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The journey of a hero
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Alice then follows the white rabbit until it disappears into a rabbit hole. Being a curious girl, Alice peers down the hole trying to find the rabbit. She then slips and plummets down for quite some time— representing the next step in the hero’s journey, Crossing the Threshold. Which is where the hero enters a new or special world. When Alice lands at the bottom she believes she is in a dream; as the world she has landed in is much different from the world she was born in. This is where most heroes would meet the Threshold Guardian- aids the hero in transferring between the two worlds. Except in Alice’s story, she uses her own mind to discover how to get into the new world—beginning the Road of Trials. The road of trials is where the
hero must pass certain tests that determine if they are fit to be a hero or not.
There are many differences between the archetypes of the hero’s journey. For instance The Hobbit is about a hobbit that is taken on a journey with dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain. While A Long Way Gone is a story about a boy who is separated from his family and is drafted into the army to do unspeakable things.The hero’s journeys in The Hobbit and A long way gone were very different from each other.
Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, conveys, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”. In other words, Aristotle states that the gaining of self-knowledge provides an individual with the ability to know one’s personal gifts and accountabilities. To start one’s adult life a person must pursue the journey of self-discovery to learn in depth about their skills and weaknesses. Individuals must find themselves through the limitations and ordeals that they face during their voyage for self-awareness. For example, in Tim O’Brien’s short story, “On the Rainy River”, the narrator shares his story about self-discovery. O’Brien looks back into his past, to the time when he was called to serve in the Vietnam War. O’Brien’s initial
Watching a film, one can easily recognize plot, theme, characterization, etc., but not many realize what basic principle lies behind nearly every story conceived: the hero’s journey. This concept allows for a comprehensive, logical flow throughout a movie. Once the hero’s journey is thoroughly understood, anyone can pick out the elements in nearly every piece. The hero’s journey follows a simple outline. First the hero in question must have a disadvantaged childhood. Next the hero will find a mentor who wisely lays out his/her prophecy. Third the hero will go on a journey, either literal or figurative, to find him/herself. On this journey the hero will be discouraged and nearly quit his/her quest. Finally, the hero will fulfill the prophecy and find his/herself, realizing his/her full potential. This rubric may be easy to spot in epic action films, but if upon close inspection is found in a wide array of genres, some of which are fully surprising.
Joseph Campbell made himself one of the chief authorities on how mythology works when he published his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In this book, Campbell describes what he believes to be the monomyth, known as “The Hero’s Journey.” Campbell wrote that this monomyth, the basic structure of all heroic myth, has three basic stages, which in turn have subcategories themselves. The heroic story of Katniss Everdeen, told in the movie Hunger Games, follows Campbell’s monomyth outline quite well.
The Hero’s Journey is an ancient archetype that we find throughout our modern life and also, in the world of literature.Whether metaphorical or real, the journey that a character goes on shows not only the incredible transformation of the hero but it also gives them their life meaning. It is the ultimate human experience and it reflects on every aspect of life. Take Logan, also known as Wolverine, from the X-Men movie as an example. His adventure starts with “The Call,” which is the first step of the Hero’s Journey. This step happens due to the realization of imbalance and injustice that the character has in their life. Logan steps into the first stage of the pattern but is hesitant to start his adventure because he does not know what and
“A blunder-apparently the merest chance-reveals an unsuspected world, and the individual is drawn into a relationship with forces that are not rightly understood” (Campbell 42). This statement in The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell explains that a hero is unexpected. A hero is someone who is unlikely to be a hero. The hero may not be someone who looks the strongest or most daring, yet a hero can be someone who cannot see at all. In the film, The Village, an unlikely hero arises from her home in the village to take on a daunting task that takes her on a journey through a creature-infested forest and a journey through what Campbell claims is the hero’s journey.
What is a hero? To our understanding, a hero is a person who is admired for great or brave acts. Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist, and writer wrote The Odyssey. In this novel he talks about The Heroes Journey which are twelve different stages of adventure known as the Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Meeting the Mentor, Crossing the Threshold, Test/Allies/Enemies, Approach to the Inmost Cave, Ordeal, Reward, the Road Back, Resurrection, and the Return With The Elixir. The Odyssey is about a legendary hero named Odysseus, who fought among the Greeks in the battle of Troy and went through the stages of The Heroes Journey. Odysseus lived in Ithaca, Northwest of Greece, with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus.
“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us; the uncanny discovery that the seeker is the mystery which the seeker seeks to know. The hero journey is a symbol that binds, in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas, and the spiritual quest of the ancients with the modern search for identity always the one, shape-shifting yet marvelously constant story that we find.” (Phil Cousineau) The Hero's Journey has been engaged in stories for an immemorial amount of time. These stories target typical connections that help us relate to ourselves as well as the “real world”.
