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Interrelationship between literature and society
Literature and society
Interrelationship between literature and society
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The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) is a fantasy tale written in 1937 by J.R.R. Tolkien, a literature professor from Oxford, England. LOTR is a classic in fantasy and story-telling and has earned wide acclaim for the appeal and complexity of the world. LOTR follows the pattern of many major myths throughout the world independent of time and place. The central myth-pattern of LOTR is the hero’s journey or monomyth, as conceptualized by Joseph Campbell, and will be discussed in relation to LOTR by using the three essential stages of the hero’s journey. What is a monomyth and how is it related to the hero’s journey? They are the same, the monomyth or hero’s journey is a story told in countless ways over the centuries. The monomyth, a concept developed by Joseph Campbell, is a story, myth, or legend that follows the same singular plot, no matter the location, culture or year. Though with different variations, they all derive from one singular story, with essential commonalities and teachings on different levels. At the surface of the monomyth, it is simply a story, a tale of triumph and sorrow that ignites interest. Delving deeper, it is a moralistic struggle of good versus evil, the idea of good rising over the powers of evil imbues us with …show more content…
the belief that no matter the struggle, good will always prevail. Joseph Campbell is quoted saying. "It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward." This quote explains how myths and stories exist to help us believe in a greater purpose and how we can carry our own spirit forward through struggles using lessons learned from religious texts such as the Bible and other stories from literature such as LOTR. The defeat of Sauron and the success of men is one of the many ways that Tolkien shows the success of good versus evil. The engaging tale and triumph of good over evil are signatures of a monomyth and applicable to LOTR, the third commonality and most important is the map for the growth of characters or participants in the myth and is understood as a metaphor for how people grow and change throughout their lifetime. For example, how children grow and become capable adults. In LOTR the hobbits show as they grow from naïve children to capable warriors. Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces explains that no matter the time, culture, location, religion, for the hero’s journey and the monomyth, it is all the same essential story. This is clear from the countless epic tales that follow the same pattern, such as; Christ, Buddha, Odysseus, Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz and Harry Potter Joseph Campbell has explained that the myth of the Hero’s Journey is comprised of three essential stages. 1. The Call – leaving safety (often unwillingly) to embark upon a quest that is thrust upon the individual. 2.The Initiation or trial by fire – battling challenged upon the way, facing their dark or shadow side, overcoming and experiencing enlightenment or realization of their full potential as to be almost recognizable. 3. The Return - Return home as an authentic and empowered individual possessing new strengths and knowledge. The three stages are present in all stories that follow the hero’s journey, for example, Harry Potter; he leaves home for Hogwarts(The Call), then battles dark wizards and goes through trials(The Initiation) and then returns home a changed person (The Return) The same for Luke Skywalker, He leaves home to fulfill a promise (The Call) then he goes through trials and battles the empire and Darth Vader, (The initiation) Then eventually ending a changed man and Jedi Knight. (The Return) The similarities in these stories are not a coincidence. Each story follows the pattern of the hero’s journey. The LOTR portrays the hero’s journey not only through Frodo but through other characters and the Fellowship. The first stage of the hero’s journey is the Call to a Quest, shown by Frodo accompanied by Sam, Merry and Pippin leaving safety of the shire by the urging of Gandalf and journeying to Rivendell Once they arrive in Rivendell, the rest of the Fellowship join him to leave on the second quest to destroy the ring in Mount Doom. The second stage called the initiation, or the trial by fire is portrayed both individually and collectively.
Frodo and the Fellowship take on challenges including the nine riders, the Barrow-downs, Saruman, Moria, the Balrog, Galadriel’s soul-searching, orcs and Shelob, Gollum and Mount Doom. This shapes them for the future endeavors. They must also face their dark or shadow side, Frodo battling against the power of the ring and eventually finding the courage to get to Mordor and to face Mount Doom. Boromir forces Frodo’s decision to leave Parth Galen by showing the destructive power of the ring over men but also shows redemption by protecting Merry and Pippin to the death. Saruman and Gollum are examples of giving in to the dark
side. Lastly is the third stage which shows the characters returning home as new individuals possessing new strength and knowledge. The hobbits Merry and Pippin are good examples of this as they begin as naïve hobbits and come back to the Shire as knights of far off land as well as Samwise Gamgee who starts as a gardener and after following his master to Mordor and back leads his life as the mayor of Hobbiton. Then there is Gandalf the Grey who through battling the Balrog, comes back as Gandalf the White. There is Aragorn who begins the story as a Ranger in the fellowship, eventually gaining his role as King of Gondor. Lastly, there is Frodo, who fought against all odds on his travels, he grows spiritually and mentally, ending his life as an honored guest of the elves in the Blessed Realms. The central myth pattern of The Lord of the Rings follows the hero’s journey, also called the monomyth, is a story told for centuries. However, in LOTR is not about a singular hero, while it contains a primary hero, that hero is supported by a cast of characters who follow the same journey. LOTR is an epic tale of growth and the endless battle of good versus evil. It is a timeless tale that follows a well-known’ and beloved mythological pattern.
Most myths have a common pattern between them. Today, this pattern is often seen in some of our most beloved motion pictures. Joseph Campbell-a respected 20th century American mythologist, lecturer, and writer- observed this and created a theory based off of the similarities he saw. He showed the world that almost every story with a hero follows the three stages in his theory he called “Monomyth” (Campbell). The monomyth, often times called “The Hero’s Journey” or “The hero with a thousand faces”, includes the departure, initiation, and return stages (Campbell). In these stages the hero leaves his normal life behind, fulfills him/herself in some activity, and returns as a hero (Campbell). These stages can be applied to a smash hit released in 2009, a science-fiction film titled Star Trek. James T. Kirk in Star Trek closely follows Campbell’s theory as he departs from his childhood home in Iowa, fights a rogue Romulan enemy, and returns to Earth as a Starfleet captain.
