Archetypes In The Lucky List

A novel can hold countless deeper meanings that are easy to look past. Although literary theories help uncover some of these hidden meanings and further explore the novel in a new way (“Introductory Paragraph”). For instance, while analyzing The Lucky List and pinpointing some of these literary archetypes, the reader will recognize that identity comes from how you deal with obstacles and challenges life throws at you. For example, the character archetype of the lover, the symbolic archetype of the small town, and the situational archetype of the quest all illustrate the theme of identity in the novel. The Lucky List is a book by Rachael Lippincott published in 2021. The book is a young adult fiction book with themes of romance and adventure.

Emily starts completing dangerous tasks like cliff-jumping and skinny-dipping to show Blake how brave she is. She does all this despite being quiet and scared before meeting Blake. The small-town archetype usually refers to people knowing and judging others (“Literary Theory Introduction”). The town of Huckabee is a perfect example of this as everyone knows Emily lost her mother so they treat her differently. Furthermore, her friends are also a great example as they won’t even talk to her after what happened at prom. The quest archetype follows a structure where the hero has to complete a journey, and face obstacles, but overall becomes a stronger person as a result of it (“Quest Archetype”). In the story, Emily’s bucket list has plenty of challenges to overcome. Although as she continues to complete these challenges she grows. Eventually, at the end of the story, she is a stronger, more capable person than in the

Emily proves that she fits the character archetype of the lover countless times throughout the novel. One of the first times Emily does this is when she goes cliff-jumping with Blake. Cliff jumping was one of the items on Emily’s list she was apprehensive to complete as she has always feared heights. Whereas when Blake was going through the items on the list Blake thought that cliff jumping would be very enjoyable. Emily eventually decides, “I’ll prove it to her” (Lippincott 132). She is in such deep love with Blake that she feels the need to prove how carefree she can be. This is her truly deciding to throw caution to the wind and do something just for love (“The 12 Character Archetypes”). If it was not for her love for Blake she may not have completed some items on the list which would have led to her never pushing herself and growing. As a result, Emily's identity would have never changed if it was not for her love for Blake, and the obstacles that went along with