What makes a hero is not who they are, but their journey, as seen by many across various stories following the monomyth framework. This outline, used to format the protagonist’s trek, can be found in many stories, such as Farah Ahmedi’s The Other Side of the Sky and Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Godfather. Farah Ahmedi and Michael Corleone both suffer a violent departure from normal life, demanding tests of their fate, and their own form of control that brings them power, which shows two stories are more alike than divergent.
The initiation to the protagonist’s journey, for these two, may have felt as the darkest moment of their life so far. “And then suddenly a fire flashed in my face and the earth seemed to move beneath my feet. I remember
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the shower of soil and nothing else” (43). For Farah, stepping on a landmine was a life changing moment that showed the road her life would take was not a lighthearted, colorful adventure. This showed her a lifestyle she never predicted or prepared for. Countless tests occurred shortly after, showing how much torment her character could with stand, as if god was teaching her to be brave. One of those tests happened when Farah was returning to her home in afghanistan from shopping. “The I saw our house: reduced to nothing but piles of rubble and broken glass. And then I saw the bodies” (89). This dark hour in her life was heartbreaking, but showed her determination making her journey all the more meaningful. Her simple, yet effective use of anaphora creates a feeling in the reader's heart of deep sorrow as if you were next to Farah, watching her collapse to the floor at the sight of her dead father. But after countless tests of her will, she escaped from afghanistan and got into america but her language became the last boundary to break. “I watched her lips and listened as hard as I could. After almost 3 months in the ESL course, I knew enough English to get the gist of what she was saying” (196). Her elixir was english, giving her the power she needed to complete her education and become published writer. Her frequent of imagery in lip-reading and listening shows her determination to shatter the last frontier in her journey. When Vito Corleone was shot in a public space, the earth fell silent for Michael, a man who thought his father was one of the most powerful mafia men of his time.
While in the hospital, his father could not defend himself against the assassins who would return. Michael took it upon himself to defend him with his visitors. “Listen. Wait for me outside in front of the hospital, all right? I’ll be out in a minute… ...Put your hand your pocket like you have a gun. You’ll be alright” (Hospital Scene with Enzo). This made him realize whether or not he longed to take his position hereditarily, he would be forced to. This defining moment in his story visualizes not just the idea of him taking a role of such power, but shows how he uses that power for the good of his men, like a family should. Through the many will tests, the most influential in Michael’s life of crime follows after this incident. A Heated meeting with the opposing crime family must take place, while Vito is hospitalized, leaving only Michael to be the judgement. “When he feels better, we’re going to arrange a meeting and everything will be alright. The meanness must come to an end” (Louis Restaurant Killings Scene). This defining moment reflects Michael’s judgement and whether he thinks for the family or himself. He chooses to take the risk of killing the two leaders and fleeing to a european country lifestyle, to avenge his father’s shooting and remind all other families of the corleone’s power, striking fear into their hearts. “DON’T ASK ME ABOUT MY BUSINESS,
KATE!” “Is it true!?!?” “ENOUGH… ...This one time, I’ll let you ask me about my affairs.” “Is it true.” “no.” (End Scene) At this final moment, he lied to his wife about killing off a member of the family. He knew from good judgement he could no longer be trusted and could hold back because of morals. The visuals in the scene show her walking away and the door shutting her view of him glaring at her away, as if she were no longer in touch with him, and his crime family was his only family. His elixir was his judgement and even though he may have killed one, and lied to another, he did it for the family which fulfilled their needs before his own. In closing, what matters is the protagonist's journey that makes them a hero and not who they were born as. The defining choices that change their lives forever such as having an amputated leg or murder on their hands make the character the hero, whether it be Farah, a survivor, or Michael, an anti-hero. While both surviving departure from their original lifestyle, countless tests of will, and their own elixir that brings them power, which shows two stories are more similar than different.
Tens of thousands of stories fit into the hero’s journey archetype created by Christopher Volger. Out of these, a large number of them are stories with remakes that share notable resemblances to their heroes’ journeys. However, none of these quite match those very strong similarities found between Homer’s The Odyssey and Joel Coens ’s O
Holmes, Thomas. “The hero’s journey: an inquiry-research model. Jun 2007, vol 34 issue 5, p19-22.4p. 1 Diagram
The human need to be relatable is unquenchable. We love to be able to see parts of ourselves in others, and to be able to feel like our idols are not untouchable. The Hero’s Journey format is one that can be found in almost any story, even in real life. Overall, it is the perfect recipe for keeping readers engrossed. Another place the journey has shown up is in Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and Odyssey by Homer. These two stories—one a biography, the other, an epic poem—are so effective in their storytelling, it is easy to see how authors today continue to use the same method to make stories that grab the readers’ attention. What makes them most alike, however, is the emotions and thoughts they have the power to provoke.
