Archetypes in Lord of Flies and Poisonwood Bible

Archetype Essay

The archetypal situation of the fall is when a character has a literal or figurative into a lower state of being resulting in a loss of innocence fall or emotional instability. Losing a loved one can alter one's life completely and for some, they can never return to who they used to be. In The Poisonwood Bible and Lord of the Flies, Orleanna and Ralph both fall into a hell-like place after losing someone they both deeply care for.

After Ruth May dies, the grief consumes Orleanna's life and she figuratively falls into an unstable emotional state. When she returns to Bethlehem, she is "determined to grow the tragedy out of her like a bad haircut" (Kingslover 476 ). The grief has consumed her and her way to deal with it is to not. She is trying to distract herself from her feelings by devoting all of her time to gardening. Adah tells the reader "mother keeps wanting to wash herself clean but... she is still clutching her baby. She will put down that burden on the day she hears forgiveness from Ruth May herself" (Kingslover 501 ). Orleanna still blames herself for Ruth May's death. She wishes her life could return to normal and she could escape this hell, but she cannot bring herself to move on until she is forgiven. Orleanna can never truly rid herself of these feeling and remains in the hell-like place.

When Piggy is killed by jack and his tribe, Ralph becomes depressed and loses almost all of his hope to be saved; he has fallen into a hell-place. His fall into hell is literally expressed when he is being chased by the savages and "the whole island [is] a shuddering flame" (Golding 152). The author showing a literal representation of the hell Ralph falls into after Piggy's death. This is just a drastic expression of how Ralph's life is changed. The reader sees Ralph's sorrow when he "[weeps] for the end of innocence... and a wise friend named Piggy" (Golding 158). Now that Ralph has fallen to hell, he is realizing the harsh realities of all that has happened. The death of Piggy causes Ralph to fall.

The fall archetype is used by both authors to show how the loss of a loved one altered Orleanna's and Ralph's life completely. Orleanna attempts to bury her sorrows away in her garden. She shuts herself out from the rest of the world and is a shell of the person she once used to be. Theses changes in Orleanna display her fall into hell. Similarly, Ralph has a troubled time after the death of Piggy. He practically gives up hope of ever being rescued and literally goes to hell when the island catches on fire. Both authors utilize to fall archetype to emphasize how Orleanna and Ralph are forever changed after the death of loved ones.