Final Essay: Spirited Away: A Color Reality

James Caceres

ENG 102

12/11/13

                                                           

                                                   Spirited Away:  A Colorful Reality

           

Does Spirited Away target and portray important symbolism and themes that are like our real world?  Spirited Away is an animation written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, it is a popular Japanese animation which captivates viewers through its intricate uses of imagination and symbolism.  Many of the characters in Spirited Away contain a form of symbolism which overall meaning correlates with reality.  Some of Spirited Away’s most illustrated symbols consist of the portrayal of good vs. evil and greed.   This essay seeks to actively describe these varied uses of symbolism within the film.

Greed is a major focal point in Spirited Away.  In the bathhouse all the workers including the witch Yubaba, the owner/manager of the bathhouse, illustrate this greed.  Yubaba, who is most often seen wearing various precious jewelry, is constantly is eager for more and more gold.  Yubaba’s greed is also greatly shown when she is first visited by Chihiro where Yubaba’s office contains more floor space and treasured jewelry then she would actually ever need.  This is especially depicted in multiple scenes where Yubaba is examining numerous prized gems.  Yubaba additionally allows this greed to overcome her emotion and compassion for people as she clearly places her need for gold over her very own workers and even at times her family.  A great example of this is shown when Haku tells Yubaba that something precious to her is missing without her knowing.  Yababa at this moment takes a look at her gold first before noticing it was her baby missing the whole time, illustrating how eager for gold she truly is. 

The workers of the bathhouse are additionally extremely greedy.  Most of the workers are exceedingly eager for gold to the extent that they literally bow down and praise the character No-Face, who is able to create gold out of thin air.  The workers in multiple scenes scatter ferociously attempting to pick up gold when gold is dropped on the floor by river spirit and No-face.  These acts of vicious eagerness for gold by the workers and Yubaba expose the true nature of greed which takes place in the bathhouse.   

Another major symbol that is portrayed throughout Spirited Away is the battle between good and even within many characters.  No-Face makes a great example to this due his constant cognitive ability to match his surroundings.  No-Face is very kind towards Chihiro who was very kind to No-Face when she invited him into the bathhouse, and even aided her in gaining bath tokens which helped purify the water spirit.  Yet when No-Face is surrounded by the greed of those from the bathhouse, he quickly imitates this greed.  No-Face soon consumes one of the workers acquiring that workers greedy additional traits and voice.  However since No-Face is able to create gold out of thin air he quickly gains the attention of the workers who want his gold.  While having their attention No-Face becomes much overcome by their greed consuming more food than ever necessary.  Though when the appearance of kind hearted Chihiro comes to see No-Face, he is very kind to her and offers her a stack of gold.  Chihiro denial of this gold upsets the greed within No-Face, resulting in an internal rage of No-Face’s greed.  This causes him to literally spit out the greed within him where he soon becomes a gentle soul seeking kind attention.  

The importance of these symbols and themes is how relatable it is to the real world.  Very often daily in people’s lives they are subjected to greed and their personal battle between good and evil.  It would not be uncommon in this day of age to see people barbarically fight and argue over money let alone gold. Additionally it is not uncommon to see a person who follows the good or bad within his/her surroundings.  The value in animation of Spirited Away is its ability to allow viewers to see from a different perspective outside their own world, yet the correlations to their own no matter how exotic the difference in appearance. 

Spirited Away greatly portrays themes and symbols that are easily relatable and identifiable to the real world.  These symbols consist of good vs. evil and greed throughout the animation.  Hayao Miyazaki uses the characters Yababa, No-Face, and the bathhouse workers to illustrate these important themes and symbols.  This precise of greed and good vs. evil makes the animation Spirited Away a great piece worth watching.

            

Research Assignment Blog

James Caceres

11/26/13

ENG 102

Realistic Transformation

Does literature play any roles in our lives? Is it important?  In literature, though some works may seem distant to what our actual lives may be, there is most often a correlation to our own lives.  In literature there is a common general use of archetypes which represents recurring patterns within people and objects.  An example would be the first thought in a person’s mind when thinking of a police officer or nurse and the similarity if someone else was to think of the same idea.  Though people may not fall into the nurse or police officer archetype, there are archetypes that many people do fall into. Most which happen to fall into the 12 common archetypes.  In literature most if not all characters follow the same common archetypes.  In Coraline by Neil Gaiman, the main character Coraline goes over a growing progression through three common archetypes.  These archetypes follow as the orphan, seeker, and the warrior.  Coraline’s transformation through various archetypes depict how the reader or people in general, go through various transformations of archetypes within their own lives both strength and weaknesses.

