Robert Barke
English IIa
Ms. Caldwell
11/3/07
The Jungian Hero Cycle in Kyle Hale's "Test-Five"
In the early 20th century, German historian Carl Jung (a student of Freud) invented the Hero Cycle, also known as the "Journey to Individuation" (Jung, xi). In this Cycle, the Hero goes on a quest, called the "Hero's Quest," in order to become an individual through Individuation. This involves the "Hero" going into the world of his Unconscious, where he meets crucial people like The Wise Old Man, the Trickster, and the Shadow. Only if he gets the Elixir can he go back to the Conscious and become a real individual. Kyle Hale's "Test-Five" is a brilliant example of the Jungian Journey, because it involves a Hero who goes into the Unconscious, meets a Trickster and an Old Man and a Shadow, and then finds the Elixir and goes back to the Conscious to become a true individual through the process of Jungian Individuation.
The first reason why "Test-Five" is a true version of the Jung Cycle is the juxtaposition of the Hero with a Test. In order to be a true Jungian Hero, the Hero has to go through a test or even several tests, which test if he is a true Hero. Only then can he become individuated as a true individual. In "Test-Five" one can see that the Hero has to undergo "another test" (Hale, 1), thus symbolizing that he is a true hero who undergoes many tests. Also, the title of the work is "Test-Five," juxtaposing that the hero undergoes at least five tests, and therefore is a true Jungian Hero.
However, another way that the hero of "Test-Five" is a true Jungian Hero is that he meets the characters of a Jungian Hero like Tricksters and Old Men. For example, the Old Man symbolizes the old teacher who likes to give lots of tests to the student, who symbolizes the hero. Not only that, but the "Trickster" likes to play tricks on people, like giving them really tricky tests to see if they are a Jungian Hero or not. Finally, there is the Shadow. The Shadow is the opposite of the Hero in every way and lives in his unconscious with the Animus and the Anima. The Shadow tries to hurt the Hero by making him unsure if he can pass the tests given by the Trickster and the Old Man. This symbolizes that there is Evil in the World and only a Jungian Hero who is a true Hero and an individual can overcome it.
Nevertheless, the biggest symbol that "Test-Five" is a Jungian Hero Cycle is the juxtaposition of the Hero's test with symbolic "white space." To symbolize the moving from conscious to unconscious, Hale ingeniously uses "white space" to symbolize the difference. To do this, he surrounds his text with lots of white space, and that shows how the unconscious is like a tunnel of white light like when people die, which is like being unconscious for a long time. This is when the Jungian Hero finds the Elixir which brings him back to the world of the Conscious as a true individual.
In conclusion, Kyle Hale presents the perfect Jungian Hero on the Journey to Individuation in "Test-Five" by showing the symbolic juxtaposition of the tests the Hero has to take (at least five) with the Characters like the Trickster and special quests like getting the Elixir. This shows Hale's true genius because he is able to brilliantly adapt his unique story to the Jungian archetypes of the Universal Unconsciousness. Also, some people say that Hale was just copying Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, but this is not true because Catch-22 was about wars and this story is about taking tests and battling Tricksters. So therefore, Hale's "Test-Five" is a true tale of Jungian Individuation by a test-taking Jungian Hero.
Bibliography
Hale, Kyle. "Test-Five." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York. WW Norton & Co. 2003.
Jung, Carl. The Carl Jung Reader. Viking Press. New York. 1996.
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