Pan's Labyrinth Archetype

Lightness versus darkness is an eternal battle which every individual fights daily. The light, the right, and the darkness, the wrong, elude to the battle between good and evil. Christianity adopts this archetype, portraying God as the good and the devil as evil. This archetype is commonly used throughout literature and film to illustrate two opposing sides. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie utilizes the standard light as virtuous and darkness as infernal, while Pan’s Labyrinth reverses the archetypal roles, having light be the problematic world and darkness be the magical world.
Rushdie thoroughly depicts the discrepancy of the Gups and Chups, since the land of the Gups is constantly illuminated, while the land of Chups is …show more content…
The Land of Chup resembles an oppressive dictatorship, since the land has fallen under a single power. As a result, the Chups are coerced to display their devotion, and are unable to speak out against the dictator. Rushdie portrays this land as unideal since his political views revolve around the practice of free expression and speech (“Salman Rushdie| Political and Religious Views”). In the Land of Chup, the dictator is clearly Khattam-Shud. Rushdie uses Khattam-Shud not only as the antithesis of the story, but also as a symbol for his life. Khattam-Shud’s decree of silence is an act of dictatorial control by muting free speech. The theme of silence lines up closely with the theme of darkness, as silence is associated with the gloomy Land of Chup. Rushdie examines the theme of silence from many angles, even incorporating himself in the novel as the character “Rashid.” Rashid loses his ability to speak stories, just as Rushdie lost his ability to speak freely while under hiding. Rushdie uses darkness to symbolize silence and …show more content…
For example, the Pale Man resembles the Japanese monster Tenome. Tenome, much like the Pale Man, has eyes in his hands. Tenome was once a blind man who was attacked and murdered by a group of robbers. Returning as a ghost, Tenome sought revenge against the robbers, so he formed eyes in his hands. Not having been able to see his killer, Tenome does not know who to search for and thus kills everyone he meets. The Tenome, and as a result the Pale Man, questions the how society is able to create humans who not only kill, but are immoral. The purpose of the Pale Man in the movie is to show that even though a society may be indicative of a “good” society, there will always be a Pale Man, who will seek to destroy the righteousness of the society.
In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the conflict between lightness and darkness is resolved when lightness conquers as Khattam-Shud dies. This victory of light over dark is an allusion to Rushdie’s life who was hoping for forgiveness from the Muslims, so that he could come out of hiding. In Pan’s Labyrinth, there is no decisive resolution, since even though Ofelia becomes princess of the magical world, she is still an object of the real world. The archetype of light versus dark revealed insights on the writer’s and director’s philosophies, and will continue to be explored for many more

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