the necessaries are filtered through the Formalist colander, according to Frye, a simple and recognizable yet very central theme of the work should then be evident; and it is no coincidence that the central theme should be so recognizable as Frye illustrates for his readers the concept of the archetype: a resonating theme that has had its place in all great literary works since even pre-biblical times. Frye describes the most common archetype as the myth of the hero, which is so broad in definition that within most every work lies at least of one of its four stages: the birth of the hero, the triumph of the hero, the death of the hero, or the defeat of the hero.
             To isolate the archetype of a literary work for means of interpretation, Frye suggests that a reader or critic employ the close reading technique. That is, the critic should treat the literary work as if it were a painting, at first standing close enough to observe the painted texture left by the artist's bristles, followed by 'a process of backing up', thus giving each movement away from the painting a more clear idea as to how each piece of the painting fits together (Frye 646). Of course, literally backing away from a book will only blur the text, coalescing words and sentences together so that they make substantially less sense than even sloppy gibberish. Indeed this method of interpretation requires a hint of creativity to properly apply it to literature. Once the archetype is finally realized, the underlying lesson of the story will materialize for society to comprehend, for according to Frye, the archetype is meant to teach entire societies, not just one individual.
             Stanley Fish, as a Reader Response critic, believes that the final authority in the interpretation of a text is the reader, 'who comes away from the [text] not with a statement, but with a responsibility' to interpret the text (Fish 978). And as every reader may interpret a te...