Through the use of archetypal plots and characters, `the mother figure' is brilliantly contrasted in Louise Edrich's "The Leap" and Hanan Shayk's "The Persian Carpet." Edrich introduces her audience to the mother at the very beginning of the story, and within the first paragraph, the narrator, who is the mother's daughter, recalls how she owes her mum her life. "I owe her my very existence..." (Edrich, page ) The story is a summary of the trials and tribulations her mother has endured and how she has persevered through all of them. The archetypal character that best represents the mother is the crusader; she meets her commitments and is depicted as a tenacious and headstrong character. When her daughter is stuck in their burning house, her mum risks her life to save her child; she strips down to her undergarments and swings into her daughter's room to rescue her without...