When I was thinking about what image I wanted to portray The Hero and the Crown the one thing that kept popping up was the characteristics of the heroine, Aerin. The dual aspects of her character coincide with Macnab's concept of the number 2 almost perfectly. This first image I chose was the intersecting circles. Very simple. Aerin is unsure yet strong and determined and I think this is perfectly represented by the circles. All of those characteristics exist together and they and are dependent on each other. It's the combination that makes Aerin who she is.
Another image that I thought was fitting for the representation of Aerin was the iceberg. A little cliche but appropriate, I think, for the nature of her character. Because she is born into the role of an outsider, the people around her only see the outward appearance, the persona she presents. Only a few know the real Aerin underneath the face she wishes others to see. I think this is very well represented by the iceberg. A minimal part of the iceberg is seen above the water. The vast majority of it is hidden from view and has a mysterious quality about it. As the story progresses, Aerin's true self is slowly revealed as she undergoes her journey and finds out herself how worthwhile she actually is. I think this idea ties in nicely with Macnab's Chapter two and Carl Jung's concept of the personal and collective unconscious.
The third image I chose was the collision of fire and ice. I couldn't really find anything that directly related to this in Macnab but I felt that this was very appropriate. Going along with my idea of the characteristics of Aerin, I think that this image represents her dual characteristics of courage and fear. In the part of the story where she must face the evil sorcerer threatening her country, she is scared out of her wits yet she knows she must do it even though it could mean death. She is courageous and faces her fear. The fire in the image represents the courage in Aerin and the ice, her fear. If the fire was the dominant characteristic, she would be overconfident and cocky. If the ice was dominant, she would be too fearful and self-centered. It's the combination of the two that makes her who she is and ultimately gives her the formula to be a hero.
