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This 3 page paper discusses the archetypal images and symbols in John Updike's short story: Leaves. Quotes cited from text. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_MBleafup.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
archetypes embody the idea of justice, courage, wisdom, and love. These archetypes also find their way into the work of such authors as John Updike. His short story, Leaves, utilizes
several archetypal symbols which can be examined for deeper meaning than the mere plotline gives. Archetypes are certain representations which a person forms in order to organize personality types(The Nature
of Archetypes). For example, one sees the hero as a classic archetype. Likewise, there are certain traits that one expects from a villain. Other archetypes include the wise old man
or woman, as well as the damsel. In the short story, Leaves, one views the world, for a short time, through the point of view of a man who has
come to a crossroads in his life. He has committed adultery and is facing the consequences of his action. The narrator has retreated to a cottage in the woods, waiting
for a phone call from his wife saying that she will forgive him and he can come home. As he waits several symbols are continually put before the reader.
The image of the grape leaf is significant it is a repeated word throughout the piece. The grape leaf, one could state, is representational of the nature of mankind. When
it is nurtured and kept in the right place, it is golden. When it is kept in the shadows, it turns brown and falls to the ground. The narrator,
then, sees the leaves as oracles. They portend the truth. He goes into the cabin but he can hear the dried leaves blowing across the roof "containing innumerable barbaric suggestions
of scimitars, flanged spears, prongs, and menacing helmets"(Updike 504). The trees have claws and the leaves curl and flash in front of him, reminding him of the truth of what
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