PART 2: Making it Through the Night -- Journey Through the Shadow into Light and Wholeness -- [TLJ Meta Analysis: In-Depth Discussion of Anima/Animus = Rey/Ben]
“After the division, the two parts of man, each desiring his other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one. Each of us when separated is always looking for his other half… And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love.”
–Plato’s Symposium
This three-part series of meta will cover the following:
PART 1 [LINK]: Carl Jung’s Shadow and brief overview of Anima/Animus as they apply to Kylo/Ben and Rey
PART 2: In-Depth Discussion of Anima/Animus as it applies to Rey and Ben
PART 3 [Coming Soon]: Jungian Archetypal Imagery and Symbolism [Coming Soon]
[link will be included later and edited into this post when finished.]
The Serpent/Twin Serpents
This is Part 2 of the three-part analysis of Jungian archetypal images in The Last Jedi. If you would rather skip the overviews and explanation of Jung’s shadow and Anima/Animus, please see Part 3 [coming soon].
So, what is an anima and an animus, exactly?
In literature, the anima is generally considered the personification of a male protagonist’s inner “feminine” part of the psyche – she represents the emotional, spiritual, intuitive, a vessel/foundation from which to build the creative/procreative, imaginative, sensitive, compassionate, nurturing, vulnerable, and [most importantly] wise. These are the things the “masculine”-inclined mind needs to develop in order to become a whole, balanced person. These are, from a psychological standpoint, what a person who has a more “masculine” [animus-centered] brain would be lacking in.
The animus, conversely, is considered the personification of a female protagonist’s inner “masculine” part of the psyche – he represents the inspirational, rational, powerful, active, romantic, ambitious, scholarly, intellectual, authoritative, and [most importantly] “meaningful” – or that which gives life “meaning” or purpose. These are considered things the “feminine”-inclined mind needs to develop in order to become a whole, balanced person. Again, from a psychological standpoint, this is a way to discover how to balance a person who is less drawn to the concrete [”masculine”] aspects of thinking, and balance out a more intuitive, emotional, abstract way of thinking.
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