The Hero's Journey is a theory created by Joseph Campbell and expresses the idea that most heroes are essentially the same person embodied in different ways. Lawrence C. Rubin describes the monomyth as, “The hero, or mythic protagonist, from birth to death is on a journey, replete with demons, both inner and outer, challenges both great and small, and a cast of characters, some enemies, others allies and companions” (265). The 2001 animation Osmosis Jones is no exception to this assumption. In the film, a white blood cell named Osmosis Jones goes on an epic adventure to save the life of Frank and prove himself to the people of his community. In the beginning of the movie, Osmosis starts off as an egotistical jerk who believes he can do everything on his own; however, as the film progresses, Osmosis realizes that sometimes two brains are better than one. Jones finds out the hard way that without a helping hand, there is little he can achieve alone. Osmosis’s journey through the monomyth develops the theme of teamwork because help from others proves to be essential to Osmosis’s triumph.
The word hero as defined as an “individual who has the courage of conviction to perform feats that benefit the general populace, acts as a soldier of virtue, and has an altruistic spirit that urges him or her to act against evil and defend the greater good at all costs, even sacrificing his own well-being or life.” (Harrison 2). Although heroes can come in any shape and size they are commonly found in stories we read, movies we watch, or people we look up to. We do not think about it much but even our own life is made up of many hero’s journeys. We never realize that our hardships and how we overcome them is exactly what a Hero’s Journey is about and why we relate to and enjoy these stories so much. I will be going into the depths of a Hero’s
Joseph Campbell defines a hero as “someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself ” (Moyers 1). The Hero’s Journey consists of three major parts: the separation, the initiation and the return. Throughout a character’s journey, they must complete a physical or spiritual deed. A physical deed involves performing a daunting and courageous act that preserves the well-being of another person. A spiritual deed calls for action that improves another individual’s state of mind. While fulfilling their journey, a hero must undergo a psychological change that involves experiencing a transformation from immaturity into independence and sophistication.Campbell states that these events are what ultimately guides a hero into completing
Phoenix’s expedition to save her grandson follows the outline, essentially referred to as “The Hero’s Quest”, predicted by Joseph Campbell. Campbell states that the first step into the plot of mythological story entails the reader know of the hero’s original world. Phoenix originates from Old Natchez Trace, the town in which her and her grandson live. Based on the described condition of her grandson, Phoenix’s grandson suffers from asthma. This leads to the second stage of “The Hero’s Quest”, which was known as “The Call”. Upon witnessing her grandson’s severe sickness, Phoenix travels by foot from Old Natchez Trace to the city in order to retrieve medicine for her ill grandson. As a result, stage three of “The Hero’s Quest” ignites. “Refusal
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about a little girl who comes into contact with unpredictable, illogical, basically mad world of Wonderland by following the White Rabbit into a huge rabbit – hole. Everything she experiences there challenges her perception and questions common sense. This extraordinary world is inhabited with peculiar, mystical and anthropomorphic creatures that constantly assault Alice which makes her to question her fundamental beliefs and suffer an identity crisis. Nevertheless, as she woke up from “such a curious dream” she could not help but think “as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been ”.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland follows the story of young Alice trapped in the world of Wonderland after falling down through a rabbit-hole. The rabbit-hole which is filled with bookshelves, maps, and other objects foreshadows the set of rules, the ones Alice is normally accustomed to, will be defied in Wonderland. This conflict between her world and Wonderland becomes evident shortly after her arrival as evinced by chaos in “Pool of Tears” and Alice brings up the main theme of the book “was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I am not the same, the next question is who am I?” (Carroll 18). After Alice fails to resolve her identity crisis using her friends, Alice says “Who am I, then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I’ll come up: if not, I’ll stay down here til I’m somebody else” (Carroll 19). Hence in the beginning, Alice is showing her dependency on others to define her identity. Nevertheless when her name is called as a witness in chapter 12, Alice replies “HERE!” without any signs of hesitation (Carroll 103). Close examination of the plot in Alice in Wonderland reveals that experiential learning involving sizes leads Alice to think logically and rationally. Alice then attempts to explore Wonderland analytically and becomes more independent as the outcome. With these qualities, Alice resolves her identity crisis by recognizing Wonderland is nothing but a dream created by her mind.
The novel begins with Alice falling down the rabbit hole to follow the White Rabbit. Once she reached the bottom of the hole, Alice noticed a small door that the White Rabbit went through. However, Alice was too big to fit.