The monomyth, or Hero’s Journey, is an outline or pattern of events that a hero may follow in a story or movie. This so called pattern takes place in two locations: the ordinary world and the supernatural world. Joseph Campbell was the first person to notice this outline and actually research it. Osmosis Jones is just one example of a movie which follows the monomyth. This movie also serves as a great lesson of perseverance because even throughout the trials and tribulations, Jones never gives up and in the end is rewarded.
Along their journey, they have memorable experiences and learn about the One Ring’s imperceptible powers. Furthermore, Frodo and his fellowship discover the powers of the One Ring growing along with the armies of Sauron with respect to time. Ultimately, Frodo and his eight companions must do what it takes to destroy the One Ring and
The mold of the heroic template is evident throughout various types of media. Within movies, novels, and poems the hero’s journey is present. Of course, not every piece of literature or movie follows the cycle. However, the idea of the monomyth arose from Joseph Campbell. He wrote his own book, The Hero of a Thousand Faces, within his writing he describes that heroes’ follow the same basic procedure throughout their quest(s). This is where the idea of the hero monomyth arose. In Michael Lewis’s novel, The Blind Side, he portrays “The heroic monomyth.” The Blind Side consists of the basic characters and archetypes that accurately reflect the heroic template.
During the course of this World Literature class, several stories have been covered that accurately describe Joseph Campbell's mono-myth, or basic pattern found in narratives from every corner of the world. The Hero's Journey in it's entirety has seventeen stages or steps, but if boiled down can be described in three; the departure, the initiation, and the return (Monomyth Cycle). Each stage has several steps, but the cycle describes the hero starting in his initial state, encountering something to change him, and this his return as a changed person. To further explain this concept, there are a few stories covered in this class that can be used.
This story begins with a small fellow by the name of Bilbo Baggins. This fantasy story was written in 1956 by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is about a hero’s journey through the dangers and wonders of Middle Earth. Although it was not meant to become such a well-known book, it is filled with much literature. Throughout the book, Tolkien uses literary devices such as repetition, similes, and metaphors to develop the theme of cunning and cleverness.
Monomyths are dominant archetypes found in many narratives around the world. They usually have an underlying purpose and teach a lesson about society. “The Step Not Taken,” by Paul D’Angelo, is a short story that follows the story of a man on a personal quest to discover how to rightfully respond to the suffering of other people. The short story follows the three stages of the monomyth: separation, struggle or initiation, and return and reintegration. The narrator can be seen as a hero who takes part in a journey in which he gains great knowledge that he will carry with him for the rest of his life. Unlike other monomyth narratives, such as The Lord of the Rings series where the stages are much clearer since the story is adventurous, in this short story, the monomyth stages are underlying and not as obvious. In “The Step Not Taken,” the protagonist progresses through the three stages of the monomyth, allowing him to gain a greater understanding of the importance of sympathy in today’s world.
Heroes play a critical role in society. Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth explores the archetype of a hero as well as its necessities to society. In a hero’s journey, the hero will always return changed after being away for a long time. The archetypal hero in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, a work of science fiction, is Ender Wiggin. Shakespeare, Lord of the Rings, by Tolkien, and Beowulf, mirrors the traits that Ender portrays in Macbeth. By displaying acts of selfishness, extreme violence, and being egotistical, a hero, no matter and previous act, society no longer considers the a hero, a hero. Through the societal damage resulting from these acts, heroes show their true worth to society.
In every culture, there are stories that get past down from generation to generation (Campbell 1). Tales of knights who slay dragons and princesses who kissed frogs are a part of every culture. All over the world, stories share comment characteristic. Joseph Campbell introduces a theory based on this idea called the monomyth, the idea that stories all share the same narrative pattern, in the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Overall, this theory shows the same narrative pattern in stories throughout the world, which symbolically reveals all humans must tackle difficulties and overcome them many times throughout life (5). Specifically, Campbell’s hero’s journey is comprised of six steps, which, collectively
The monomyth was created in 1949 by Joseph Campbell as an archetype for storytelling. The monomyth is a series of stages that a hero experiences through the majority of fictional novels and movies. The monomyth is also referred to as the hero’s journey. The Odyssey by Homer, is an accurate example of a story that follows the monomyth.
Tolkien, J. R. R., and Douglas A. Anderson. The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
After years of being told various stories in your lifetime you’ll start to see a pattern. Stories will repeat or be similar to others, known as archetypes. Joseph Campbell is the creator of monomyth also known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. The Hero’s Adventures by Campbell focuses on the monomyth or hero’s journey. In the hero’s journey, the hero needs to be an antagonistic to its ego then reconcile the problems through the psychological transformation. Campbell describes the monomyth as an idea of a cycle that consists of departure, initiation, and return. The cycle will lead to the death of one’s old self because one will go through the psychological transformation and leave their old life to become a “richer
In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell argues that most of the world’s mythologies and stories that feature a protagonist, or “hero,” going on a journey share an eerily similar structure. Campbell dubs this structure the “monomyth,” which he describes as follows: “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man” (30). What is most important, however, is the purpose behind this journey. Campbell writes that the “modern hero-deed must be that of questing...
Frodo’s adventure is not one of originality. It follows a cookie-cutter character through its journey to save that which is dear to him. In the case of Frodo he must protect the shire from devastation, and potentially all of Middle-Earth, by throwing the ring back into the fires of Mordor. This quest takes Frodo through a series of plot elements that famous Greek heroes have followed, his mission to rid Middle-Earth of ominous forces.
Murray, Roxane Farrell. "The Lord of the Rings as Myth." Unpublished thesis. The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 1974.