An archetype is a universal symbolic pattern and an archetypal myth explains the nature of the world and life. Archetypes and archetypal myths are seen every day on modern movies, in books, and in television shows. A good example is the Lord of the Rings series.

                The common archetype found in the Lord of the rings is the hero’s quest archetype. This archetype is shown throughout the series. The story of the hero’s quest (Frodo) begins in the hero’s ordinary world (The Shire). He then receives a call to adventure from a herald, which in this case would be Gandalf. At first, he refuses, but later he accepts the quest. Then, they begin on their quest meeting allies, enemies, they even faced death, and many other things. Eventually they complete their quest and head back home with their object of the quest.

                In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo is living in The Shire when he is confronted by Gandalf. Frodo then believes the life of adventure is not the life for him, but he later agrees to it. Frodo then makes some allies and enemies on his journey, completes his quest, and goes back home.

                Without the archetype, the book would not be the same because the archetype serves the purpose as being the structure of the story. If the archetype was not used, Frodo and The Fellowship of the Ring would not have even begun their quest. Overall, archetypes play important roles that can change everything in books, movies, and television shows.