Heroes are often perceived as characters who leap great distances in a single bound. However, they actually have three distinct stages where they develop into the character we grow to love. In George Lucas` “StarWars IV: A New Hope.” Luke Skywalker is a quintessence of of an archetypal hero because he goes through initiation stage through distinct phases of separation, transformation and the return stage. Luke Skywalker begins his journey as farmer boy on a remote planet and becomes the hero of the galaxy. However, this process the not happen quickly. Rather, it is a difficult journey where is is faced with multiple tests and obstacles and pushes his endurance to the limit.
In the stage of separation, a hero goes through events which causes s/he to depart and accept their adventure. In Luke Skywalker`s case, there are multiple event which causes him to accept his mission. The first event is when Luke sees a video message from Princess Leia asking assistance of someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi. through a droid he bought named R2D2
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and C3P0. Immediately, Luke is entrance by her and wants to help her. To further investigate this video, Luke goes out and finds Old Ben Kenobi. The message from Princess Leia is the first part of what causes Luke to go on his journey. From Luke`s ordinary world, this video is pulling Luke into an adventure. When Luke meets Old Ben Kenobi, Luke finds himself lost between two worlds. Old Ben sees the video from R2D2 and decides that he must go and help her, since he actually is Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, he cannot do it alone. He asks Luke to come with him on this adventure to save Princess Leia and to destroy the Empire. When Luke declines, Obi Wan unveils Luke`s hidden past and explains Luke`s unusual circumstance of birth, connections to the force and to the ominous character, Darth Vader. Luke also receives his father's lightsaber which Obi-Wan has kept for Luke. Even though his thirst for adventure is immense, Luke cannot go because he needs to help his aunt and uncle on their farm. This chat with Obi-Wan Kenobi taught a lot to Luke about his own past the rebellion, and the force. He also hates the Empire, but as a farmer boy stuck on a remote planet, “there is nothing I can do about it right now.” Although Luke is very tempted to go, he cannot abandon his aunt and uncle. This is a part of separation in the initiation of a hero because it involves parts such as meeting the mentor, and receiving a talisman. Luke also faces a choice to accept or reject his mission. When Luke returns to his home to consult with his aunt and uncle about the adventure, Luke finds that it is not his choice make on whether to accept or reject the mission, the Empire has already decided for him. Upon arrival, Luke finds his home destroyed by Imperial Storm Troopers and his aunt and uncle murdered. This event forces Luke to accept his mission as he no longer has a home on this planet. Luke leaves with Obi-Wan, C3P0, and R2D2. This part of the plot concludes the separation stage of Luke`s journey. As a part of the transformation stage, Luke and his crew goes to Mos Eisley of Cantina to look for a pilot and ship to take them to Alderaan where Princess Leia is. In Mos Eisley Luke and his crew meets Han Solo and Chewbacca who are the crew of the Millennium Falcon. Han Solo, Luke, Obi-Wan, Chewbacca, R2D2 and C3P0 leaves Tatooi. This becomes Luke`s first step into his adventure. This demonstrates the transformation stage, where the hero is introduced to a new, challenging worlds. When the crew arrives to where the planet Alderaan should be, they find nothing but meteors and debris. Among the debris, they find an Imperial jet, and thinking that it is lost and vulnerable, they chase it. However, the Imperial jet leads them to a hidden battle station as big as a moon called the Death Star which was built by the Empire. By the time that they realize that it is a battle station, they try to escape it but the gravitational force pulls the Mellenium Falcon towards it. Knowing that they cannot fight the Imperial troops, Luke and his friends hide in a secret compartments of the ship as they are brought into the Death Star. Thinking that it is an abandoned ship, the Imperial troops just stand guard. Luke and Han steal the suits of two Imperial Troops, and pretends to have arrested Chewbacca. Obi-Wan goes on his own way to look for the tracker beam to shut down the gravitational field of the Death Star. C3P0 and R2D2 remain in the control room of the Death