The+Rebel

Jack Nicholson as Randle McMurphy, rebels against one of the most loathed characters of all time, Nurse Rachet in "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest."
 * The Rebel Archetype**

Tom Cruise transforms from a goodie-goodie to a rebel pimp in the classic "Risky Business."

Antigone, daughter of Oediopus, is famous in Greek mythology for directly disobeying the orders of her uncle and burying her traitor brother in the same burial grounds as her honored family members. It seems innocuous enough, but trust me, it ruffled some big time feathers with the people in charge. She was a hardcore rebel. Prometheus is a figure of Greek Mythology known for stealing fire from the Gods and bringing it down to mortals. Perhaps he would not have been so bold had he known the severity of his punishment. For his act of rebellion, The Gods sentenced Prometheus to be bound to a boulder and each day an eagle would eat away part of his stomach. Seems a bit much, but authority never does like being defied.

"Men seldom, or rather never for a length of time deliberately, rebel against anything that does not deserve rebelling against." -Thomas Carlyle > Perhaps it is this sentiment that rebellion is necessary and nearly always just that has kept the archetype of the rebel a recurring character throughout the history of story-telling. Literature through the ages contains characters who rise above their superiors and disrupt the flow of their respective societies. While this may seem nothing more than misguided anarchy in print, within the confines of a story, this act of disobedience is nearly always a noble deed. Specifically, the myths of "Antigone," and "Prometheus," in Greek mythology and the films, "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest," and //Risky Business,"//all provide examples of four seperate causes for which rebellion is nobly executed. While varying in reason from tale to tale, it is clear that mankind considers "The Rebel," to be a pivotal member of a healthily functioning society.