Ethan Persaud - Carl Jung and Archetypes

Carl Jung’s work on archetypes and the collective unconscious felt like one of the most direct connections to this class outside of our assigned readings. What stood out to me the most was Jung’s idea that there are universal symbols and patterns embedded within the human subconscious. This immediately reminded me of our discussions of archetypical depths and the foundational meaning of the word arche. If these structures exist within all people, then myths and stories are not simply invented narratives, but reflections of something deeply human and shared. This helped me better understand why Campbell’s hero’s journey feels so universal. The hero is not just one character, but an expression of a deeper human pattern. The hero is not just one character, but an expression of a deeper human pattern. This is seen through all of the readings, movies, and stories we have viewed throughout the semester. The fact that you can pinpoint tropes from the hero’s journey that all of these protagonists throughout these stories face prove that these archetypes are universal and something real and human. It’s visible from the Epic of Gilgamesh to even some of the movies that we watched in class. This idea is especially meaningful because it helps explain why stories from completely different cultures can still feel similar. For example, in religious texts across religions, while the belief of deities and the interpretation of God is different, many of the same moral values hold true across religions. These stories tell the reader the same goal of ultimately making them a better person. Jung’s work made me reflect on how personal experience interacts with these structures. While it is true that everyone shares these archetypes, not everything is exactly the same. The way these archetypes manifest is shaped by memory, culture, and life events. This is what Jung discusses and how it furthers our class discussions on consciousness and perception as meaning is always filtered through personal experience.

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