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 Hero’s Journey.” Ariane Publications, 1997. Course handout. AS English I. Dept. of English, Woodside High School. 26 October 2013.
Therefore, this paper attempts to take a first step on applying The Monomyth theory on Santiago’s journey, the protagonist of The Alchemist, as it focuses on the major traits of hero's journey pres...
The story begins as "Don" Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia "family", oversees his daughter's wedding. His beloved son Michael has just come home from the war, but does not intend to become part of his father's business. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone about it, but the Don is morally against the use of drugs, and turns down the offer. Being this only request Don Vito has turned down, displease Sollozzo and has the Don shot down. The Don barely survives, which leads ...
It is the Godfather that demands the family stick with family and never side with any one out side of the family no matter the situation. Vito the Godfather would remind them family is family and no one will miss treat or use any member of the family. He proves this point when his godson comes to him about a problem with a director name Jack Woltz. Because Jonny Fontane is the godson the Godfather Corleone will send his step son who is consigliere to the family to California to advise the director to hand the part over to Fontane.
I believe the reason that, 'The Godfather', is such a great film is because it lets audiences decide whether they like the characters or not. Too many movies made about organized crime begin with some seemingly random act of violence. 'The Godfather', however, lets it be known from the start to judge the characters in the film based on what type of person they are instead of the criminal activities they may engage in.
The Godfather is the “dark-side of the American dream story” (Turan, pp2). The film follows the practices of a fictional Italian mafia family, the Corleone’s. Though most Americans do not condone the practices of the Italian mafia, they cannot deny that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a cinematic masterpiece. This film gave insight to a mysterious way of life that the average person does not have knowledge of. As the audience is educated about the mafia they also are introduced to many stereotypes.
When reading a novel or watching a movie, the audience often looks for a guiding light; a character that steps up to take the lead when all hope is lost. It is not uncommon for that beacon of hope to be a complete stereotype, all too often, the hero of the day is a strong, virile, ruggedly handsome man, but what if he was not? What if he was just an average man, or not even a man at all, but a woman or a child? When reading fiction, the imagination is allowed to run wild, painting vivid pictures interwoven with personal life experiences, relatable to the characters in the novels and to one’s own life experiences. The most memorable content of both The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks, leaves a lasting impression due to strong lead characters, their resolve to survive, no matter what obstacles may wind up in their paths, and the simple truth that they are human and flawed, but still resilient and willing to push forward as an example to others, both in the novel and in the target audience.
The Godfather is most notably one of the most prolific films of its time. This "gangster" film displayed many transformations of permeating color to give the viewer observable cues in its mise en scene that drew one right into the movie. The dramatic acting set the tone of the film with a score that lifted the viewer right out of their seat in many scenes. The directing and cinematography made The Godfather ahead of its time. The nostalgic feel of family importance and the danger of revenge lets us into the life of the Mafia. Even though no other techniques would have given the viewer a feeling of inside the mob like the mise en scene of the power the godfather held, the characters are reinforced literally and figuratively because the story views the Mafia from the inside out, and the cinematography of the film gives it a dangerous and nostalgic feel.
In movies, novels, and life, people are named as heroes. The heroes we establish and the heroes we recognize, however, may not meet the criteria for a mythic hero. A mythic hero ventures forth on his journey, and comes forth from the hero’s path to greatness. Joseph Campbell, a mythologist who studied many of the great human myths and religious tales, realized, in studying these myths and tales, that there were certain steps that every hero went through. Campbell called this “The Hero’s Journey”; it is based on Carl Jung's idea that all human beings have an archetype. After Campbell studied a lot of the great myths and realized this pattern, he published his findings in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Ever since then, authors have used “The Hero’s Journey” as an outline to tell their stories. “It is important to note that not all of these individual steps are present in every hero’s tale, nor is it important that they be in this exact order” (Vogler 20). The Hero with a Thousand Faces gives a sense of significance as it looks into the inner mind and soul. The author, Joseph Campbell, performs two extraordinary accomplishments: compelling his readers that myth and dream, those are the most effective and everlasting forces in life and a unification of mythology and psychoanalysis with a gripping narrative. 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.
Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” shows all three of the main elements of a hero’s journey: the departure, initiation and the return, helping the story to greatly resemble Joseph Campbell’s structure of a hero’s journey. Through the trials Pi has to face, he proves himself to be a true hero. He proves himself, not just while trapped on the lifeboat with Richard Parker, but also before the sinking of the Tsimtsum. His achievement to fulfill the heroic characteristics of Campbell’s model are evident as he goes though the three stages.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON "GODFATHER DEATH", A FAIRY TALE WRITTEN BY JACOB LUDWIG GRIMM AND WILHELM CARL GRIMM