Thispaper,modeledupontheliterarycriticismofArchetypalApproach,makesanalyses ofthemotifof“HeroQuest”sharedbythefollowingclassicalshortstoriesandnovelsinAmericanliterature, namely,WashingtonIrving’s “Rip Van Winkle”,NathanielHawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,”MarkTwain’sHuckleberryFinn,ErnestHemingway’sTheSunAlsoRises,andD·J·Salinger’sTheCatcherintheRye. Thearchetype,firstrepresentedin“RipVan Winkle,”characterizesthe fivesworksfromdifferenterasindifferentartisticandaestheticforms.Thearchetypehasbecomeoneof thethemesoftheshortstoriesandnovelsmentionedabove.Furthermore,ithasfounditswayintomany othernovelsinthestorehouseofAmericanliteratureandhasbeenpartofthetraditionalliterary themes.