The Lion King is a story containing many archetypes. Archetypes are patterns or models of
literature that reoccur in many stories. In this paper I will discuss three of these
archetypes. They are the hero, death & rebirth of the hero, and the symbolism and
associations of water vs. desert. These archetypes can be noticed easily and help things
come together.
The Lion King has a very evident hero, Simba. Simba meets many of the characteristics
of an archetypal hero. Among these is the way that he is taken away from his home, the
Pridelands, and grows up with Timon and Pumbaa. After Simba arrives with Timon and
Pumbaa, we see very little of his life until he is fully grown. When the film returns to
Simba, he soon decides to return to Pride Rock and face his past. He returns to save his
kingdom from its desolation caused by Scar and the hyenas, and to restore it to its
glory. The hero of a story commonly goes through some of these events.
Simba faces a common archetypal situation, death and rebirth. Although Simba never
physically dies, in spirit he does die. The spiritual death of Simba is when he runs
away from the Pridelands into the desert. Everyone in the Pridelands thinks that he has
physically died. In fact, he nearly does die in the desert. Luckily, Timon and Pumbaa
find him and keep him alive. The spiritual resurrection of Simba occurs when he returns
to his home at Pride Rock. Everyone discovers that Simba is alive. It seems as if he
has risen from the dead to them because for such a long time they believed that he was
dead. At Pride Rock, Simba returns to his previous life and faces all of his problems.
The symbolism of water and desert in the Lion King is very important. Water often
accompanies a change in a story. Water can also be a sign of birth and rebirth. An
example of water foretelling a change is Simba's lie when he says that he and Nala are
going to the water hole. They actually visit the Elephant Graveyards. This visit causes
Simba to get a view of reality, not from his sheltered world. When Simba is found by
Timon and Pumbaa in the desert, they splash him with water to bring life back into him.
Another example of the symbolism of water is the rain when Simba defeats Scar and assumes
his position on the throne of Pride Rock. The rain symbolizes the rebirth of the
Pridelands. They go from the desolation that Scar brings to the prosperity that comes
with Simba. On the other hand, the desert is symbolic for spiritual defilement and
desiccation. This occurs on Simba's flight from the Pridelands. He loses his spirit,
and spiritually dies.
There is many cases of archetypes of characters, situations, and symbolism and
associations in the Lion King. This paper discussed several of them. They included the
heroic qualities of Simba, the spiritual death and rebirth of Simba, and the associations
of water and the desert in the story. These archetypes are very important to the story
and help give the viewer a better understanding.
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