Comparing The Hero's Journey In Everything Is Illuminated And A Christmas Carol

Christopher Vogler’s text, The Writer’s Journey, explains that there are many stages found within a work of writing. The reader’s job is to utilize these stages within the character’s journey. Typically, the first character introduced to the reader at the beginning of the journey is the hero. The reader wants to know who to cheer for and who to follow throughout the storyline. Sometimes an author creates a main character that becomes the villain of his own journey. Vogler’s theory is demonstrated in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

The fears of a hero come alive within the supreme ordeal of a journey. The supreme ordeal is something that suddenly occurs, which the character never

thought in their wildest dreams would happen (Vogler). Through this stage, the hero faces obstacles such as an unthinkable battle or even death. Often there is already a problem within the story. However, the ordeal makes this problem worsen for the hero. The hero often has an inflated “ego” that keeps him from admitting to his fears. If the hero does not overcome these fears then problems occur and the hero becomes the villain with himself. This stage is a very suspenseful moment for the reader to go through because hero’s outcome is unclear. The Supreme Ordeal often occurs just before the climax of the story is about to unfold.
The novels, Everything is Illuminated and A Christmas Carol, do a wonderful job at exhibiting Vogler’s supreme ordeal.

These works not only portray this stage but also introduce villains that are the heroes of their own journeys. The characters that address this stage within these works are; Grandfather in Everything is Illuminated and Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. The audience sees both of these characters throughout their stories as heroes that need to go through their journeys. Grandfather and Scrooge have very negative attitudes that portray them as the villains of these novels. The authors, Foer and Dickens, surround these characters with a sense of mystery and suspense keeping the reader wondering who the real villains

are.
In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens shows Scrooge as an irritable old man that has guided his own fate down a troublesome path. This fate has led him down a journey of self-discovery. Scrooge receives a wakeup call when three ghosts visit him from his past to show him how his attitude has influenced the world around him. Scrooge is an individual who seems incapable of understanding that he created this life for himself. Many may see Scrooge as the hero of his own story but he also had many villainous characteristics within himself he needed to move on from. An emotional battle was brewing within Scrooge that negatively influences his life and traps him in a undesirable environment. Scrooge needed the three visits in order to realize that his outlook on life affects the outcome of his life. Once he turned around and discovered that Christmas can bring joy and memories to your life, his inner villains disappeared.
In Stave One, Dickens introduces the reader to Scrooge’s attitude when he writes, “But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance.” (Dickens 5) This set the stage for readers to open their eyes to the attitude of Scrooge. Scrooge seemed to take the role of a misunderstood villain quite nicely. In Stave Two, the first ghost visits Scrooge and the journey is introduced. The first ghost seems to pop into Scrooges life abruptly, “Who, and what are you?” Scrooge demanded. “I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.” “Long Past?” inquired Scrooge: observant of its dwarfish stature. “No. Your past.” (Dickens 30) Scrooge introduces his feelings of fear to the audience getting a glimpse of his life. Something that Scrooge never thought would happen begin changing his life. This is the introduction of an obstacle, which goes on to the second and third ghost from his past. These obstacles are what Scrooge has to go through in order to redeem himself and get rid of his villainous demeanor. The last two ghosts strike fear into him, creating the supreme ordeal of the journey for Scrooge.
Everything is Illuminated centers on the character, Grandfather, and the reader has to follow the main character through the many twists and turns of his past. Foer never explicitly labels Grandfather as the villain; he allows the reader to form his or her own opinions about the character. A lot of evil occurs around Grandfather’s story that is out of his control but some of the unfortunate events are the results of poor decisions he made in the past during the War. The reader has to decide whether Grandfather is in fact a villain or if his life was chosen for him. The story leads the reader on a journey, but never exactly explains how everything all connects until the supreme ordeal and climax occur. Grandfather is a character portrayed as a possible hero of the story because of the many trials he has gone through. He seems to care about only one thing and that is finding Augustine, a woman who saved him from the Nazis. The reader wants Grandfather to find this wonderful woman in order to create a happier life for himself.
This happily ever after does not occur because of lies and information from his past that is uncovered. Grandfather grows ill-tempered and hopeless when he realizes that Augustine is actually non-Augustine, which ruins his whole journey. Toward the end of the novel, Foer sheds light on the upbringings of Grandfather and his great-great-great grandfather. The reader slowly sees the experiences of Grandfather uncovered.
Grandfather has a very complicated, promiscuous past. He sleeps with many different women over the years, but completely falls in love with the Gypsy Girl. He denies his love for the Gypsy Girl even though his love for her is greater than his feelings for his betrothed. This is evident on his wedding night when the narrator says, “That night, my grandfather made love to his new wife for the first time. He thought, as he performed the act that he had practiced to perfection, about the Gypsy girl” (Foer 256). This quote emphasizes that Grandfather is only lying to himself when he says that he is not in love with the Gypsy Girl. This is one of many lies Grandfather tells on his journey.
Towards the end of the novel, Foer reveals more about Grandfather’s past experiences during the War.

Grandfather tells his grandson that the Nazis came to Trachimbrod, gathered a group of townspeople, and began asking who within the group was a Jew. He discusses how this was a long and drawn out process, and how he knew the last of the Jews was his friend Herschel. Grandfather explained how he had no choice in the matter when it came to giving up his friend to the Nazis, “I am so afraid of dying, and I said he is a Jew who is a Jew the General asked and Herschel embraced my hand with much strength and he was my friend he was my best friend.” (Foer 250) Grandfather carries the weight of guilt on his shoulders along with feelings of resentment for his decision to “murder” Herschel. He walks around with so much anger and sorrow within him that at the end of the story he kills himself. Even though as a reader, some would not categorize Grandfather as a villain, his inner turmoil was a villain found within. Grandfather created a battle inside himself based upon every decision he made in his past. The reader may see him as a hero who began his own journey to find Augustine but discovered much more throughout his

life.
Within the stories A Christmas Carol and Everything is Illuminated there are many similarities and differences. Although both main characters seemed to create their own battles, only one of them seemed to win. Scrooge discovered the true meaning of Christmas and went on to make positive, lasting memories. Grandfather discovered much about his past that was too much for him to handle. The weight of his discoveries led to his demise. In addition, Grandfather seemed to look like a hero at the beginning of the journey but later uncovered many villainous qualities. These attributes portrayed Grandfather’s dishonesty in his past, which created many unnecessary conflicts. These events cause readers to choose sides and to decide whether they viewed grandfather as a hero, or a villainous liar. How Grandfather handles these conflicts forms the hero and villain inside of him. On the other hand, Scrooge seemed to look like a villain from the very beginning, with his negative past and present qualities. Scrooge created the same negative relationship with everyone he encountered. However, once Scrooge meets the ghosts, his Christmas spirit develops and he expresses this newfound joy by sharing his blessings with as many people as possible. He makes up for all his past mistakes by spreading Christmas cheer. Scrooge prevailed in the end while Grandfather dwindled down to nothing. These endings create much suspense and drama over the ordeals involved in their lives, making the reader look forward to the climax that is yet to unfold.