archetypes in the lion king

John BerryEdwardsPer. 24/18/96 The Lion King is a story
containing many archetypes. Archetypes are patterns or models of
literature that reoccur in many stories. In this paper I will discuss three of
these archetypes. They are the hero, death & rebirth of the hero, and the
symbolism and associations of water vs. desert. These archetypes can
be noticed easily and help things come together. The Lion King has
a very evident hero, Simba. Simba meets many of the characteristics of
an archetypal hero. Among these is the way that he is taken away from
his home, the Pridelands, and grows up with Timon and Pumbaa. After
Simba arrives with Timon and Pumbaa, we see very little of his life until
he is fully grown. When the film returns to Simba, he soon decides to
return to Pride Rock and face his past. He returns to save his kingdom
from its desolation caused by Scar and the hyenas, and to restore it to its
glory. The hero of a story commonly goes through some of these events.
Simba faces a common archetypal situation, death and rebirth.
Although Simba never physically dies, in spirit he does die. The spiritual
death of Simba is when he runs away from the Pridelands into the desert.
Everyone in the Pridelands thinks that he has physically died. In fact, he
nearly does die in the desert. Luckily, Timon and Pumbaa find him and
keep him alive. The spiritual resurrection of Simba occurs when he
returns to his home at Pride Rock. Everyone discovers that Simba is
alive. It seems as if he has risen from the dead to them because for such
a long time they believed that he was dead. At Pride Rock, Simba
returns to his previous life and faces all of his problems. The
symbolism of water and desert in the Lion King is very important. Water
often accompanies a change in a story. Water can also be a sign of birth
and rebirth. An example of water foretelling a change is Simba's lie when
he says that he and Nala are going to the water hole. They actually visit
the Elephant Graveyards. This visit causes Simba to get a view of reality,
not from his sheltered world. When Simba is found by Timon and
Pumbaa in the desert, they splash him with water to bring life back into

him. Another example of the symbolism of water is the rain when Simba
defeats Scar and assumes his position on the throne of Pride Rock. The
rain symbolizes the rebirth of the Pridelands. They go from the
desolation that Scar brings to the prosperity that comes with Simba. On
the other hand, the desert is symbolic for spiritual defilement and
desiccation. This occurs on Simba's flight from the Pridelands. He loses
his spirit, and spiritually dies. There is many cases of archetypes of
characters, situations, and symbolism and associations in the Lion King.
This paper discussed several of them. They included the heroic qualities
of Simba, the spiritual death and rebirth of Simba, and the associations of
water and the desert in the story. These archetypes are very important to
the story and help give the viewer a better understanding.