An Analysis Of The Knight's Self-realization In The Knight In Rusty Armor Based On Jung's Archetypal Theory

The Knight in Rusty Armor,published in 1990,written by American contemporary comic writer Robert Fisher,is a classic fable,widely favored by the worldwide readers.Researches on The Knight in Rusty Armor are mainly from the perspectives of commerce,ethics,and psychology,but seldom from the perspective of Jung's archetypal theory.This thesis attempts to search the nature and meaning of life through an analysis of the process of the knight's self-realization.It aims to enrich the readers' understanding of the book.Moreover,the study also has realistic meaning,which may provide an example for modern people who lose the purpose of life,to gain self-knowledge and achieve the self-realization.The thesis consists of three parts: an introduction,the main body and a conclusion.The main contents are as follows:The first part is the introduction which consists of the research status of The Knight in Rusty Armor,the research aims,and the basic ideas of the four archetypes based on Jung's archetypal theory.The four archetypes are the persona,the anima(or the animus),the shadow and the self.The second part is the main body,consisting of four chapters.The first chapter is an analysis of the knight's persona in three aspects: the knight's obsession with his persona,that is,the obsession with his glorious armor and his knight's identity;the plight of the persona,that is,the plight of being stuck in his armor;and later,the knight's reconstruction of his persona.After the knight set foot on the path of truth,he gained more self-knowledge,and began to know his true self.He realized that every one was born to be good,kind and loving and there was no need to prove it to others.What he needed to do was just to let his nature assert themselves.The second chapter is an analysis of the knight's anima in three aspects.The knight projected his anima onto his wife,so the relationship between the knight and his anima can be analyzed as the relationship between the knight and his wife.At first,the discord with the anima,namely,the argument between the knight and his wife;owing to the prompt of the anima as well as his wife's urge,the knight began to search the solution,setting foot on the path of truth;at last,the knight gained more self-knowledge,begansympathizing with his wife,and fell in love with her again.At last the knight made reconciliation with his anima.The third chapter is an analysis of the knight's shadow in three aspects.By the help of Merlin,the knight recognized his shadow that was fear.In the castle of silence,the knight summoned his courage to listened to his inner voice and was aware of his fear.And he admitted that he had always lived in fear.In the castle of will and daring,the knight triumphed over his shadow,and gained wisdom and courage.During the process of dealing with the dragon which symbolized fear and doubt,the knight established a new set of dealing with his shadow.The way was the assimilation of it,to get close to it,to be friend with it,and to take the shadow as part of him,instead of taking the anima as the hostile enemy.The fourth chapter is an analysis of the effect of the knight's self-realization,including three parts.Through the symbolic death of the ego,the knight broke off the gate of the conscious and unconscious,so as to bring the emergence of the self.And the self archetype began to function through the whole psyche,in ordering and organizing to the whole integrity.Till then,the knight achieved the self-realization.The knight's rusty armor also melted away completely during the process.At last,the knight gained total freedom,both physically and psychologically.The third part is the conclusion,in which was a summary of the cause,the course and the effect of the knight's self-realization,an emphasis of the importance of the attention to the psyche,and the discussion of the purpose and significance of research.