The Orphan trope and why it’s so popular.
Hey story lovers. Ever wondered why our favourite heroes are orphans? Because I have. But what does it say about us?
According to dabblewriter.com, “this character archetype is shaped by a history of abandonment, neglect, and non-belonging.” What does that tell us about a common human experience?
This is exactly what draws us to this character and story. This character’s motivations are surrounded by creating a strong sense of self and a strong sense of community around them, as they try to heal from their loss and grow into adults. Most of what drives us as humans every day is to feel like we are moving in the right direction and surrounded by people who love us and will stick by us. That is exactly what the orphan wants.
Let’s explore some of the most influential underdogs in stories, and why the orphan trope keeps resonating with us, to become the backbone of the most successful adventure stories of all time.
Ever heard of Jesus? The ultimate underdog story, Jesus the most famous person in the world before worldwide fame even existed. The story of a little boy, born in a barn, who worked as a simple carpenter and could’ve been anyone on the street – turns out to be the Messiah and changes the world.
A strong foundation of this story is the idea that the next messiah could be anywhere; it could be your son, it could be your neighbour, it wasn’t someone up in that ivory tower with all the riches that the peasants and slaves could never dream of. The idea of Jesus was sold and bought as the idea of being “one of us.” And not the “us” when we are all dressed up and feeling great – the us that is worried if we are good enough, or if we are loved enough or if all our hard work will ever lead us to what we want for ourselves in the future. That “us.”
The most successful fantasy literary writers of all time, R.S. Tolkein and J.K. Rowling, created plotlines and characters inspired by things we have adored in stories since ancient times. Both Rowling and Tolkein have cited Christianity as inspiration for their work.
Older than Christ, the Hebrew story of David and Goliath once again celebrates a small shepard overcoming a giant bully representing the ultimate triumph of courage. The ancient Egyptian goddess Isis was worshipped as the protector of the injured and the weak, and her popularity grew dramatically throughout Egypt and the Mediterranean as more and more people prayed to her for comfort and safety and love. Also, the ancient story of Anansi The Spider, from South Africa that celebrated the little one overcoming the big one with wit and intelligence. We have always looked to the notion of the underdog for inspiration and hope.
But where did the pattern of the orphan start appearing? I hope that you can understand that is a hard question to answer, so maybe a more interesting question is, what does it say about us that these stories are so popular? There’s definitely a sense of intrigue, perhaps secrets to be revealed, and the child could have less parental supervision therefore allowing them to get swept up in adventures. In saying this, I think most of all, it is that the child’s experience of loss and vulnerability is undeniable and it is for those people that we want to fight. Who we want to believe in, and want to hope for. I believe this says something quite profound about humanity.
This trope is so old but so prevalent today. It’s almost as if, as adults, we are still sometimes that little “orphan,” scared that something bad is going to happen… again. We live with this fear everyday, but we soldier on anyway.
That is why we adore the orphan trope; the innocence that is broken by losing both one’s parents. Again we see in Bruce Wayne, Annie, Oliver Twist, Superman, Madeleine, and in the epic theatrical piece Orphan of Zhou written by Ji Junxiang, as far back as the 1200s. As the epic tale of King Arthur soared, so did the recognition and honouring of Han Xin, an orphan who rose to be a great leader. Then again, we have the stories of Jane Eyre and Anne of Green Gables, and the novel of The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.
These characters have always had a soft spot in our hearts, and they have reminded us of the importance of community, family and belonging to one another.
G, x
