THE NEVER ENDING STORY
Film by: Wolfgang Petersen, Herman Weigel
Jungian Interpretation - Noel Clark
The following is my personal interpretation of a Jungian
perspective on the popular story written by the above authors. I
found the "Neverending Story" to be rich in archetypal symbolism. It
is my pleasure to share this personal view with you.
The Never Ending Story is told through the eyes of Bastian, a
young boy who recently lost his mother, and Atreyu, the Child
Warrior, Child Hero. Atreyu's story is depicted in a mysterious book
given to Bastian, in an indirect way by a Wise Old Man and owner of
an archaic book store. As Bastian read the book, creatures from all
parts of the kingdom were in fear of The Nothing, the great void that
was overtaking and destroying the various regions of Fantasia. They
traveled great distances to seek the help of the Child Empress. Upon
arrival to the Ivory Tower where the Child Empress resided, they
discovered she had fallen ill and the solution to a cure now lay in
the hands of the Great Warrior, Atreyu. Atreyu reached the Ivory
Tower at the summoning of the Empress's Spokesman. There was a
discussion by all in attendance related to disbelief and surprise
that Atreyu, the Warrior, of whom they had heard so much, was
actually a Child Warrior. Atreyu accepted the mission presented to
him which entailed his traveling through dangerous regions to find
the cure for the Empress. The spokesman told Atreyu that,
S: "There seems to be a mysterious link between her illness and
The Nothing. You must go alone, leave all your weapons behind."
A: "Is there any chance of success?"
S: "I do not know but if you fail, the empress will surely die
and our whole world will be utterly destroyed." (Petersen ;
Weigel)
The spokesman handed Atreyu a double coiled snake amulet, called
the Orion, with a message, "He who wears the Orion speaks for the
Princess. It will guide and protect you." (Petersen ;
Weigel)
The symbolism in the first portion of the story sets the theme of
the archetypal images that are to appear to the child Bastian who is
grieving over the lose of this mother. Such a loss at a young age,
when the developmental process has already begun to manifest itself
with yearnings for individuation, has been abruptly brought forward
in this child's life. He must now seek his internal mother to
recreate the interactive support he would have received as he
journeyed toward the discovery of his true nature. Loss takes many
forms in our lives and our response to such grief does not have to
extend only to physical lose but to the emotional lose as well..
The archetypal figures represent all transformation processes
required to recreate our shattered lives. Bastian 's first encounter
is with the Wise Old Man, who in archetypal terms, can also be a
trickster. While we begin our preplanned journey to resolve our
perceived turmoil with the external world, the wise old man nods his
head. He smiles and encourages us as he watches us begin our path on
the internal journey of our soul, or that which is the realization
and attainment of our true nature in it's purest form. He is wise in
that he knows that at the end of the journey we become, or have the
ability to become, that which was our innate and true being.
We rarely begin our journey without the presence of The Nothing,
which propels us into a desire for action. It represents our greatest
fear, that which is not known or identifiable to us in our ego state.
In order to transgress the Nothing, we must go deep within ourselves
and face our greatest fear - that which we are in the present, that
which is keeping us in stagnation, and that which is keeping us from
journeying to become integrated with full possession of all parts of
our Selves.
Fantasia represents the well spring of our lives, a place of our
hopes and dreams. It is a place where our desire for purpose and
accomplishment is formed. It is also a place where our innate
creativity congregates and interacts to form the energies of
motivation. To take this journey we must find a child warrior who
does not have the well established ego defenses. A child warrior is
full of awe and purpose. One who is full of strength untouched by
cynicism. A child who is that part of us which is not tarnished by
the impurities of life experiences. He/she is not, however, whole.
The child is but one part of us who must seek one's other half. This
child must seek out the creative self which nurtures and leads to
strengths not held by warriors alone. Like Atreyu, this is the anima,
or in Fantasia, the Child Princess.
Atreyu, the Child Warrior, journeys to the Ivory Tower, the place
of inner creativity which houses the Child Princess, his anima, or
that which expresses the female characteristics within a male. She
lies seriously ill. Atreyu, the Child Warrior, had to travel far to
reach her as the duality of our nature is not readily available to
us. There is a mysterious link to the progress of the Nothing and the
illness of the Princess. At the Ivory Tower Atreyu is told that in
order to not fail in his quest for the solution he must not rely on
his weapons of the past. The internal journey is not one which is
effectively navigated by our past ego defenses. One must lay
themselves bare in the quest for the solutions to overcoming The
Nothing. He is told he may only take an amulet, The Orion, a necklace
of the two intertwined snakes, as a representation of the Child
Princess, which will guide and protect. This is also a symbol of the
anima and a statement that in this quest there is an alchemy and
wisdom expressed through healing.
