So last night while watching the Dukes of Hazzard ("The Ghost of General Lee", excellent episode,) I realized that the Dukes' relationship with Roscoe is very.... well, Tom and Jerry, for lack of a better term. I thought to myself that there has to be some sort of archetype that includes the endless chase.
This particular episode brought it to me because the characters themselves were discussing it. (Coupla' thugs steal the General Lee, drive it into the pond, everyone things Bo and Luke are dead. Hilarity ensues.)
But all the examples of the "endless chase" that I can think of are... well Warner Brothers' cartoons. Roadrunner, Bugs and Elmer, etc. I can't really think of any literary references to this kind of thing. Other than perhaps A Series of Unfortunate Events. (And refering to that as literary in the wrong circles might get me shot.)
I think the very nature of books doesn't lend itself to this particular archetype, so we'd have to go back to myths and folk tales. (Looks hopefully at stacer and Brenna).
I have more to say on this, but I'll be late for my job interview. More wild ideas from Megan coming later this week, if anyone wants to write their next paper on how Daisy Duke embodies the Virgin/Whore dichotomy.