“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” This quote by Martin Luther King Jr. explains the archetype “the journey”. Chris Columbus, the director throughout the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone shows that challenges of the journey that creates and shapes a hero. Harry is a young boy wanting a greater purpose in life.His dream to experience the world is held back by the evil of aunt and uncle who gained custody of him after his parents died. Harry’s past was surfacing as his dream was become reality. In his film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Chris Columbus uses the plotline archetype the journey and the hero to reveal how we as humans in our quest for acceptance want to complete challenging tasks to …show more content…
show that we are important in our society. The young little wizard, Harry Potter, seen in the opening of the film as a kind boy that feels he has no purpose in life; However, he soon has the opportunity to change his entire life and figure out who he really is.
He will travel suffering hardship and forming friendships in search of his new identity. Harry’s parents were murdered when he was young. He was then taken to a new house by his uncle where he meets Rubeus Hagrid and his journey begins. While in the bar, Leaky Cauldron, Hagrid explains to Harry how Voldemort succeeded in murdering his parent but failed in his attempt to murder him. Hagrid further explained “‘...Something about you stumped him that night. That's why you're famous, Harry.’ ‘that’s why everyone knows your name’ ‘you're the boy who lived’”. This quote explains Harry’s past and why everyone knows his name. Harry had always wanted to do something great and to be something greater but he past and present continued to hold him back. Good memories that taught him to keep moving forward replaced the bad memories of the past. This small bit of life shining into his past became the key that opened the door to his
future. Harry stated to accept his life as a wizard and enjoying all of its benefits. That's when the school for wizards was set into panic by a troll that somehow found its way into the building. Harry and Rohn were conversing when the question “‘How could a troll get in?’”, arose. Rohn then replied “‘Not by itself. Trolls are really stupid. Probably people playing jokes.’” Then, Suddenly, Harry stops and pulls Ron aside. “‘What?’ ‘Hermione! She doesn't know.’” Harry then takes on the challenge of saving Hermione from the troll. This is the biggest challenge that he has yet to face, but just like many great hero’s he will overcome this task and take another step towards his destiny. His heroic instincts override his natural instincts to run away. Harry doesn’t care about little inner conflict. Instead he is worried about doing to right thing and that is saving his friend, Hermione. Chris Columbus furthers Harry’s journey by making him face yet another task, concurring the troll. Through these difficult challenges, Harry will become the great wizard he was destined to be and possibly a better person, friend, and hero.
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.”
Holmes, Thomas. “The hero’s journey: an inquiry-research model. Jun 2007, vol 34 issue 5, p19-22.4p. 1 Diagram
As the story comes to its conclusion, the hero has endured his hardships; he went from the one that started fights to the one that thought of what could make everything work. An ordinary person in an ordinary world faced his share of trials and tribulations to come out as a new person. Defining the hero myth—he struggled and still was able to triumph to his prize at the end ; individuals relish these type of stories, they can
In society, there is a thing called a hero’s journey. It is when our destiny is before us, and with the choices we make, depict our course for the rest of our lives. In the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and Cinderella Man directed by Ron Howard show how the hero’s journey affects Santiago and Jim Braddock lives.
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.
The Hero’s Journey describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization. After reading the epic poem The Odyssey, by Homer, and watching the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, by the Coen brothers, they both show evidence of the Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s Journey is based on Joseph Campbell’s A Practical Guide to The Hero With a Thousand Faces. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is projected as the “hero” while in O Brother, a man by the name of Ulysses Everett McGill can be seen as the “hero”. Elements of The Odyssey and O Brother are shown through the stages in the Hero’s Journey like the Approach to the Inmost Cave, The Supreme Ordeal, and Threshold Crossing.
To fully appreciate the significance of the plot one must fully understand the heroic journey. Joseph Campbell identified the stages of the heroic journey and explains how the movie adheres meticulously to these steps. For example, the first stage of the hero’s journey is the ordinary world (Campbell). At the beginning, the structure dictates that the author should portray the protagonist in their ordinary world, surrounded by ordinary things and doing ordinary tasks so that the author might introduce the reasons that the hero needs the journey in order to develop his or her character or improve his or her life (Vogler 35). The point of this portrayal is to show the audience what the protagonist’s life is currently like and to show what areas of his or her life are conflicted or incomplete. When the call to adventure occurs, the protagonist is swept away into another world, one that is full of adventure, danger, and opportunities to learn what needs to be learned. T...
The journey introduces the hero in an ordinary mundane world, where everything seems normal. Yet, there is something different that makes the hero a special person and tells him that there should be something more. In the movie Rango, the hero is introduced as a non-hero, an ordinary pet lizard who is living a safe and fairly boring life. He is riding in the back of a car, as his family is relocating across country. However, Rango’s character reveals something special about himself as he is introduced in the opening scene: Rango is very literate in Greek mythology and Shakespeare, and he dreams of becoming a hero one day.
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
From our readings so far, one can see the strenuous decisions that have to be made when choosing to conform or to rebel against societies expectations. There can be both positives and negatives to conforming or rebelling. One isn’t right or wrong over the other, it’s based off of the particular individual. “The Hero’s Journey” is the perfect template for most works of literature. It conveys the steps necessary individuals must take to find themselves and to overall grow as a person. “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. are perfect examples of characters going through the cycles of the “Hero’s Journey,” while trying to determine exactly where they belong in society. Not only characters in a story,
The second concept of the Hero’s journey shows us that all stories are the same. They all follow the same pattern or algorithm of separation, initiation, and return. An example from the movie is the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy is removed from her natural environment by a tornado, initiated with a lion, scarecrow, and tin man, and the group embarks on a journey to see the wizard. In the end, she is able to return home by clicking her heels. She realizes she has had the ability the whole time, but she needed to test herself. We are just like the characters we see in our favoritie movies, books, and shows – they are a metaphor for us as normal human beings. The last concept I learned is “Follow your bliss”. This concept of bliss is defined in many ways. One definition is serenity. Another definition is the thing you cannot not do. It is what makes a person feel alive. In order to answer the question of what is your bliss, you must ask yourself difficult questions like: What am I passionate about? What makes hours seem like minutes? What made me different as a child? After answering these tough questions, a person can find their
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
Just to quickly run through the two previous books; Harry Potter is a wizard, who’s parents were killed by the worst dark wizard ever known. The reason why Harry Potter is still around, is because Lord Voldemort failed to kill Harry. His spell hit Harry, but then backfired on Voldemort taking all of his powers with him. Harry is so famous for two things. Withstanding the powers of Lord Voldemort, and, taking him back in to the underworld in hiding. In the first book, Harry receives a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He’s eventually allowed to go, and spends the next six months there learning magic, getting into trouble, and trying to solve mysteries of his past, and the school. In the second book, Harry goes back to his second year at Hogwarts, and gets into more trouble, figures out many astonishing mysteries and learns loads more magic. His best friends in the two books consist of Ron and Hermione (two of his fellow wizard students) and Hagrid the gamekeeper who was expelled from Hogwarts but allowed a job as the gamekeeper.
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... ...
Harry James Potter is the main character. He was born to James and Lilly Potter a half-blood family. Half-bloods are families that have both wizard and muggle family members. When Harry was only a baby his parents died leaving him to live with his muggle Aunt's family the Dursley's. Growing up his aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon treated Harry very poorly and more as a servant. He was bullied