Joseph Campbell made himself one of the chief authorities on how mythology works when he published his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In this book, Campbell describes what he believes to be the monomyth, known as “The Hero’s Journey.” Campbell wrote that this monomyth, the basic structure of all heroic myth, has three basic stages, which in turn have subcategories themselves. The heroic story of Katniss Everdeen, told in the movie Hunger Games, follows Campbell’s monomyth outline quite well. Everything starts for the hero during Campbell’s first stage, The Departure. The first of The Departure’s five stages is The Call to Adventure. For Katniss, this is when Effie Trinket pulls Katniss’s sister’s name out of the reaping jar, …show more content…
Now that The Belly of the Whale has been addressed, the next stage of “The Hero’s Journey” starts with the first of six subcategories being out of order. This initial subcategory is The Road of Trials, which occurs prior to Katniss’s Crossing of the First Threshold. Often the Road of Trials features sets of threes and some sort of failure. Katniss’s Road of Trials is formed of three parts, and all three of those feature a small amount of failure by Katniss. Part one is when Katniss first rides out on a chariot with Peeta during a parade in the Capitol in preparation for the games. She is initially reluctant to hold Peeta’s hand, failing at her task to appease the crowd, but she eventually does take his hand and does so proudly. Next, Katniss has to do a performance, all by herself, before gamemakers and sponsors to prove her ability and get a good rating on her skills. She tries shooting the bow, missing her first shot and getting a bulls eye the second shot. At that point, she had lost the audience’s attention. To regain their attention, through her fury at their inattention to her, she shoots an apple in a roasted pig’s mouth...a pig prepared for and seated among her audience. She promptly walks out, and later finds out she gets a score of 11 out of 12. Her final trial is her interview with Caesar Flickerman, the main face of Hunger Games television …show more content…
Apotheosize means “to deify,” and in a way, Katniss is bestowed with god-like knowledge: she now knows that she is now in control over the Capitol. She realizes that if both she and Peeta die, the Capitol will not have a victor of the games. In the end, both Katniss and Peeta live, and she returns with The Ultimate Boon, or the final reward that the hero has been fighting and adventuring for. This is the final subsection of Initiation, and in Katniss’s case, The Ultimate Boon is that she returns with her life, Peeta’s life, and she has saved her sister Prim’s life. Now that she has won the games, Katniss can begin her return to normal
There are many differences between the archetypes of the hero’s journey. For instance The Hobbit is about a hobbit that is taken on a journey with dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain. While A Long Way Gone is a story about a boy who is separated from his family and is drafted into the army to do unspeakable things.The hero’s journeys in The Hobbit and A long way gone were very different from each other.
Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, conveys, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”. In other words, Aristotle states that the gaining of self-knowledge provides an individual with the ability to know one’s personal gifts and accountabilities. To start one’s adult life a person must pursue the journey of self-discovery to learn in depth about their skills and weaknesses. Individuals must find themselves through the limitations and ordeals that they face during their voyage for self-awareness. For example, in Tim O’Brien’s short story, “On the Rainy River”, the narrator shares his story about self-discovery. O’Brien looks back into his past, to the time when he was called to serve in the Vietnam War. O’Brien’s initial
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 first stage of the hero’s journey is the departure. This stage begins when a herald gives the hero the call to adventure. The herald in this story is the Big Lebowski who as a bitter, crippled old man fits the description of the herald having a loathsome, underestimated appearance. The call to adventure comes when he offers the Dude $20,000 to make the drop off of Bun...
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
“A blunder-apparently the merest chance-reveals an unsuspected world, and the individual is drawn into a relationship with forces that are not rightly understood” (Campbell 42). This statement in The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell explains that a hero is unexpected. A hero is someone who is unlikely to be a hero. The hero may not be someone who looks the strongest or most daring, yet a hero can be someone who cannot see at all. In the film, The Village, an unlikely hero arises from her home in the village to take on a daunting task that takes her on a journey through a creature-infested forest and a journey through what Campbell claims is the hero’s journey.
When her and her ally and love interest Peeta reach the center of the Arena in which they are fighting for their lives, they not only run into their biggest rival – another boy named Cato who had been set up throughout as a villain – but also the murderous creations of the those who put them there. It is a gruesome fight that results in Cato’s horrifying death, and the survival of Peeta and Katniss, but only one of them can live. This ultimatum drives Katniss to take a calculated risk: if both of them die, the Capitol has no winner, and the games must always provide a glimmer of hope for effective control, thus if they threaten suicide, they can both get out alive. It works, and they are delivered from the belly of the
Katniss is the main character in the novel, The Hunger Games. The author of this book is Suzanna Collins. Katniss is a 16 year old who has been chosen with 23 other tributes. In my class we have studied themes and key ideas such as Power of the Capitol, Competition against other tributes and Sacrifice for what Katniss acts and does in the Hunger Games. There are many themes but I have chosen these 3 because they show the most emotions and power.
The first phase of the hero’s journey is “the call to adventure”. The Call to Adventure can be defined as a problem, a challenge. or a request. Which is received by the hero and will require some form of action which takes him off into the unknown. In Into the Wild, Christopher is inspired to travel west and live a self sufficient life in the woods. His emotions incite by his harsh feelings toward his dad for what he has put the family through. In 1984 Winston’s call comes from Julia in the form of her love note. Even though Winston knows the danger of showing to much interest in the note he realizes the note has made an impact on him. In The stranger Meursault’s call is when he starts having an affair with Marie. He chooses not to have feelings
Katniss’ act of defiance near the end of the novel with attempting to have her and Peeta eat the poisonous berries to assure there will be no single winner of the games, sparked a fiery rebellion in the districts. That same flame that was in the hearts of the people of America in the 1770’s is shown in this fictional story burning hot in the hearts of the nation of Panem’s citizens. As the books carry through the series, the reader can see that Katniss did the people a favor and sparked progress towards a better life for them. Eventually, the districts win the rebellion and gain reliable government leaders. The story of Katniss in The Hunger Games reaffirms Wilde’s claim, proves disobedience to be valuable, and promotes social
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
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.
In this movie, the reaping represents the ritual. The reaping occurs in every district, and includes a male and female being picked from a ‘lottery’ of sorts to decide who will go into the Hunger Games. On the day of the reaping, Katniss’ little sister, Primrose, is chosen, but Katniss volunteers instead to go in her place, not wanting to force her younger sister to go into the games where she would most likely die. Because Katniss volunteered to go into the games, she is forced to bring herself forward in front of everyone and mature a lot so she can learn and survive in the games. This movie fits this archetype because the reaping is an organized ceremony in every district, and brings Katniss in front of everyone, where she has to face 23
The first stage of a hero’s journey is the departure or call to adventure. This is when something reveals that everything is going to change, sometimes unbeknownst to that character. New relationships develop and things are yet to be explained. Harry Potter’s first sign of change is the letter from Hogwart’s signifying his introduction into the wizarding world. Other’s, however, argue that it is when Rubeus Hagrid tells Harry that he’s a wizard and explains Harry’s past. This is an important change for Harry to undergo, starting his journey against Voldemort.
Katniss must volunteer to participate in the Hunger Games in order to save her sister, which means leaving District 12.