How hard is it to risk one’s life just to keep a promise? The short story Magpies by Thomas King is about a promise made by a character named Ambrose, and how he must keep the promise he made, even if it causes distress. Magpies is written in a first person point of view so that the story is being told directly to the reader, which helps the reader to further understand the archetypes within the story. King delivers the message to always keep a promise through his utilization of archetypal characters, archetypal themes and archetypal symbols throughout the story Magpies. Thomas King portrays characters as archetypes through their behaviour and their personal choices within the story. Ambrose, for instance, has to make quick decisions in order to respond to the promise that he made to his grandma but he must also think about the consequences. He faces a goal to complete, and by achieving this goal he feels as though he has accomplished something significant in his life. The way that Ambrose has to respond to a task, is considered an archetype because characters in other books are also shown to …show more content…
One archetypal theme used in this story is the honor of one's culture and past. This theme is shown when the grandma wishes not to be buried but rather be put in a tree. This portrays the difference in grandmas culture which is misunderstood by other characters such as Wilma but appreciated by characters such as Ambrose. The narrator of the story also honors grandma's culture as he or she follows Ambrose and his decisions. Ambrose respects grandma's wishes, but Wilma does not. Another archetypal theme within this story is the theme of the power of love. Since Ambrose did not attend grandma's funeral, he still wanted to show love by keeping his promise he made to her. This shows how the power of love is extremely greater than any risk or consequence that could effect