Fundamentals of Writing

In this article series, I will try to explain the fundementals of story writing and script writing. The name of the series comes from Joseph Campbell's book. Campbell says the heroes described in the stories are always following the same path. So there are not thousands of heroes we actually read in our stories. They are only a hero with a thousand faces. Do you remember Jaqen H'ghar from Game of Thrones? They call him faceless men. Because he is a hero who performs the same task each time, but wears a different human face every time. According to this view, there are Archetypes used in the storytelling. First of all, I will talk about archhetypes and how it is used in stories.

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What is Archetype?

When we say "archetypes of mankind" we are actually saying "basic Instinct" of mankind. We have our major basic Instinct. These are indispensable. Actually, we can call them behavior patterns. For example, the father and mother roles are archetypes. So is finding a partner or a friend. It is even possible to go on a journey. Travelling is an instinctive act of man and all living things. Archetypes are also used in the literal sense of something. It means the original of an entity. For example, if you look at your reflection on the screen, your reflection is a prototype. You are an archetype. So you are the original state of being. Archetype is also used in philosophy and psychology. Psychology was first used by Carl Gustav Jung. Jung archetypes are unconscious, people say that archetypal behaviors fulfill unconsciously. This makes use of the term archetype in dream expressions, literature and sociology. According to philosophers, the story of Adam and Eve in religions is also an archetype.

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Usage of Archetype in Cinema and Literature

Think of all the stories you read and all the movies you've watched. They all represent archetypes. No hero cannot hide himself from us for today. All heroes began to be told in cave drawings according to certain archetypes. The following myths, epics and stories always used the same archetypes. To see an archetype, you need to know origins. I will exemplify the archetype of Jesus in order to give the best example to this. The story of Jesus today is a story that both know believers and nonbelievers. The savior comes from the sky, unlike other people,he has powers, tries to help people, sacrifices himself, miraculously escapes death and rise to the sky. Now I will exemplify the two most well known archetypes in the cinema.

E.T.

As you know, our lovely alien comes from the sky into the world. He has a purpose. He helps people and fights with evil. When he is about to get killed by evil forces, he will not die and escape miraculously. He ascend to the sky and save the day. Did you get familiar? E.T uses precisely the archetype of Jesus.

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MATRIX

The cool character Neo in the movie is exactly a figure of Jesus. If you have already read the film reviews, you will see that he represents Jesus. Neo and Morpheus are the father-son archetype in Christianity. Morpheus brings Neo to the real world to save humanity. Neo's job is to save mankind from evil forces. Like Jesus, he is ready to sacrifice himself for humanity. In fact, in the final film of the Matrix, you can compare Jesus's crucifixion and Neo's eyes getting destroyed. Because this scene is exactly what it wants to revive.

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The majority of Hollywood films use a specific archetype. At the same time, certain archetypes are used in literature. All heroes are the same in a way. They all walk the same way. We give them all the name of "Hero's Journey". Hero's journey consists of certain steps and the same cycle is maintained all the time. Next post about that serie will continue on the hero's journey. Stand by writers!