The Meaning of Creatures
The movie begins by introducing Chihiro—a 10-year-old girl, the main character, who together with her parents becomes trapped in a forbidden world of unknown and magic. She must work to survive, help rescue her parents, and finally escape from the magic world where humans are disliked. The movie strongly characterize the Monomyth. We clearly see three main stages: Separation, Adventure, and Return. Also, since every character represents its own archetype, Pearson's The Hero Within is also relevant to the movie. For example, Chihiro is an Orphan, later a Warrior and Magician. Haku is of course a Warrior and Magician. We have two witches, Yubaba and Zeniba, who are Magicians. No-Face is a lonely Orphan, who finally finds his place on the earth. Kamajii is a Martyr, who at first doesn't want to help Chahiro, but later helps her and haku with pleasure.
Most of the characters have significant meaning in the movie. All creatures represent something different. Some of them are human-like, but they are not humans.
When the movie starts we can see the first example—Kamajii—an old man with six arms, who operates the boiler room of the bathhouse. He never moves from his original position. He seems to be mean and uncaring, but later he shows his real face and helps Chahiro and her friend. He strongly represents a Martyr Archetype.
Kamajii has a number of helpers, called Susuwatari—soft, black, fuzzy creatures, with two eyes. They move by hovering around and they are able to lift object many times their own weight. They also seem to represent Martyrs, who help in their little way.
Haku looks human, but is really a dragon. Even in human skin he looks different. His hair is green, his eyes are forest green, his skin is very pale. The dragon version of Haku is very interesting. His head shape is similar to a wolf's, and he has horns and two long whiskers. His body is long and slender with large tuft on his tail. In the human version of Haku he represents a Magician Archetype. In the dragon version he is a Warrior, brave and courageous. He is also a Martyr, helping Chahiro disinterestedly.
Yubaba and Zeniba are witches, so they both must represent a Magician Archetype. They know magic and many tricks. Yubaba is a bad witch, who thinks only about herself. Her twin sister, Zeniba, is a good witch. Chahiro calls her Grandma, because she is kind and helpful. She even "adopts" No-Face, the monster, who was unwanted and lonely. In his character we find only an Orphan Archetype, who gets angry only when Chahiro refuses his friendship, but in general he is also an Innocent.
Boh, Yubaba's son, looks like real, human baby. Although he has the appearance of a young baby, he is twice Yubaba's size. He is also very strong and can be dangerous. When he turns into a mouse he becomes friends with Chahiro, and he even stands up to Yubaba to protect his friend Chahiro. He represents an Innocent Archetype, even though he can be dangerous, he is only a little baby, who needs attention.
Supernatural literature stimulates the imagination, and leads us to the unknown world, where almost everything is possible, where humans can transform to whatever they want. They can be either better or worse then in real world. This type of literature also allows us to go deeper into psychology. We can create characters, who reflect various types of personalities. Sometimes that could be Jungian Archetypes, or at other times Marxism. By creating a supernatural world we can show various types of journeys, like those in Carol Pearson's book or the Monomyth. Why don't we just continue to enjoy the supernatural world, where everything is possible?
Sources
"Characters // Spirited Away // Nausicaa.net." Characters // Spirited Away // Nausicaa.net. Web. 01
June 2012.
"Jungian Archetypes." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 Jan. 2012. Web. 01 June 2012.
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