The Wright Brothers: A Non-fictional Hero's Journey

In Campbell’s A Hero With A Thousand Faces, the author explains all seventeen steps of the hero’s journey, and how many fictional characters achieves some of them throughout a transforming moment of their lives. However, he never spoke of the Journey in the non-fictional world. After reading and analyzing the life the Wright Brother’s I concluded that they also went through the same steps while inventing the first aeroplane, and that their invention shaped our culture for the better.

During Wilbur Wright’s childhood, he expressed an unusual interest in human flight through playing with models of aircrafts that his father brought home, and studying the bird’s flight outside with his equally as interested brother, Orville Wright. But it was not until Orville was struck with a deadly illness that had no known cure that “Wilbur had begun reading about a German glider… aloud to Orville” which had interested them so much that they began attempting their own aircraft once Orville had made a full recovery on top of managing their own bicycle shop (McCullough 28). It was at this point, when they began to put more of their time

and effort upon manufacturing than upon other things, that they experienced their Call to Adventure.
The Wright Brothers never Refused the Call to becoming an inventor. Instead of “turn[ing] the ear to other interests” that seemed reasonable at the time, the embraced their passion and sought out ways to make their dream of aerial flight a reality (Campbell 49). They never feared what their invention might lead to or how it might change their lives as well as the lives of others. It was their bravery and endurance to seek out the unknown that aided them toward the path of success instead of cowering at the first sight of failure
As the brothers continued exploring and researching the topic of flying and whether or not it was possible that humans could possibly do it, the befriended someone who could in Campbell’s words be referred to as a Supernatural Aid. Octave Chanute, French-born American civil engineer was one of the many people Wilbur sought out for help on the subject, but one of the few who responded and showed great interest in their ideas. Chanute was the “benign, protecting power” that the brothers required throughout the process in order to succeed (Campbell 59). Chanute and Wilbur wrote back in forth for several years during the process of engineering it, and afterwards when they were presenting it around the world. He attending test runs in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina - where the brothers did most of their manufacturing and flying attempts- and provided them with information on the subject. If it were not for the assistance of Octave Chanute throughout the duration of their inventing, it would’ve taken the Wright brothers much longer to reach success, or possibly not at all.
The moment that the Wright Brother’s crossed their first threshold would be the historical day that Wilbur Wright wrote a letter addressed to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. He wrote this letter informing them of his interest in human flight and how he is about to “begin a systematic study of the subject in preparation for the practical work...” he planned to do in the free time that his business allowed. This letter shows the first signs of his devotion into this subject despite the possibilities of failure. In response, the Institution provided him with an ample amount of books and pamphlets on aviation in support of their interest. Once the brothers received the generous gifts they worked diligently in hopes to accomplish the task no matter what the means.
Another step of the Hero’s Journey that the Wright Brothers went through during their rise to prosperity would be The Belly of the Whale. They experienced this step of the Journey when they first left their job for a week to test out their ideas in a town called “Kitty Hawk” The brothers powered through the rough waves that “struck the boat from below with a heavy shock” and the harsh winds that were unexpected in their “perfect area”(McCullough 44). Despite the outrageous weather, the brothers were persistent in learning about the winds and continued journeying back to this city back and forth for the next four years. Their experience in this foreign land is similar to the description of the unknown land Campbell wrote about that all heroes face on during their journey.
A similar step that both the Wright Brothers and the characters in A Hero With A Thousand Faces went through is the Road of Trials.

While the brothers were discovering and how to make a plane glide and ultimately how to make it fly, they kept returning to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina to test their ideas once the constructed them in the back of their bicycle shop. Over the course of four years the encountered “violent storms, accidents, disappointment, public indifference, and clouds of mosquitoes” and many other setbacks that would have shoken other inquiring pioneers (McCullough 106). Nevertheless, the challenges both nature and man-made never stood a chance to the Wright Brother’s endurant nature. Their determination and ability to discover the problem and attend to it quickly were some of the reasons they got farther than other

inventors.
Despite it being a step on the Hero’s Journey, the Wright Brothers never had a love interest their entire lives. In fact, Orville never attended his baby sister, Katherine’s , wedding claiming that “he had been betrayed”; it was not until Katherine’s last minutes of life that Orville met her again which was surprising and devastating since they were inseparable at birth (McCullough 258). The brothers were both against getting married, and lived their whole life as single men, wedded to their work.
Likewise, the Wright brother’s never had tempting people or motives that strayed them from their goal. The majority of the people they surrounded himself with were people who could aid them in their pursuit. The men were steadfast in their goal and took all the right steps to achieving it without deviating from their established course.
The brother’s were extremely active in plenty of things to keep their schedule filled. From comanaging their bicycle shop, to writing to their father and sister back and forth to keep their family updated in the brother’s lives away from home, and countless other things on top of inventing a contraption that could sustain make a human fly. Their schedule was too busy to give every task an even amount of attention, so one of their duties always received a lesser amount of attention than the rest. Ultimately, they realized the conundrum that they were in and had to relieve one of their burden’s to a man by the name of Charles-Charlie-Taylor. They hired him to be in charge of worrying about their bicycle shop so “[the brothers] could concentrate on their flying studies and experiments”, without the hassle of managing two things simultaneously (McCullough 57). Their atonement with the one thing holding them back allowed them to prosper in their inventing more rapid than before they hired Taylor to assist the the brothers in their bicycle shop burdens.
After the anticipated day of December 17th, 1903 at 10:35- the day the Wright Flyer flies for the first time- all was relatively ideal for the ground-breaking brothers. Though the flight only lasted about 12 seconds and flew for only 120 feet, this historical moment was the beginning of world-wide fame for the two brothers. After the documented flight, both Wilbur and Orville rode on the Wright Flyer four more times, the longest flight lasting 59 seconds, before “a sudden gust of wind caught the Flyer and tossed it into the sand” which smashed it into pieces (McCullough 106). Regardless of the smashed plane, Orville still telegrammed home to his father and sister to tell them about their “success” .After the flight, on the way back down the hill, the brothers were in a haze of triumph, not letting the broken plane or the short time sadden them. The brothers accomplished their Apotheosis and their Ultimate Boon while they were experiencing the first victorious flight in history on this renowned day in history.
The Wright Brothers did not Refuse the Return to their normal life in the slightest. Though they were ecstatic about all they could achieve if their stay in Kitty Hawk a little longer, they were even more excited to see their family and tell them of all the adventures that occurred while they were away. As a matter of fact, they put away their Flyer once they got home and it was “never to be flown again” to show their completion with that portion of their life. They still continued flying for others, and they built more designs to improve upon their first model, but it was no longer the same journey as the previous one. Their post-building stages are another journey of their lives that the experience.
The Wright Brothers’s invention helped us in many ways that we aren’t even aware of today. They helped us transport quickly to far-distant countries that people before the 1900s wouldn’t even think of. They help deliver things quickly from continent to continent without the dangers of the ocean like boats have. It helps of visit people far away which keeps us in touch with people we might’ve seen once or twice in our lives before their production went on the market. Many people rely on airplanes whether it be as a job, for transportation, or to deliver goods. Whatever it may be, thanks to the Wright Brother’s perseverance and dedication we all are able to have those luxuries at our disposal for many years to come.