How to Read Literature like a Professor

Chapter 5 

            I went to a college program this summer for product design and learned all about archetypes and prototypes. A prototype is something or someone that serves as a model for other things to be based from. This summer I have been thinking of a prototype as a mock up for making a design, but now I see how a prototype works in literature. As a work of literature is never really original, neither is a work of art or design.

            Let’s use Gandalf as an example of how an original character is still never really original. Gandalf is seen as a mentor to much of middle earth just as Merlin was seen as a mentor to the Druids. Merlin is a prominent figure in Welsh literature; he was see the last Druid, keeper of knowledge and a man of magic that wore many wizard hats, sound familiar? Although Gandalf is a character similar to the Legend of Merlin, he is still his own character with his own story and characteristics. When I first watched The Lord of the Rings and saw Gandalf I didn't think, ‘Now where have I seen him before?’ I didn't try to compare Gandalf with any prototype character but now that I have, I have a better understanding of the story and what Gandalfs role is.

          Tolkien has taken so many myths and legends from around the world, Nordic, Celtic and so many others to include into his books. He studied many creatures, locations, and legends to make his own beings, history, world and the whole story of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

History, myths, legends, religion and science are many subjects that pieces of literature are based on. Greek Mythology is a big component of even modern day culture such as comic books. Thor and Loki from the Marvel Comic books are based off of Norse Mythology. Thor is a hammer god associated with thunder and lightning, Loki is a shape shifter and the trickster god.  The comic book characters are solely based from these mythological characters, they are not original characters thought up by Marvel Comics. In Norse religion, Asgard is one of the nine worlds and home of the gods and in Marvel Comics Asgard is a fictional realm within the Marvel universe that is solely based on the Asgard in Norse mythology.

Many areas around the worlds have similar mythology, such as the story of a lost city, most commonly known as Atlantis. Avalon was the lost city of the elves, Agartha was a legendary city at earth’s core, and Aztlan was the mythical homeland of the Aztec people. All of these mythical places all start with A, are all lost cities but from separate places spread throughout the world. It is almost like the story of these different lost cities could be one story.  Even if there is one story there are many versions and characters as time goes by, those variations and characters may change, and so does the story.