Understanding the Enemy: A study of the enemy archetype in literature

In The Fixer, Bernard Malamud uses the enemy archetype to show how we determine who our enemies are, and how it affects our behavior towards them. Yakov Bok is a simple handyman who grows from an insignificant victim of anti-Semitism, to a martyr for his people. After realizing that his life's misfortunes are the cause of human society, Bok gains the strength to fight for not only his own, but also his people's justice.
<Tab/>The enemy archetype originates from all of our negative emotions. There are many characteristics and reasons for how we identify an enemy. Enemy i…