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Major Research Paper Fear of Apocalypse and Sinister Truths in the X-Men Universe An Analysis on Metaphors of Mutation, the Collective Shadow, and Prevalent Archetypes of Good and Evil in the X-Men Comics By Marco Mesquita, B.A. (Hons.), B. Ed. A Major Research Paper submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education Supervisor: Dr. Karen Krasny Second Reader: Dr. Warren Crichlow Submitted: March 29, 2017 Faculty of Education York University Toronto, Ontario Mesquita 2 Introduction Joseph Campbell (1949), the author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, declares that myths and mythmaking is an integral component to the paradigm of consciousness and the manifestation of cultural and social awareness. Myths and religion, the stories of our ancestors, resonate deeply in our collective consciousness and the study of archetypes presents for this reader’s consideration, a way of constructing meaning of and purpose for our very existence through the exploration of texts old and new (in this case, through superhero comic books). For Campbell, the realization of our own potential and destiny goes beyond making whimsical connections with heroes, gods, and the natural world; it is through the vast nexus of patterned and interwoven stories (spanning the history of our world) that we may realize how the hero’s journey correlates to our own pursuit of knowledge and amelioration. The hero’s quest may indeed be reflective of our own moralistic pursuits and journey to transcendence; however, I contend that it is through the final confrontation with the Jungian shadow that real lessons are learned by both the characters and the reader, which in turn add to the construction of a shared consciousness and reflections on morality and identity.
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