A Hero 's Journey
Mulan Is about a woman who pretends to be a man named Ping, and joins the Chinese army in order to save her father, and ultimately China. The hero's journey is a twelve step expedition every hero goes on in relatively all movies, books, and television shows. Mulan is an archetypal example of a hero's journey, because it almost follows all of the steps exactly.
Mulan follows both the "ordinary world" and "call to adventure" steps. Mulan Lives in an relatively ordinary world with her family in China. Mulan's duty to her family is to bring honor by marriage, but she is very clumsy as seen in the beginning of the movie. She visits the matchmaker, but is deemed as awkward and not ready for marriage. Mulan is called to adventure
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when her father gets conscripted into the army, even though he is weak. At first Mulan refuses the call, and tries to convince Chi Fu that he is too feeble to fight in the army. After Mulan realizes that her father has to go, she is called to adventure and takes his place, while pretending to be Ping. Mulan follows both steps in the right order and accurately. Mulan follows both "crossing the threshold" and "meeting the mentor" steps, even though they are out of chronological order.
Crossing the threshold happens when Mulan enters the army camp, even though it happens before she meets her mentor. She crosses the threshold when she is forced into the lifestyle of a man, and has to act natural so she wont be recognized as a women. Mulan is very unskilled in the beginning of training, but soon exceeds her mentor, Captain Shang's, expectation. Mulan meets her mentor, Captain of the Chinese army, Shang. At first, Shang does not approve of Mulan, because she does not meet his expectations. After failing multiple tests, she finally succeeds in a challenge that no other solider could complete. Even though meeting the mentor and crossing the threshold are out of order, the movies still follows the hero's …show more content…
journey. Both the "tests, allies and enemies" and "the approach " steps mirror the typical hero's journey cycle. Mulan follows this step, because she makes many friends, enemies, and has to pass numerous tests. She befriends three men named Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, who are also in the army. The Huns are Mulan's enemies because they are trying to gain control of China. The Approach is when the army reaches a village that has been destructed and burned to ashes. Furthermore, Shang finds out his father has been killed by the Huns. The Chinese army ultimately decides to fight the Huns back. She goes through the final separation from her know world when the impending war becomes a reality. Mulan conforms with both the ordeal, the death, and the revelation steps of the hero's journey.
The ordeal is when the Huns spot the Chinese army ambush them. A canon that is accidentally fired signals the Huns where the army is, nearly leading to a battle. The imminent battle is stopped when Mulan fires a canon at the mountain, causing an avalanche. As a result, the death step is followed when the avalanche kills several Huns. While the avalanche terminates many Huns, a handful survive including their leader Shan Yu. Mulan has a revelation when she witnesses the Huns coming out of the ground, and decides to save Shang and all of China. An ordeal, a death or rebirth, or a revelation is necessary for the hero's journey to be
relevant. The "reward" and the "road back" steps are both incorporated in the movie. Mulan is rewarded for conquering the Huns. Shang and Mulan defeat the Huns after a substantial battle with Shan Yu, essentially saving the emperor and all of China. After Mulan kills Shan Yu, she is commended by the emperor and is offered the position as his advisor. Mulan courteously turns down the emperors offer and asks instead if she can return home to her family. Mulan's road back is when she returns to her family, and is welcomed back with open arms. General Shang fell in love with Mulan, and arrives at her house to return her helmet, although his actual motive was just to see her again. Although the road back is usually dangerous and the hero needs help, Mulan had already defeated her enemy. While the resurrection and the return both occur, they are not in the way most other hero's returns transpire.The resurrection step occurs when Mulan's behavior changes. The resurrection step is usually after the road back, but Mulan's behavior changes throughout the whole movie. Mulan starts out as the weak link in the army, but eventually she becomes the strongest, both mentally and physically. The return with elixir step is shown when Mulan brings peace to all of China. This step is similar to the resurrection because instead of it being one certain event, it is evident in the last few scenes, as opposed to only one. Mulan brought peace to all of China by overpowering the Huns. The changes in Mulan's attitude and is apparent throughout the movie. The hero's journey is relevant to almost all movies, television shows, books, and even literature. The twelve steps must be incorporated into the movie, even if its not in chronological order. Mulan conforms to all of the steps of a hero's journey perfectly, but without being too sequential and exact.
This scene also leaves the viewers relieved, and happy because Mulan gets to stay the army and she has finally shown everyone else that she is just as good has them and even better.
Mushu enters the stage of apotheosis, just like most heroes do when following the hero cycle. His ego is disintegrated in an expansion of consciousness; Mushu starts doubting himself and even reveals to Mulan that he is a “fraud” and that the ancestors never truly sent him....
The initiation begins with the road of trials for Mulan. Mulan encounters the road of trials when Captain Li-Shang’s troops realize they are the only ones that can save their country; consequently, the troops follow the Huns to save their livelihood. Mulan is found vulnerable during this time, but she prevails and finds her inner warrior. The road of trials makes her become determined to fight to save her homeland. Moreover, Mulan goes through the stage of meeting her soul mate, Li-shang, when he discovers that his father is dead. Mulan’s feelings for Li-Shang encourage her to move forward in her journey. It makes Mulan fight even harder to get rid of her enemies. Additionally, Mulan enters a god-like state. This occurs in Mulan when the Emperor and the entire citizens of the country bow to Mulan. Finally, Mulan becomes self-assured that she truly is a hero after recognizing how special she is when she receives the sword of Shan-Yu and the crest of the Emperor after she saves his
The Hero’s Journey in Mulan In this world that we live in there are a plethora of cultures and people but one thing that brings all these cultures together is a certain story base, the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey has been around for the longest time and many commonly known stories that we know today are based off of the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey follows eight different steps. All of these eight steps contribute to the story and make it interesting to us. An example of the hero’s journey is the popular Disney movie “Mulan.”
