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How The Grinch Stole Christmas

542 Words3 Pages

The archetypal critical theory which argues that the true meanings of literary works are shaped by cultural and psychological motifs, characters, symbols and images that have concretized connotations before they are used in literature, is the school of criticism that best interprets Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” This story heavily mirrors psychologist and archetypal criticism pioneer, Carl Gustav Jung’s postulation of the existence of two levels to the unconscious: a personal unconscious, of which suppressed memories of an individuals psyche are comprised, and an archetypal unconscious, which functions collectively for all of humanity, constituting patterns, thoughts, images, feelings, instincts and memories of ubiquity. The …show more content…

In nearly every story setup, these personas are there to drive the plot, because audiences enjoy happy endings with the oppressed (innocents) triumphing over their oppressors (villain). The grinch plays the role of the outcast/trickster because he alienates himself from the Whos in a cave at the top of a mountain overlooking the town, and also plots against their enjoyment of Christmas from there, shapeshifting to look like Santa and successfully deceiving little Cindy Lou Who. His green colour also indicates a sharp difference between him and the Whos. By the end, he also assumes the role of the friendly beast when his heart grows three sizes larger and he changes his thinking about what Christmas means to the Whos. Conversely, the Whos play the innocent and good roles, because throughout the story they are preparing for their Christmas celebrations and not causing any trouble. Even when their food, presents, and decorations have mysteriously disappeared, they band together and sing to celebrate the coming of Christmas instead of going up in

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