BIRTHING AN ARCHETYPE: WAR AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE EPIC CHILD HERO by ...

193 Pages·2017·0.8 MB·English

BIRTHING AN ARCHETYPE:

WAR AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE EPIC CHILD HERO

by

Jennifer M. Cain

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Graduate Studies
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in English

Middle Tennessee State University

May 2018

Dr. Martha Hixon, Chair

Dr. Robert Petersen

Dr. Pete McCluskey
For Betty Ann Rainer Haynes

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my parents, Sue and Bruce Cain; my brother, Jonathan; and my
sister-in-law, Tracy, for their many years of support and encouragement. I would also like
to thank my cousin, Evelyn Alford, who coached me through the final stretch, sharing her
knowledge and experience with me when I needed it most. I would also like to
acknowledge the friends who have been there through it all; who have believed in me,
and most importantly, who would not let me quit: Lisa Durham, Effie O'Neil, Dara
Hamm, Linda Wood, Janice Jacobson, Susan Waters, and Linda Sue Connell. I must also
remember the Southern Giraffes—Rachel Richardson Vaessler, Danielle Boudreaux,
Bryan Butler, and Stacy Lamb—without whom I would have never been brave enough to
consider making this journey. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Martha Hixon, Dr.
Robert Petersen, and Dr. Pete McCluskey for taking on this project with me and investing
their time and wisdom into helping me see it through to the end.

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ABSTRACT
Carl Jung suggests that archetypes are created for a specific purpose; they are not
merely nebulous figures which were once imposed upon characters in stories, but were
instead born in times of need in direct response to that need. In this dissertation, I identify
and define a new heroic archetype that I have named the Epic Child Hero, and I trace its
origin and evolution from World War II into the twenty-first century, from its earliest
appearances in the forms of Tolkien's Hobbits and Lewis's Pevensie siblings to its later
incarnations found in British, Japanese, and American children's literature.
It is my contention that the Epic Child Hero is a legitimate new archetype,
separate from other archetypes such as the Hero, the Shadow, or the Divine Child, and
that it has its own history and function. Born in a time of uncertainty when people had
begun questioning even the traditional hero figure, the Epic Child Hero presented itself as
a tabula rasa, a character that could carry the hope of the future while also bearing the
burden of the past. Like their adult predecessors, Epic Child Heroes are protagonists of
epic stories, and though they accomplish great feats of strength, courage, or intellect, it is
their youth that equips and qualifies them as heroes above any other quality. Therefore,
their tasks must be completed before they officially reach adulthood, for when they grow
up, they lose their heroic status, and it is their childhood that is the sacrifice for their
cause.
The Epic Child Hero archetype emerged from the collective unconscious in
historically unique circumstances made possible by astonishing advancements in the
technology of the twentieth century, and it reflects the social, moral, psychological,
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political, and cultural concerns brought about by two global wars, a crippling economic
collapse, the breakdown of global European empires, and the rise of postmodernism.
Because of this, the Epic Child Hero is a powerful witness to the history of the twentieth
century and stands as permanent tribute to what humanity has wrought.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES: viii

CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION TO THE EPIC CHILD HERO ARCHETYPE 1

CHAPTER TWO:
FORGE OF WAR: TOLKIEN, LEWIS, AND THE EARLIEST
EPIC CHILD HEROES 30

CHAPTER THREE:
FIFTY YEARS LATER: BRITAIN'S EPIC CHILD HEROES ARE BORN 52

CHAPTER FOUR:
PERFECTED HEROES AND SPIRITUAL DUALITIES: JAPAN'S EPIC
CHILD HEROES AND THE NECESSITY OF INNER DEMONS 81

CHAPTER FIVE:
FIGUREHEADS AND SCAPEGOATS: AMERICAN EPIC
CHILD HEROES 112
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CHAPTER SIX:
THE EPIC CHILD HERO IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 153

WORKS CITED: 171

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Joseph Campbell's Stages of the Hero's Journey 36

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1
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE EPIC CHILD HERO ARCHETYPE
The archetypal hero is perhaps the most ubiquitous literary character throughout
history and in all cultures. A figure whose virtues are forged in the flames of war, the
epic hero is invincible, powerful, and most importantly, noble despite any flaws. In his
seminal work on the heroic archetype, Joseph Campbell says,
But the makers of legend have seldom rested content to regard the world’s great

heroes as mere human beings who broke past the horizons that limited their

fellows and returned with such boons as any man with equal faith and courage

might have found. On the contrary, the tendency has always been to endow the

hero with extraordinary powers from the moment of birth, or even the moment of

conception. The whole hero-life is shown to have been a pageant of marvels with

the great central adventure as its culmination.

This accords with the view that herohood is predestined, rather than

simply achieved[.] (274-5)

This hero, then, is called from birth, and he or she can and must rise above the constraints
which bind ordinary people in order to achieve greatness. Everything in his or her life
works together to make this achievement possible, and furthermore, no one else could
possibly achieve the same outcomes as the hero will achieve.
Prior to the twentieth century, the standard epic heroes in literature and
mythology were adult males: the Greek Odysseus, the Babylonian Gilgamesh, the
Hebrew Samson, and countless others represent the archetype throughout time. These
heroes were known for feats of intellect such as Odysseus's tricking the Cyclops,
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Polyphemus; feats of perseverance such as Gilgamesh's search for Utnapishtim; or feats
of strength such as Samson's destruction of the Philistine temple. These classic
mythological heroes were each distinct and memorable, serving as inspiration to men
facing dark times of their own. Any imperfections such as pride, lust, or anger that they
possessed dimmed considerably in the light of their glorious victories over their enemies,
and ultimately, their honor must be upheld at all costs, and their causes must always be
noble, righteous, and just so as to best inspire the ordinary men who would later hear the
myths of their feats repeated around campfires for generations to come.
As Northrop Frye asserts, “[i]n terms of narrative, myth is the imitation of actions
near or at the conceivable limits of desire” (136). The traditional epic hero, is, therefore, a
representation of a human paragon: a man who is both fully human in his nature, yet who
is also superior to his humanity in his abilities. This archetype provides humans with an
ideal to which they can aspire and a role model whom they are encouraged to emulate.
This traditional ideal of the super man is hugely reflective of the values of pre-twentieth
century society: man is to be the leader of the home and the nation, and he is to be a
mighty warrior who is honorable, noble, righteous, and just. Whatever flaws he possesses
must be overlooked because of his superiority in those areas.
In the twentieth century, however, the myth of the super man starts to break
down. With the first half of the century dominated and thus defined by two global wars, a
crippling economic collapse, the breakdown of the once-great European empires, and the
emergence of a strong female voice in Western cultures, the myth of the epic male
superhero began to lose both its appeal and its relevance. In Western Europe, two