Page 177 - Šolsko polje, XXVIII, 2017, no. 3-4: Education and the American Dream, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 177
. gutman ■ the morphological and archetypal traces in the american dream
in the form of dragons, serpents, monsters, demons, and so on, and who
liberates his people from destruction and death” (Jung, 1988: p. 79). Jung
argues that the myth of the hero is the most common myth in the world:
These hero myths vary enormously in detail, but the more closely one
examines them the more one sees that structurally they are very simi-
lar. They have, that is to say, a universal pattern, even though they were
developed by groups or individuals without any direct cultural contact
with each other—by, for instance, tribes of Africans or North American
Indians, or the Greeks, or the Incas of Peru. Over and over again one
hears a tale describing a hero’s miraculous but humble birth, his early
proof of superhuman strength, his rapid rise to prominence or power,
his triumphant struggle with the forces of evil, his fallibility to the sin
of pride (kybris), and his fall through betrayal or a “heroic” sacrifice that
ends in his death.32
In that respect, the main character of the American Dream is a mod-
ern reinvention of an eternal symbol that functions in a similar syntax as
ancient gods of Greek or any other mythology: in its plain version, the
hero always starts poor, works hard, struggles, and wins the battle. This
motive then leads to a more complex and fine-grained narrative of the
hero, who, faced with many life challenges, works their way through dif-
ficulties, – even at their own existential risk – experiences symbolic death
and eventually becomes an accomplished personality.33 At this point it is
worth identifying the main conceptual difference between the Ameri-
can Dream hero and the Jungian hero. The difference lies mainly in the
complexity of a hero character: the Jungian hero enters various evolution-
ary stages, from the primitive childish phase and the reckless adolescent
phase, to the self-sacrifice stage and the final stage of individuation (Jung,
1988: p. 116), while the American Dream hero demonstrates a simpler ver-
sion of that archetype: a typical American Dream hero starts as a reck-
less child, but rapidly becomes extroverted, with their struggles being pre-
dominantly external. Nevertheless, the symbolic process of growing up
is reflected in the hero’s struggle, while their internal dilemmas are be-
ing reduced to “bad moments” or “moments of weakness” (see examples
in Madonna’s biography). Deep psychological emphasis on the period of
transition (from initiation to maturity) is not as granular as in Jungian de-
32 Jung, 1988: p. 110.
33 The Jungian term of ‘self-actualization’ is to be intentionally avoided, as it is multidimen-
sional in its meaning. It needs to be emphasized that the ideal of the American Dream
recognizes personal accomplishment strictly through financial maturity and materialistic
achievements.
175
in the form of dragons, serpents, monsters, demons, and so on, and who
liberates his people from destruction and death” (Jung, 1988: p. 79). Jung
argues that the myth of the hero is the most common myth in the world:
These hero myths vary enormously in detail, but the more closely one
examines them the more one sees that structurally they are very simi-
lar. They have, that is to say, a universal pattern, even though they were
developed by groups or individuals without any direct cultural contact
with each other—by, for instance, tribes of Africans or North American
Indians, or the Greeks, or the Incas of Peru. Over and over again one
hears a tale describing a hero’s miraculous but humble birth, his early
proof of superhuman strength, his rapid rise to prominence or power,
his triumphant struggle with the forces of evil, his fallibility to the sin
of pride (kybris), and his fall through betrayal or a “heroic” sacrifice that
ends in his death.32
In that respect, the main character of the American Dream is a mod-
ern reinvention of an eternal symbol that functions in a similar syntax as
ancient gods of Greek or any other mythology: in its plain version, the
hero always starts poor, works hard, struggles, and wins the battle. This
motive then leads to a more complex and fine-grained narrative of the
hero, who, faced with many life challenges, works their way through dif-
ficulties, – even at their own existential risk – experiences symbolic death
and eventually becomes an accomplished personality.33 At this point it is
worth identifying the main conceptual difference between the Ameri-
can Dream hero and the Jungian hero. The difference lies mainly in the
complexity of a hero character: the Jungian hero enters various evolution-
ary stages, from the primitive childish phase and the reckless adolescent
phase, to the self-sacrifice stage and the final stage of individuation (Jung,
1988: p. 116), while the American Dream hero demonstrates a simpler ver-
sion of that archetype: a typical American Dream hero starts as a reck-
less child, but rapidly becomes extroverted, with their struggles being pre-
dominantly external. Nevertheless, the symbolic process of growing up
is reflected in the hero’s struggle, while their internal dilemmas are be-
ing reduced to “bad moments” or “moments of weakness” (see examples
in Madonna’s biography). Deep psychological emphasis on the period of
transition (from initiation to maturity) is not as granular as in Jungian de-
32 Jung, 1988: p. 110.
33 The Jungian term of ‘self-actualization’ is to be intentionally avoided, as it is multidimen-
sional in its meaning. It needs to be emphasized that the ideal of the American Dream
recognizes personal accomplishment strictly through financial maturity and materialistic
achievements.
175