Star. Meanwhile, Luke, Han, and Chewbacca looks around the Death Star to look for Princess Leia who is held as a prisoner. While they were rescuing Princess Leia, more Imperial Troops arrive and there is a firefight between them. They escape into a garbage chute where they are trapped. The walls close in to crush the garbage and also Luke and his friends. Luke commands R2D2 to shut down the walls and they are able to escape. They go back to the Millennuim Falcon and prepare to escape. While this is happening, Obi-Wan faces Darth Vader in a light saber duel. In the end, it seems as if Darth had killed Obi-Wan but Obi-Wan actually “became more powerful than you [Darth Vader] could imagine.” Luke and his friends escape the Death Star and go to the planet where the rebel base is located. The transformation stage consists of many obstacles which Luke must overcome in order to face the ultimate challenge. There is also a supernatural component when Obi-Wan disappears, but can still speak to Luke`s mind. The events in the transformation stage foreshadow an ultimate challenge in the return stage. After leaving the Death Star, Luke and his friends arrive on the rebel base on the planet of Yavin. The rebels discuss how to destroy the Death Star with the information retrieved by Princess Leia. Death Star has a primary weapon, the super laser. The super laser has enough power to destroy a planet which was what happened to Alderaan. And its next target is Yavin. However, also apart of the information in the Death Star`s weak spot which is The rebels organize a strike team which includes Luke. The goal of this strike team is to shoot the thermal port which leads straight to the hypermatter reactors which would result in the destruction of the Death Star. In the time of preparation, Han and Chewbacca collect their rewards for rescuing Princess Leia and they prepare to leave. Luke argues with him and asks him to stay and help destroy the Death Star, but Luke warns him “you are turning your back on them.” During the final battle, the rebels attack the Death Star and the crew members of the Death Star wait for Yavin to come within the range of the super laser. However, the battle quickly turns bad for the rebels when Darth Vader leads “the crew to their fighters” and begins to hunt down the rebel jets. Soon, Luke is the only rebel fighter left and is being chased by three Imperial fighter jets which is being commanded by Darth Vader. When all seems lost, Han Solo arrives behind the Imperial jets and destroy them, but Darth Vader`s jet loses control and flies off into space. With help if Han solo and the Millennium Falcon, Luke is able to shoot the thermal port and hit the hypermatter reactor which blows up the entire Death Star. After destroying the Death Star, Luke, and Han are rewarded. In this part of the plot, Luke meets new allies and helpers, who assists him on achieving the ultimate victory for the rebels. there is celebration and reward for Luke and Han who has helped greatly in defeating the Empire. Although the main conflict is resolved, there is a danger of further conflicts foreshadowed by the disappearance of Darth Vader. Although he has lost his home on Tatoonie, he makes new home with the rebels on Yavin.It is evident that throughout his journey, Luke has passed from ignorance and immaturity to social and spiritual adulthood. In “StarWars IV: A New Hope,” directed and written by George Lucas, Luke repeatedly proves himself to be a hero throughout the phases of separation, transformation, and the return stage.
In the separation stage, Luke`s hidden past is revealed and is called on a mission to save the galaxy. After accepting the mission in the transformation stage, Luke travels throughout the universe and is faced with obstacles and tests to prepare him for the greatest challenge. Lastly, in the return stage, Luke's journey comes to a conclusion as he defeats the Empire and gains the ultimate victory and is rewarded. Although his quest was not an easy one, Luke pushed through and faced the challenges and endured the hardship like a hero. He learns many things all through his quest and passes from immaturity to his adulthood. All in all, Luke Skywalker truly earned the right to be called a hero. How can you be a hero in your world? And “may the force be with
you.”
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 approach to the hero’s journey in The Hunger Games, Star Wars, and A Wrinkle in Time has many similarities and variables. A few stages of comparison with the three books are during the call to adventure/refusal, the ordinary world, and crossing the threshold.