Atreyu starts out on his journey riding his trusty white steed,
Ortex, beloved friend and companion of this youth. The horse is rich
in mythology, often representing both burial and birth. It is the
symbol of the capacity to travel great distances to bring us to new
territories. It is also the symbol of the soul journey. (Andrews,
1996)) Atreyu first rides through the Howling Forrest, where the
Creature of Darkness, who feared the success of the Child Warrior and
his mission, began his pursuit. In the Howling Forrest we meet our
nagging fears and anxiety inherent with a new journey. Unbeknownst to
us, behind the nagging fear is our biggest fear, the creature of
Darkness which rises up and persues when triggered by the more
trifling fear of our new circumstances.
We learn in the Desert of Shattered Hopes that all may not
present itself in the way our ego state perceived our journey. Our
bodies and mind become arid without the support of lush new green
vegetation and a source of water for nourishment and growth. We
become weakened and soon reach the Swamp of Sadness.
I will mention the Swamp of Sadness as one of the emotional
states which make the recognition of a shadow so difficult. Atreyu
did not enter the Swamp of Sadness alone, he rode on Ortex, his
trusted white horse. The horse, friend of his youth, did not make it
through the Swamp of Sadness. Ortex was overcome with grief which
lead him to a state of immobility. Without movement he became stuck,
slowly sinking to the depths of the swamp. "For whoever let the
sadness overtake them would sink into the swamp." (Petersen/Weigel)
This was the projections of Bastian in handling his fear and grief at
the loss of his mother. On his journey he first had to enter the
Howling Forrest, the representation of his fear connected to the loss
of his mother at such a young age. He then went on to the grief
process, the loss of Ortex, a representation of his mother. Bastian
could not save his mother, nor could Atreyu save his trusted white
horse. Atreyu pleaded for the life of Ortex, "I understand it's too
difficult for you. Fight against the sadness, you have to try. You
have to care. You have to move or you will die".(Petersen/Weigel) A
sad or fearful experience is often that which initially propels a
person onward to self discovery. It is this experience which makes
people aware of the weaknesses and frailties within ourselves which
need to be confronted. "Affects occur usually where adaption is
weakest, and at the same time they reveal the reason for its
weakness, namely, a certain degree of inferiority and the existence
of a lower level of personality." (Jung, 1958) It is in a Swamp of
Sadness where many also get stuck and go no further.
Carl Jung identified the shadow as the unknown aspects of the
self. Each person has many shadows to overcome in their journey to
the self. "The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole
ego personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow
without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves
recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real.
With a little self-criticism one can see through the shadow - so far
as its nature is personal."' (Jung, 1958) "Emotion, incidentally, is
not an activity of the individual but something that happens to him."
(Jung, 1958) This aspect was symbolized during Atreyu's journey to
find a cure for the Child Empress (really his anima). As he journeyed
he went through the Howling Forrest, the Swamp of Sadness, and the
Sea of Possibilities. "....The source of the projection is always the
shadow, which is always the same sex as the shadow." (Jung, 1958)
Atreyu is clearly the personal shadow of Bastian. To Bastian, Atreyu
contained all the traits which Bastian felt he lacked. He did not
perceive himself to have courage or the ability to take charge and
vanquish his enemies, those he feared now that his mother was dead
and could no longer protect him.
After Atreyu confronted his personal shadows, he was to learn of
the destructive effects of the collective shadow. He became one of
the few persons to experience personal knowledge of the force of the
ultimate collective shadow, the archetype of absolute evil. Atreyu
would have never triumphed over the creature of darkness had he not
first passed the test of the two gates guarded by the two Winged
Sphinx's, the Southern Oracles. The passage was unattainable "until
someone who feels his own worth passes by". {Petersen/Weigel) This
led Atreyu to the second gate. The Major Mirror Gate was not an easy
feat. He and Bastian faced each other and their duality. "This is
where Atreyu must face his true self. Everyone thinks that this
should not be too difficult but, kind people find they are cruel.
Brave discover they are cowards. Confronted with their true self,
most men run away screaming." (Petersen/Weigel) At the Mirror Gate
Atreyu discovered Bastian, the young fearful boy, and Bastian saw
Atreyu with his strength and confidence. He and Bastian faced each
other and their duality. "Closer examination of the dark
characteristics-that is, the inferiorities constituting the
shadow-reveals that they have an emotional nature, a kind of
autonomy, and accordingly an obsessive or, better, possessive
quality." (Jung, 1958) Of the two, both were shocked as they looked
upon their two sided nature, and it was Bastian who took longer to
accept his denied shadow.
The Never Ending Story is rich with symbolism, both on a personal
shadow level and the collective shadow. It would be too lengthy for
the purpose of this paper to identify all symbols, so I will
concentrate on the confrontation between Atreyu and the Creature of
Darkness. This is the clearest example of personal and collective
shadows. When the shadow appears as an archetype, one encounters the
same difficulties as with anima and animus. In other words, it is
quite within the bounds of possibility for a man to recognize the
relative evil of his nature, but it is a rare and shattering
experience for him to gaze into the face of absolute evil." (Jung,
1958) In this regard the verbal confrontation between Ewok, who
stalked Atreyu throughout his quest to save the kingdom of Fantasia,
is revealing.
