Nearly every text read or viewed by an individual will have some form of the archetype theory, which interprets a text by examining the recurring myths and archetypes through different means in literary works. Throughout this essay, the story A Step Not Taken by Paul D’Angelo will be analyzed and explained with the archetype theory. The story begins with a man, or the hero of the story, standing in an elevator beside another well dressed, younger business man. The hero mentions in the story that as the elevator begins to rise he “employs typical Toronto elevator technique” and minds his own business. At this point, the hero begins to go through the three phases of the monomyth archetype.
In the essay A Step not Taken by Paul D’Angelo, there are strong connections between the layout of the story and archetype theories of story framework. One form of an archetype portrayal of a story is that of the monomyth. The monomyth consists of three stages: separation, struggle or initiation, and return and reintegration. The narrator is the main character or “hero” in the story and transgresses through these stages with his experience in the office building elevator. He enters the separation stage when he first encounters the other man in the elevator and witnesses him breaking down in sorrow.
The following essay will analyze these stages as well as the lesson the hero learns. The first stage is that of separation. In this stage, the hero faces a serious of short events that would call for his adventure, his spiritual guide and his acceptance of the quest. The story takes place in the narrator’s office building. The hero is called to the adventure when he encounters a young well-dressed man individual in the elevator.
The protagonist starts in the first stage of separation, then transitions to struggle or initiation, and finally to the return and reintegration stage. In the separation stage, which is the first stage, the narrator is faced with an adventure when he steps onto the elevator at work. It’s only when the man next to him burst into tears, that he would be presented with an opportunity that would ultimately transform him forever. “I stood in the hallway, a bundle of mixed emotions, wondering what to do. A combination of guilt and uncertainty washed over me.” (D’Angelo).
Mac's Legacy As the opening credits play over the screen, it becomes clear that "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is going to be a movie that tells an elaborate tale, one of man against the machine. It follows the story of R.P. McMurphy, a man straight out of the bottom-end of 1960's society. His trials in the asylum and his adventures that come as a result show the impact one man can have on a group of individuals who admire him. McMurphy's arrival and subsequent impact on the other patients brings them together and gives the patients a sense of comradery that was not there before.
The mood, however, is sadness, as the reader is left with an impression of a son who is desperately trying to reach out to his father and to show his love, but he is rejected at every turn. When he show the money he had to his father, this turned him angrier because the father said, why he didn´t tell him before, finishing the relationship. 2) How does Pritchett make us feel sympathy for the old man? (same way of answering) For the most part, the old man isn’t likeable. He’s portrayed as a grasping businessman who looks down on his son for choosing to work as a low-paid university lecturer.
D’Angelo changes and wishes he had helped the man instead of leaving. Within the story D’Angelo experiences the reintegration stage, there is no one to guide him instead he makes the decision for himself and it becomes a fight between his
This indicates that he lacks the love from his real father. The boy tries to live up to his fathers expectations, and has a strong bond to his father. Loyalty and being true to your closest is also an important element of the boys behaviour, he protects his father no matter what, and that is a crucial part of the boy´s mental state in this short story. The boy is naive and has high thoughts of his father, these thoughts are shown through the boys’ actions and delighted comments. The boy protects his father when his mother speaks badly of him.
The people that have taken the blame for his actions, he believes that some of the consequences could have been prevented if he had someone in his life that was like him, a creature. At one point throughout his journey, Creech gets wind to the fact that he is being watched. He can not put together who it is, but he feels as if the person is making sure he doesn’t turn to the type of person he was before he escaped from his previous life. Creech has no source of endowments, and therefore needs to find someone that will provide him with what he needs. For now though, he can survive with
This behavior is why he can not accept reality in order to ignore the present and re live the past. It gets to a point where Willy ignores all his problems and only remembers and tries to re-create the good times of the past instead of living in the present. This obviously creates a problem between him and his family and others around him