In “Creating the Myth,” Linda Seger outlines the essential aspects that make up the hero myth, and why movies that follow this outline are generally successful. In her analysis, she begins with the idea that every hero myth revolves around a hero who is called upon to accomplish a feat that nobody else in the story is able to do. The hero’s journey begins with an unlikely person being called upon to serve a purpose greater than themselves. Along their journey, the hero is influenced by several archetypical characters that either help the hero, or try to deter the hero from accomplishing their task. The hero’s journey ends when they have accomplished their task, and in doing so, become a greater person than what they were in the beginning. A film that found tremendous success by following this outline was “Kung Fu Panda.”
He is being forced to abide by the rules in prison and at first, does not get a warm welcome by his fellow prisoners because he refuses to abide by the captains order which is simply to get their minds right. He is soon challenged to a fight by one of his fellow inmates. Throughout the fight, it is clear that Luke is being brutally beaten. He can barely stand up on his feet but he refuses to give up. To me, this is a sign of resistance of power because he does not want to just face the fact that he lost this battle.
Instead of thinking about himself, Frodo thinks of the people around him in the Shire. Like Luke where he leaves despite his fears, Frodo leaves and not only faces his fears of the unknown but goes in order for the people of the Shire to stay safe despite the fact that he may die showing his selflessness. While on the Death Star, Luke shows his selflessness when goes to save Leia when hearing of her presence on the Death Star. He insists when he talks to Han in the control room that “The droid belongs to her. She's the one in the message.. We've got to help her” (Lucas New 56). Risking his life to save someone he barely knows, Luke shows his selflessness as he wants to save Leia. Both J.R.R. Tolkien and George Lucas have their heroes commit these acts in order to show that they are selfless because through this it is shown that they care about others. Frodo and Luke demonstrate selflessness when Frodo takes up the ring at Rivendell and when Luke joins the Rebel Alliance. When taking up the responsibility to take up the ring at Rivendell at the Council of Elrond, Frodo shows his selflessness as he is cognizant that no one else is willing to take the ring and speaks up as“No one
Both also have a sort of supernatural force helping them, giving them an advantage over ordinary people. Luke learns the ways of the "force" which about three other people have mastered: Darth Vader who is evil, Obi-Wan his mentor, and Yoda (who he does not know yet). Bruce learns the ways of advanced ancient Ninjitsu and the ways of being one with the shadows. The two of them are also both very limited in their allies fighting against a world of evil. Luke is contained to Obi-Wan, Chewbacca, Han Solo, and eventually Leah. Bruce is limited to the few uncorrupt people in his city, Alfred, Mr. Fox, Jim Gordon, and Rachel. During the ordeal, both hero's have a long line of conflict that they must deal with. Bruce has to save Rachel, escape his on fire mansion, fight Ra's al Ghul, and then stop the city from going crazy from the gas. Luke must save Leia, escape a trash compacter, watch Obi-Wan die, escape Darth Vader's station, and finally come back to destroy it. A last similarity is that both hero's rewards made them realize what they were actually destined for. Luke
Finally, the hero learns from the shadow’s strengths and weaknesses as they are the qualities that helped them succeed and ultimately the reason why they fail. In The Hobbit, Bilbo learns from Thorin’s characteristics. From the strengths side, Bilbo has learned from Thorin’s confidence and leadership. Once again, because of Thorin’s example Bilbo was able to recover more of his Took side. As demonstrated in chapter 8, during the road of trials, the battle with the spiders. This battle was the first time Bilbo really displayed his role in the quest. He showed leadership as explained in the quote: “Bilbo saw that the moment had come when he must do something” (Tolkien, 183). Bilbo also presented confidence by insulting the spiders with his lyrics. He has also learned from Thorin’s undesirable traits. Greed. From Thorin’s outcome, Bilbo sees how easy it is to give into greed. This encouraged Bilbo to make the right decisions, like handing over the Arkenstone and taking only a small amount of treasure home with him. Moreover, this also happens to be the case in Star Wars. Similar to The Hobbit, Luke also sees the consequences of the dark side through Darth Vader, and from this he learns to make better choices. Through Vader’s strengths, Luke can learn the sense of loyalty to your master. Vader had said: “You don't know the power of the dark side. I must obey my master” (Return of the
We all are heroes of our own story, and it is a quality seen in many movies and books. The hero's journey is about progress and passage. This journey involves a separation from the unknown, known world, and a series of phases the hero must go through . Each stage of the journey must be passed successfully if the person is to become a hero. In “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, the main character Amir faces a series of trials and goes through obstacles where the concept of his childhood dies.
