Finding Archetypes In Scythe By Neal Schusterman

When reading a book, focusing on finding archetypes helps the reader grasp the meaning of the story better. Not only does it help the reader further grasp the meaning of the book more, it also helps the reader understand what’s going on in the book. For example, in Scythe, knowing who the mentor is (Faraday) helps the reader infer how the hero will react to certain situations, which helps the reader understand that doing the right thing isn’t always morally correct.

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The title of my book is Scythe by Neal Schusterman published in 2016. The genre is science fiction and the subgenre is dystopian science fiction. Citra and Rowan are the main characters, and the central conflict is that they will have to kill one another when they

The theme is definitely doing the right thing isn’t always morally correct. In Scythe by Neal Schusterman, Schusterman uses the character archetype “The Mentor” to help broaden the theme. “The Mentor” is an older, wiser teacher to the initiates, and he serves as a role model (#2). This archetype helps develop the theme because we see Scythe Faraday as the mentor and he commits suicide for the betterment of his two apprentices. To further broaden the main theme we see the archetype pragmatic anti-hero. The pragmatic anti-hero is someone who is fundamentally good that will sacrifice someone/something for the greater good (#6). The pragmatic anti-hero is Rowan. The last archetype we see that supports the theme is star crossed lovers. Star crossed lovers are two characters engaged in a “love” affair fated to end tragically due to the disapproval of society, friends, family, or some tragic situation (#2). This archetype helps deepen the theme because Citra and Rowan share feelings for each other but they cannot follow those feelings because it is illegal for scythes to be in a

To do this, during their duel he breaks her neck and kills her after saying, “you fell right into my trap, now you will get what you deserve,” (291). Rowan knows this will make Citra feel disgust towards him and that’s why he does it. He shows the archetype- pragmatic anti-hero, which is someone who is fundamentally good that will sacrifice someone for the greater good which connects back to the theme (#6).

Secondly, Scythe Faraday is “asleep” in the middle of the night, he has his ring on the desktop to test Citra’s human curiosity and her ability to resist. After Citra puts the ring on she almost burns her finger off. Faraday isn’t mad at her, and instead states “curiosity is human; I merely allowed you to get it out of your system,” (117) showing that he’s a good mentor to the initiate. The quality of the mentor helps lead to the idea that the greater good isn’t always morally correct because Faraday let Citra injure herself to teach her a