The Shadow Archetype
Perhaps the most unnerving element of the process of individuation is the Shadow. This archetype—both enthralling and unsettling—is a part of the Self that exist in the unconscious, originating from either within the psyche or projected from without by social messages; it is suppressed and shied away from by the conscious mind, as its “function…is to represent the opposite side of the ego and to embody just those qualities that one dislikes most in other people” (“Man and His Symbols” 476-477, 479). These qualities are what provoke feelings of fear, hate, and even shame from the conscious mind: There is little that can cause more terror than realizing the window through which we beheld the monster was a mirror.
The archetype’s ties to the hero and their journey are strong. Jung himself places the start of the process of individuation at the first awareness of the Shadow, which begins with “a wounding of the personality and the suffering that accompanies it” (“Man and His Symbols” 476), a facet reflected in most heroic journeys and other models, Campbell’s Hero’s Journey for starters. But it must be stressed that the Shadow is not inherently evil (“Jung and Star Wars” 15). It must be controlled or met in stride, and discovering whether “Our dark partner symbolizes a shortcoming that we should overcome or a meaningful bit of life that we should accept—this is one of the most difficult problems that we encounter on the way to individuation” (479).
Indeed, eradicating the Shadow is not how a positive Self is constructed. Instead, “The goal of the hero's journey is not to defeat and destroy the shadow, but to tame and integrate it” (15). The Shadow becomes a positive element that grows and enhances the individual instead of harming. To accomplish this feat, the hero must become aware of it, control and make peace with it: “The hero must ‘become sufficiently terrible enough to overcome the dragon’” (Jung and Star Wars 15). It is also worth noting that the antagonist is often seen “as having attributes of his shadow,” but that confronting and ending this antagonist is not enough for the hero to achieve victory; just as the Shadow cannot simply be exterminated or urged, “to merely destroy this antagonist, without waging the same battle within himself, does not address the underlying fear the hero faces—the fear of his own shadow, or instinctual drives, going out of his control” (Jung and Star Wars” (16).
While Jung’s original interpretation of the Shadow applied to the Self holistically, Carol Pearson’s discussion of archetypes shows the Shadow manifesting uniquely within each archetype. Drawing from Jung’s concept of “shadow possession,” Pearson states that all the various archetypes that embody different aspects of the self can themselves be taken over by their Shadow selves, leading to them to be consumed by their traits instead of expressing them positively; for instance, the Caregiver can be controlling, the Warrior callous and cruel in pursuit of their goal, the Orphan isolationist and manipulative (8-11). “Shadow possession” then is comparable to psychological concepts such as distorted thoughts, and it is easy to see why then they are feared.
Looking at fantasy literature shows that the relationship between Shadow and character is complicated and often arbitrated through the medium of conflict and violence. Secondary sources provide examples of Shadows in contemporary fantasy stories on the big screen, setting up an examination of a couple of the stories discussed in class.
Kenneth Nordin’s analysis is of a Shadow already in possession of the hero. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Yu Jen is a young girl who is under the tutelage of a murderous woman, who over the course of the film she must see for who she is, flee, and ultimately confront with the aid of her allies (124). Daniel Goldberg’s analysis of Star Wars talks about Darth Vader as a Shadow to Luke, and Luke’s journey is largely one of conflict with his relationship to him, saying that the rest of the films are about Luke’s conflict between the “two opposing voices” of Yoda and Obi-wan who say Vader must die, and Vader’s own plan to sway Luke to his side and make him like himself ; ultimately, he finds a third solution, saving his father, and thereby reintegrating his Shadow (26).
In the texts read in class, the Shadow has been central to many conflicts, as well as to their solution. In The Hero and the Crown, both primary antagonists can be seen as Shadows of Aerin, who has been repressed and ostracized by her own people broadly and within her family. To this broad sense of confinement and suffocation speaks Maur. Maur the Black Dragon is a force of destruction fueled by malice; he has no other motivation. Seen as Aerin’s Shadow, Maur is an embodiment of self-sufficiency seceded from society of all sorts that acts on every dark impulse to those who have wronged her. Maur’s persistence after death in the form of his bloodstone and skull sow how the Shadow is not easily eliminated nor embraced: Aerin almost dies in her convalescence from the shock, and Maur’s new position inside the kingdom is almost more deadly than his attack from without.
Ultimately, without integrating Maur she would never succeed against Asgded. As Maur was horrible as the alien, the group, and the abstract, Asgded is a thousand times worse by being familiar: “Maur is to your little dragons what Asgded is to Maur” (McKinley 164). Through their fight, it is not a blow from his sword that concerns her, but his closeness to her that horrifies her. Only by weaving the wreath of surka and combining it with Maur’s bloodstone—effectively demonstrating acceptance and mastery over her separate aspects of her Shadow, and forcibly integrating them together and with herself—does she defeat him.
In both The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, the main characters also struggle with the confrontation and integration of their Shadows. Frodo must come to terms with his Shadow in Gollum, whose condition cursed upon him by the Ring might very well be in Frodo’s future, and to some extent by the end of the text it is. Frodo leaves for the Undying Lands, realizing that he cannot be at peace while staying in Middle Earth, an acceptance likely made possible by his honest and continuing efforts to understand Gollum (Tolkien).
Harry Potter has a terribly long battle with his own Shadow: seven whole books worth. Voldemort is a Shadow that does not even fully reveal himself until the fourth book, manifesting in lesser forms Harry can understand and face. All forms that he takes, from a lump on Quirrell’s head, to Wormtail, to the Dark Lord himself, all are a site of struggle for Harry’s insecurities and fears about family, loneliness, and loss (Rowling Harry Potter series). As his Shadow becomes manifests stronger, so to does the threat of shadow possession. Like Frodo, and even Aerin who Agsded and Maur both sought to dominate, Harry is in danger of taking on their Shadow’s traits and serving them. What starts as Parselmouth becomes a vulnerability to Voldemort’s mind, and finally the realization that a piece of Voldemort’s soul is a part of Harry. It is this realization, which Harry has fought long and hard to reach, that is part of Harry finally integrating his Shadow. While the ending of the last book is critiqued as being rushed and unfulfilling in the final clash between Harry and the Dark Lord, in some ways their battle was over as soon as Harry, lost to limbo after Voldemort killed him, looked down on the disgusting baby—and pitied it. As of that moment, Voldemort had lost.
From Aerin, to Frodo, to Harry, the danger and the necessity of integrating the Shadow into the hero’s Self can clearly be seen. As one analyzes or composes (or best yet, does both) fantasy literature, keep an eye out for the Shadow.