perspective of Mrs. Burridge, whose first name will never be known. This is the first indication of the unequal gender representations that exist throughout the story, as Mrs. Burridge is given no personal identity and is never independent of the name linking her to her husband Frank Burridge. His character doubtlessly comes to represent the role of protector in a singular instance when Mrs. Burridge is watching him walk hunched over; she ponders to herself “He can’t protect me” (Atwood 282) and one can conclude that this is a concern for her. She places emphasis on it not only being him who has ‘lost power’ but all of the men, stating “You can tell by the way they walk” (Atwood 282). Her concern is not unusual or offensive to Frank, as revealed earlier