"E: If you come any closer, I will rip you to threads.
A: Who are you?
E: I am Ewok. And you, whoever you are, can have the honor of
being my last victim.
A: I will not die easily. I am a warrior.
E: Ah, brave warrior. Than fight the Nothing!
A: But I can't, I can't get beyond the boundaries of
Fantasia!
E: Ha, Ha , Ha
A: What's so funny about that?
E: Fantasia has no boundaries.
A: That's not true. You're lying.
E: Foolish boy. Don't you know anything about Fantasia. It's the
world of human fantasy. Every part, every creature, is a piece of the
dreams and hopes of mankind, therefore, it has no boundary.
A: But why is Fantasia dying then?
E: Because people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their
dreams. So the Nothing grows stronger.
A: What is the Nothing?
E: It is what is left. It is like a despair destroying this world
and I've been trying to help it.
A: But why?
E: Because people who have no hopes are easy to control, and
whoever has the control, has the power.
A: Who are you really?
E: I am the servant of the power behind the Nothing. I was sent
to kill the only one who could have stopped the nothing. I lost him
in the Swamp of Sadness. His name was Atreyu.
A: If we're about to die anyway, I'd rather die fighting. Come
for me Ewok, I am Atreyu." (Petersen/Weigel)
Interestingly in this story Bastian, through Atreyu does confront
the archetype of absolute evil and survives to finish his quest. As
the quote of Jung above indicates, confronting an archetype is
monumental compared to confronting the personal shadow. The opening
statement by the creature of darkness is "If you come any closer. I
will rip you to threads." (Petersen/Weigel)
Atreyu knew he must reach the boundaries of Fantasia to complete
his quest, however, he did not know where those boundaries were. He
also knew if he could not find it, the Child Empress, and all the
Kingdom of Fantasia would be lost in the void of the Nothing. The
creature of darkness knew more of this than the Child Warrior and
delighted to acknowledge his superiority over those in the Kingdom.
As he stated Fantasia was "the world of human fantasy. Every part,
every creature is a piece of the dreams and hopes of mankind,
therefore, it has no boundary." (Petersen/Weigel) As no boundary
implies a vast continuance and almost suggests an eternal element,
Atreyu questioned why it could die. It is here that you find a
collective shadow, the elements within the man are extended into
mankind. Despair that overtook man is a contagion of mankind. Like
Ortex, the faithful friend of Atreyu, many are lost in the Swamp of
Sadness; others are lost in the void of hopelessness, like the Rock
Man who could not comprehend that shear strength was often not enough
to save another. He could not face the shadow of his frailties.
Before he was overtaken by the void, he looked at his hands and said
"But they looked so strong, I thought they could hold on to anything,
yet I could not save him." (Petersen/Weigel) This collective shadow
was what the Ewok, the creature of darkness said "...people have
begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams...so the Nothing
grows stronger. It is what is left." (Petersen/Weigel) As each hope
and dream is shattered, the void would expand until all of Fantasia
was taken. Each aspect of the Self is forsaken until all denied parts
are lost. As each man falls into despair and loses hope, it develops
into an almost tacitly agreed upon collective shadow.
Although it was a journey that Atreyu, and Bastian, had to make
alone, both found that when they unearthed the true nature of their
Self, they discovered they are their own best friend. This is perhaps
the biggest personal Shadow of mankind. For anyone who embarks on
this journey themselves, they should remember the words of Falcor,
the Luck Dragon, who saved Atreyu as he traveled out of the Swamp of
Sadness:
"LD: You were on a mission and were being pursued by a creature.
Your name is Atreyu.
A: How do you know?
LD: You were unconscious and spoke in your sleep. Do not worry.
Things will work out fine. Never give up and good luck will find
you." (Petersen/Weigel)
In each of us there resides a Falcor, a Luck Dragon, so to speak.
It is our unconscious, that which is held deep within us; it holds
eternity in it's midst. It knows of the symbolisms unspoken and
without words. It is not connected to Time or Space. It is
mysterious, like luck, but if befriended and not feared it becomes
our ally in our journey to fulfillment, peace and appreciation of our
true eternal nature.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andrews, Ted, (1996), "Animal-Speak The Spiritual ; Magical
Powers of Creatures Great ; Small", Llewellyn Publications, St
Paul, Mi
Pearson, Carol S., (1989), "The Hero Within-Six Archetypes We
Live By", Harper ; Row, NY
Jung, C.G. (1969), "The Archetypes and the Collective
Unconscious", Princeton University Press, NJ
Jung, C.G. (1958), "Psyche ; Symbol: A Selection from the
Writings of C.G. Jung", DoubleDay, New York, N Y
"Never Ending Story", (1984) Petersen, Wolfgang, Weigel, Herman,
Warner Brothers Inc, Burbank, CA.
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