Coraline within the first chapters of the book follows a great pattern towards the orphan archetype. Coraline is constantly attempting to find a sense of belonging with her consistently busy parents.  Though her efforts are futile, her tough minded orphan attribute allowed her to find and explore other possibilities.  Someone following the same orphan archetype are most often able relate to the acts and emotions faced by Coraline.  Such acts such as being ignored as a kid, or the feeling of not belong while wanting to belong.  An example would be in chapter 2 where Coraline tries to entertain herself by seeing her father,

“Coraline went to see her father.  He had his back to the door as he typed. “Go away,” he said cheerfully as she walked in. “I’m bored,” she said.  “Learn how to tap-dance,” he suggested, without turning around.  Caroline shook her head.  “Why don’t you play with me?” she asked.  “Busy,” he said. “Working,” he added.  He still hadn’t turned around to look at her.  “Why don’t you go and bother Miss Spink and Miss Forcible?”” (21, coraline),

This part of the story shows a great example, of the type of loneliness Coraline had felt while also lacking a sense of belonging.  This is why the orphan archetype suits her greatly at this point.  Nevertheless Coraline’s life as an orphan leads her to her next archetype transformation which she uses to cope with her feelings from the orphan archetype.  This archetype is the seeker.

            Though Coraline is a natural seeker, as demonstrated by her constant want for exploration; Coraline’s seeker archetype is more emphasized due to her orphan attribute, meaning her lack of attention from her parents had led her to become a better seeker which ultimately leads to her journey.  Attributes of a seeker consist of a constant need to explore the world, to gain a sense of fulfillment.  Additionally a weakness of a seeker abide by the often possibility of aimlessly wandering while journeying.  Coraline greatly accommodates these seeker traits as she always attempts to find something to do.  As when Coraline is told to stay away from the well since it’s dangerous, “Coraline set off to explore for it, so that she knew where it was, to keep away from it properly.” (5-6, Coraline) where she proceeds to drop pebbles to test for it depth.  To where she discovers it’s extremely deep.  Additionally when Coraline is bored, her seeker trait kicks in when she goes off to count the number of all the doors and windows in her house.  These examples of the seeker trait greatly correlate to those whom may have one point have lived a life as a seeker.  This seeker trait may have most likely occurred during childhood when one often needed to find something to entertain the inner kid in us.   This allows the reader to better feel the exact emotions which Coraline herself is feeling.  This in turns aids the reader in gaining a greater overall understanding of the story.  Additionally it shows to those of the seeker archetype that they are not alone in their thrill for journeys and quests.  However, similar as to Coraline’s transformation between orphan and seeker, where her orphan archetype has led her to her seeker archetype, Coralines seeker archetype leads her ultimately to her warrior transformation.

            Coraline transformation to a warrior occurs slowly.  Coraline continues the role of a seeker up to and beyond when where she finds the door to the other world.  Previously being a brick wall behind the door, she eventually stumbles on it cracked open and leading elsewhere.  Coraline seeker traits at this point hit a peak as she travels into the other world.  Here she finds a home similar to Coraline’s home, but not exactly her home.  She additionally finds her other mother and father whom contain button eyes, and unlike her actual mother and father go out of their way to tend to all of Coraline’s needs.  Coraline continues to explore this realm, and finds a great joy within it since she is most familiar with being ignored and enjoys the attention.  After a few visits to this “other world”, Coraline starts taking notice to the worlds flaws, and realizes that it’s actually out to get her;  triggering her warrior transformation.  According to “What Story Are You Living”,

“The Warrior archetype often has a code of honor involving a high level of discipline, principle, and, as in this story, heroism.  The warrior enjoys competing and tends to embark on crusades.”(96, What Story Are You Living).

Coraline comes to fulfill these attributes when challenging the other mother in a game of exploring.  Coraline stakes her life with the additional possibility of having buttons sewn onto her eyes by failing this challenge.  Since it is a game of exploring which is one of Coraline’s archetypes “the seeker”, it aids her through her challenge to defeat the mother.  Coraline’s archetype from orphan, seeker, to warrior has helped her battle in saving her parents and the children's souls.   Similar to all people and readers, the archetypes that we live in our lives help us overcome the challenges many face.

            One may ask why does this matter to the reader?  It matters because like Coraline, we as a people do come from common archetypes which take place in all literature.  Additionally by knowing and understanding our archetypes and other ones as well, it is possible to develop a greater understanding of the world and people around us.  People may not open a door and enter a fictional world with challenges, but people do open doors to face real world challenges.  What aids people in these challenges are knowing their strengths and weaknesses within their archetype.  Nevertheless literature helps depict the possibility of transformation.  Where one day we may be an orphan, and a year later be seekers, to soon become a warrior in our own worlds.  Literature assists in obtaining this knowledge, and by this shows that we ourselves are each living a unique story.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman and many other works of literature assist in the understanding of archetypes and the world around us. Coraline aids as a great example on how literature allows readers to enter a fictional world and come out with an understanding of the non-fictional world.  Through archetypes as one of literature’s arsenals it allows readers to live a story of their own by incorporating themselves and common archetypes to the story.  For these reasons alone give a vast reason for why literature is important.  For literature contains many correlations to our lives then we may think. 