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
In Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, he talks about the “Monomyth,” otherwise better known as, the “Hero’s Journey”. This is the major theme throughout this book as well as the majority of Joseph Campbell’s studies. Campbell’s idea of the hero’s journey can be seen in many books, movies, television series, etc. That is an idea I will discuss at a later date. For this paper I would like to discuss and explain the hero’s journey, as well as give my opinions on the idea. This is a very interesting and eye opening idea that Campbell has presented us with and has made The Hero With A Thousand Faces one of the most important books of the past one hundred years.
Many of the stories that have been told for centuries, or have recently been created, incorporate the story of a young innocent character who embarks on a journey and becomes a hero, known as The Hero’s Journey; a series of steps that all heroes follow. This journey not only shows the main character becoming a hero but also shows the hero move along a path similar to that of adolescence, the path between childhood and maturity. The Hero’s Journey was created by a man by the name of Joseph Campbell. He wrote a book called The Hero with One Thousand Faces, a novel containing a variety of stories that follow the steps of the Hero’s Journey. One famous creation that follows The Hero’s Journey is the science fiction film trilogy: Star Wars, created by George Lucas. Lucas depicts the struggles that take place along the path of adolescence through the story of a protagonist Luke Skywalker, who strives to become a Jedi Knight to show that Campbell’s Hero’s Journey reflects the struggles that youth go through whether they are depicted in a story or not.
This man cares more about the wants and needs of the people around him then his own. Percy is brave in the toughest of situations, and stands up for what is right. Percy Jackson has even saved the world twice, by leading armies he organised on his own.
Joseph Campbell was a well known mythology teacher who spent his whole life trying to understand the different types of stories that are told. To Campbell “all humans are involved in a struggle to accomplish the adventure of the hero in their own lives.” He made a list of stages that every hero goes through, and sums it up to three sections: separation (the departure), the initiation, and the return.
A hero has many admirable traits that are attributed to them. Today, one would describe a hero as someone with courage, bravery and a clear conscience to invoke good deeds. In mythology, heroes are also present and hold the same qualities as our modern heroes. Heroes just like Odysseus who after spending ten years trying to return home from the Trojan War, wants nothing more than to get back to his wife, son and reclaim his position as king of Ithaca.. But hardships that appear during his voyage demonstrate his courage and intelligence. Using these traits he is able to reach his ultimate goal and become the hero he is meant to be. But to become the hero, Odysseus needs to fulfill the six steps that were set by Joseph Campbell, who illustrated these steps in his text Hero with a Thousand Faces. These steps include: 1. Leaving home; 2. Deciding upon a quest; 3. Encountering dragons; 4. All-out fights; 5. a wound (left upon the hero from his/her encounter with a dragon.; 6. Wisdom which the hero learns that informs his or her life thereafter, or a wisdom won that can be shared with the hero’s people. Odysseus almost illustrates the true definition of a hero and, goes on a hero’s journey to attempt just that. Odysseus must face many challenges and dangers to reach his objective. Through the way he eradicates them, it is evident that he has successfully completed parts of the hero’s journey but fails to complete the last step.
One well-known example of “The Hero’s Journey” from popular culture is the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling. In the novel, Harry Potter, the main character, is the chosen one and “The Hero’s Journey” applies to his life from the moment he is attacked by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as a baby. Joseph Campbell calls the initial phase of a hero’s development the “Call to Adventure.” The call is the in... ...