Annotated Bibliography

Vogler, Christopher. "The Archetypes." The Writer's Journey : Mythic Structure for Writers. By Christopher Vogler. Vol. 3. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. 49-80.

Summary 

Vogler continues to explain that archetypes to us in this section. He teaches us about the Threshold Guardian, Herald, Shapeshifter, Shadow, Ally and Trickster. Vogler shows us the function that each one of these archetypes performs and their importance in the story. For example, the Herald is typically employed in Act One to start the hero out on their journey. The Shadow is often not even a real being, merely a repressed part of the Hero’s emotions. 

Shapeshifters are often a different sex then the main character, and their loyalties are often in question. The archetype of the Ally is pretty self explanatory but at the same time, Vogler does a very good job or explaining it to us. He tells us that Allies are often an  “audience character.” They are able to ask questions about the Special World, or the journey that the audience wants to know the answers to. The Trickster archetype is most often seen in mythology and many heroes in mythology are Trickster heroes. 

Reflection

For me, the most interesting thing is that one character can be many archetypes. In some way, I knew this before I read Vogler, but I didn’t really think about it. The fact that a character can be a shadow character and then a hero all at the same time is an interesting concept. It allows the character to have much more depth and you are able to empathize with them more, because that dark side makes them more human. 

My favorite part was the Ally section. I liked that Vogler talked about an ally being and “audience character” because I’ve often noticed this in books that I’ve read. The main ally to the hero is the character that clears up questions the audience may have. Before reading I’d thought that I had never seen anything about the Trickster archetype, but then after reading I realized that Tricksters are everywhere. 

3 Questions

Why do you think that most times the Shapeshifter archetype is the opposite sex of the main character of the story? 

Have you seen examples of these archetypes in your everyday life?

Why do you think it is so easy for any one of these archetypes to also be another archetype at the same time?