 

Works Cited

Gaiman, Neil, and Dave McKean. Coraline. New York: HarperCollins, 2002. Print.

Pearson, Carol, and Hugh  Marr. What Story Are You Living. 2003. Reprint. Gainesville:

 Center for Applications of Psychological Type, Inc, 2009. Print.

"The 12 Common Archetypes." The 12 Common Archetypes. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.

<http://www.soulcraft.co/essays/the_12_common_archetypes.html>.

Blog Entry #8

Blog Entry #8


The poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" written by Dylan Thomas contains many symbols of life and death.  The line "Do not go gentle into that good night" located in line 1, 6, 12, and 18 symbolizes the narrators eagerness of not wanting someone to die.  The usage of the word night alludes to the thought of death, as well as "Do not go gentle" referring to fighting against death.  Also emphasized throughout the poem is the line "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" which symbolizes once again the narrator eagerly telling someone to fight for life, as light is used as a symbol for life.  Additionally throughout lines 7-13, the narrator symbolizes various types of men such as wise, good, wild, and grave which each portray intellects, caregivers, adrenaline junkies, and people who are already near death.  Though each find that it is a must to fight for the light which symbolizes life.  The poem's last stanza contains the line "And you, my father, there on the sad heights, curse, bless, me now with your fierce tear."  The narrator at this point clearly seems to speak direcrly to his father who is protrayed to be on the brink of death as symbolized in "sad height".  The narrator begs his father "To not go gentle into that good night.  Rage, rage against the dying of light" as to fight for youth, or a morning sunrise as did many before him.

The author Dylan Thomas has clearly themed this poem to be about life and death.  Additionally in www.newquay-westwales.co.uk/dylan-thomas mentions the death of Thomas' father a year after this poem was written; concluding that this poem was very much dedicated to Thomas' dying father.   Meaning this poem does not just portray the feelings of the narrator, but the author's true feelings of not wanting his father to die.

Blog Entry 7

Blog Entry # 7

It is hard for me to pick and choose and archetype in which I dislike since each are unique and important in there own ways.  This being the case I'll mention an archetype that is my least favorite, the destroyer.  The destroyer archetype is known to make revolutionary changes through brutal tactics, and act on what they find to be right.  A destroyer is additionally able to move on easier in life even through hardship.  The destroyer can be one who battles for what is considered a good cause or a loss cause in which the destroyer finds meaningful (more often then the other).  Due to this destroyers can greatly vary.

A notorious example of a destroyer is Vlad the Impaler whom when invading nations had brutally slaughtered and killed many men, women, and children to conquer there land.  Another example being Adolf Hitler who tried to seek and create a perfect race, and attempted to exterminate those who did not fit his criteria.  Yet though it seems that the well known destroyers are malicious with a cruel end goal not all destroyers are.  A destroyer can be one who fights against such causes as previously mentioned, as did the many nations who aided to stop Hitler.  Additionally without a destroyer it would be hard to make necessary revolutionary changes when needed. 

Blog Entry # 6

Blog Entry #6

I read on the archetype which was the highest on my PMAI score, the jester.  The jester finds him/her self to be one who finds great pleasure in making others laugh or feel good.  They are able to make tough situations more easier to deal with by adding humor to find the silver lining of a situation.  Jesters live for the experience and for the laugh, and use them for the happiness in life.  Though Jesters are humorous people they tend to not know when to be serious or tend to accidentally hurt others peoples feelings but not realizing the intensity of a joke (true story). 

There are many examples of Jesters in real life especially in the field of comedy.  One of my favorite comedians Louis C.K tell jokes which pertain to his life.  Many of his jokes are very straightforward, honest, and sometimes disturbing.  Yet his jokes and jester like tails brings humor and laughter to the millions who watch him and are also fans of him.  Another great example would be John Stewart from the daily show, who brings humor to everyday problems serious or stupid.  Stewart uses plenty of satire to make fun of many people who he does not agree with.  John Stewart and Louis C.K are only two of millions of jesters bring humor to the world everyday.

