| Abstract | This paper analyses the myths, archetypes, and stereotypes that occur in two novels by two American Nobel Prize winners, Toni Morrison's Beloved and William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. Both writers are well known for their mythical method they use to resurface undercurrent ideas of the misinterpreted and misrepresented history. The theory of myth and the phenomenon of stereotypes are looked into as guidelines. The analysis brings to light which myths, archetypes, and stereotypes can be traced in the novels, and why the authors employed these phenomena. What has transpired is that certain myths, and archetypes, if in different circumstances, are interpreted as stereotypes. For the needs and limitations of this work, the myths of motherhood, the plantation myth/the Garden of Eden myth, including the tree myth, then the myth of rebirth, and finally, the trickster myth, have been devised. The most prominent stereotypes are the Southern belle versus the fallen woman, the cavalier stereotype, and the unavoidable dichotomy of Mammy/Jezebel. Both myths and stereotypes help us to explain and understand the world around us. The chaotic times we live in demand explanation, so we look back to history in order to find references and adapt the knowledge to our new era, “[f]or the myth is the foundation of life” (Mann 374). |
