Archetypal Critique
The critical school I chose was archetypical for the "Battle of the Critics." ” “The Grinch who stole Christmas” is full of quite a few archetypal characters, images and themes in the poem.
In terms of characters, the antagonist is obviously the Grinch. He is a miserable person and against the happiness of the Who’s in Whoville until the conflicts of the story were resolved at the end. He can show the “bad guy” archetypal, because he pretends he’s Santa Claus to Cindy-Lou but really he’s ruining Christmas traditions while everyone is tucked away sleeping. The Grinch lives on top of the mountain, in a cave away from the Who’s. This can show him as an “outcast” archetypal.
Cindy-Lou Who is unlike the Grinch in many ways. She represents the innocents of a child archetypal. She’s a friendly, cut and immature, even to the unfriendly people, such as the Grinch.
However, the Grinch shows that he’s a very cruel character, a Jungian archetype. The Grinch seems is evil, but actually it is just his way of protecting himself from getting hurt like he did as a child. In the end the poem, his heart “grows” three inches, and his true goodness shines through once he had seen the Who’s are still celebrating Christmas even with out presents.
The season, is winter and Christmas is in the winter months The Christmas seasons, symbolizes new birth such as the Grinch’s heart is reborn, because it grow three sizes and he grows to love and has been accepted by the Who’s. The Grinch’s archetypal changes from “outcast” and “bad guy” to a “good guy”. He’s a new good person, with a big