Blog Entry 5 - Midterm Reflection

Blog Entry #5

My semester in ENG 102, has taught me many things about literature which I did not know before.  Such things are the use of archetypes, and the various types of archetypes there are.  Additionally it was interesting to find out that we all are part of common archetypes.  It was helpful knowledge to give in thought the authors background in terms of what he may attempting to portray in his/her work, and additionally that one story can mean multiple things.

The course is honestly better then I expected.  I expected to read about something I truly did not want to read which most likely would take place around 2am the day before.  Instead I'm surprisingly interested to read about the course material in supernatural (a genre I did not think I would like) poems and books.  I can only hope that this class continues to be awesome as it is.

Blog Entry 4: Nevermore (Final)

James Caceres

Eng 102

10/2/13

                                                        Symbolism in Poe

Edgar Allan Poe uses great symbolism in his works, especially in his poem “The Raven”. Edgar Allan Poe was born an American in Boston Massachusetts in January 19, 1809 and dying in October 7, 1849 by speculated reasons.  He is famously known for his works in literature and poetry, with notable works such as “The Raven”, “Cask of Amontillado”, and “The Masque of the Red Death”.  Poe’s work style of literature is known to illustrate a sadist and melancholy take on life.  This is primarily due to the hardships he faced in life.  Poe’s father had abandoned his family in 1810, with his mother then dying a year later.  He was then fostered for the rest of his life, living an odd life marrying his first cousin Virginia Eliza Clemm whom was only 13 years old.  On January 1842 Clemm, had contracted tuberculosis, which led to her death 5 years later.  She is known to have taken a role after death in Poe’s works such as in “The Raven” published in January 1845.  The poem beautifully captivates a man’s quick spiral from normality to insanity from past hardships.  I’ve chose to write about this poem for it’s alluring darkness of the mind of a man who’s lost a great deal.

The chambers of the narrator symbolizes security, safety and intrusion.  In stanza 1 and 3, the chamber door the narrator is safely within his home, before being brought to an inconvenience by a tapping at the door.  Throughout the poem the safety of the chambers slowly dwindles down from a safe haven to the narrator's personal hell.  What turns the chambers to the narrator’s hell is what is soon to show on the other side of the chamber door, the raven. The raven for a moment brings joy, which soon goes to symbolizes darkness, sorrow, and death as it bombards the narrator with haunting memories he is desperately trying to escape.  The raven at first glance was a happy site for the narrator “--this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling” (43, raven) bringing his sorrowful thoughts of the narrator’s love for Lenore to a halt.  It even brings greater pleasure to the narrator when it begins to speak the words “Nevermore”.  These words of nevermore had began to torment the narrator, as it began to remind him of his lost love.  The raven throughout the poem constantly repeats the phrase "Nevermore” throughout multiple stanzas, which coincidently is similar sounding to the narrators lost love Lenore. “And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door” symbolizes the ravens lingering sorrow and reminder of a lost love as it sits above the narrators home until the very end of the poem.  The bust of Pallas also plays an ironic role in this poem.  Pallas is also known as the Greek god, Athena, god of wisdom.  This is why the narrator takes the words of the raven so harshly, as he himself thinks the raven is speaking words of wisdom.  This is far from the truth as the poem continues, as the raven does not speak any words of wisdom rather repeating the same “Nevermore” phrase.

The denotation of the symbols in “The Raven” are as follows.  A chamber has various denotative meanings referring to government, media, and rooms/spaces, but for this poem it refers to a room inside a building or house.  The denotation of a raven consists of a bird that is one of the several members of the genus Corvus.  They are commonly found in North America and Europe and contain black plumage and large breaks.  The bust of Pallas is a head statue of the greek god Athena, god of wisdom.

As a whole I believe the poem underlies a theme in lost love, self loathing, and a want/need to escape.  From the beginning within the security of the narrator's home, he is constantly brushed with the thoughts of his love Lenore.  Though at this point he still has his sanity until the arrival of the raven which had first gone unnoticed outside the chamber door to soon becoming an admiring site when its tapping and first use of the word nevermore gained the narrators attention.  It then had became a wicked site as it brought forth the narrator’s thoughts of his past lost love through the usage of the word Lenore.  The raven in this sequence symbolizes and illustrates the concept of a dreaded memory as it first goes unnoticed, to becoming triggered by a sudden event which soon becomes a nuisance before fully becoming a haunting lingering thought.

                                                             Works Cited

Poe, Edgar Allen. "Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven." IT-News, c't, iX, Technology Review,

Telepolis | heise online. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.

<http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html>.

"The Raven - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven>.

"Thoughts on Poe: The Raven and the Bust of Pallas." Thoughts on Poe. N.p., n.d. Web. 30

Sept.2013.

<http://thoughtsonpoe.blogspot.com/2009/06/raven-and-bust-of-pallas.html>.