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
The Hero’s Journey is a pattern created by the American mythologist Joseph Campbell and is a path that every hero must take in order for them to pursue their personal legend as Paulo Coelho describes in The Alchemist, a hero can be a human, animal or a magical creature. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “archetype as the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies” (“archetype”). During this path, the hero will encounter different obstacles that will prevent him/her from achieving their destiny. Coco is a movie that talks about a Mexican tradition that celebrates dead called Dia de Los Muertos. The movie Coco follows the Hero’s Journey pattern Miguel character must face the Departure, Initiation, and Return. In the movie Coco, Miguel Rivera dreamed of becoming a musician and the importance of continuing with a tradition that honor the death follows the step pattern of the Hero Journey.
When the emperor sent out a request to send the men in China to war, Mulan was scared. Her father was one of the many men summoned to fight....
There are many stories that follow Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, and tells the tale of a Heroic character. These fables introduces us to heroes that begin their journey in an ordinary place, then receive a call to enter an unknown world full of bizarre powers and peculiar events. These heroes often display great traits, such as bravery or intelligence, that defines their character. One of these heroic's tales is Haroun and the Sea of Stories, telling the adventures of a young man named Haroun. This essay will prove that Haroun from Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie is a hero, because he possess heroic qualities. Haroun shows his heroic qualities by overcoming obstacles, helping his friends, and having good intentions.
William Shakespeare once said, “[My] honor is my life; both grow in one; take honor from me, and my life is done.” The idea is touched upon in both the book Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston as well as Disney’s Mulan were family honor is more important than anything else. Mulan was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film Mulan retold the story of a woman warrior who took her father’s place in battle and became a savior of China.The movie uses many elements from the original story told in the chapter “White Tigers,” but adds many modern twists in order to make the story more appealing for a newer generation. In both stories of Fa Mu Lan the elements of sacrifice, silence and voice, cultural practices of ancestor worship and filial piety, and Chinese stereotypes are present.
Joseph Campbell describes the hero's journey as taking place in a cycle that consists of three most important phases, which are the following: Departure, which is where the hero leaves his/her comfortable and familiar world and endeavors into the unknown; Initiation, where the hero is tried with a series of tests, which he/she must prove their character; and Return, where the hero brings the benefit of his quest bac...
...sh and adore. However, next time, do not let yourself be so easily grabbed by the catchy musical numbers and seemingly revolutionary story that is told. Yes, Mulan is an unorthodox heroine who changes all the rules, but she does so by conforming to a flawed system and affecting change from the inside, under the guise of a man. In lieu of doing it as a woman, it is not as girl power filled as many of us would like to believe. She, for the most part, affects all of this change as a man. Once she’s discovered, all her hard work in the training and the relationships she’s forged are all tossed to the wind and she’s quickly relegated back to her place as a lowly woman. However, despite its flawed execution in being a girl power story, it embodies a quintessential feel-good, be true to your heart film that will leave you wanting to affect change in the world around you.
Joseph Campbell describes the hero’s journey as a quest where the “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” (Campbell 7). The heroine’s quest, according to Valerie Estelle Frankel includes “battling through pain and intolerance, through the thorns of adversity, through death and beyond to rescue loved ones” (Frankel 11). Contrary to the hero’s journey, the heroine’s journey focuses on the “culture on the idealization of the masculine” while the hero’s journey focuses on the adventures. In the inspiring autobiography, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, Malala Yousafzai represents a heroine because she goes through the stages of the heroine’s journey as she refuses to be silenced and risks death to confront the Taliban on behalf of the young Pakistani girls that are deprived of education. The stages of the journey include the ordinary world, the call to adventure, the supernatural aid, the crossing of the first threshold, the road of trials, the ordeal, death and rebirth, and the return with the elixir.
In the Disney film Mulan, the character for Mulan plays an important part to support the example of a woman not satisfied with her state of being and subordinated position in society and therefore, takes action to show others her true capabilities and qualities. This prototype is scarcely depicted in today’s cartoons and films so that children rarely identify with this image. “Mulan” helps to promote this role model of an intelligent woman and could be the first step in breaking gender constraints. In addition, it might teach children that they have to find their own state of happiness rather than trying desperately to fulfill society’s expectations.
Mulan tells that the story of brave Mulan. Mulan did not want her elderly father to fight in the war, so she disguised as a man and joined in her father 's army. Finally, Mulan defeated the Huns and Shan Yu (leader of the Huns) with her partners in barracks. This Disney film portrays the conflict perspective, feminism, and symbolic interaction perspective.
Mulan pushes gender inequality by reinforcing masculine and feminine stereotypes through the songs that it presents throughout the movie. The roles of what it means to be a man is simply laid out within the influential song, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.” This song occurred when the fresh new soldiers appeared to be very weak and unfit, so Captain Shang sang of how they must become strong like real men should be. Captain Shang asks the question, “did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?” (Mulan), implying that women are unfit for the conditions of