The term hero is universal, in the sense that everyone can connect with the idea of a hero. Heroes have been seen in several different outlets for countless years, so much so that stories of these heroes all seem to mesh together or resemble each other in some way. Society can thank Joseph Campbell for beginning to identify the famous, “Hero’s Journey” that can be depicted in every creative work that portrays a hero. The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell is a twelve step guide that is the template for how most hero stories will proceed. George Lucas’ film, Star Wars, especially takes after Campbell’s formula. Luke Skywalker, the main character, is the heroine of this film. The Hero’s Journey is a large part of this film, but it would not have …show more content…
the same impact without the main theme, Luke’s transformation from a child to a heroic adult. Luke is introduced as a teenager living a life that is not particularly ideal to him.
He lives with his aunt and uncle on the planet of Tattoine, where he finds droids to tend to his uncle’s water vapor farm. Luke would rather be off at the Academy learning to be a pilot with the rest of his friends, but he believes he is just being held back by his aunt and uncle who would rather him stay with them. Although Luke rebels slightly by making it known he does not enjoy the
water farm, for the most part Luke has no intention of trying to go against the grain of his care takers. “Typically, the hero is the orphaned son or royalty. Unaware of his true identity, he is consigned to a life of drudgery and exile. He is first called to adventure by a herald, signifying that "the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand" (p.51). The threshold represents a rebirth into adulthood; the hero or heroine must overcome the parents, who stand as "threshold guardians,”” (Gordon). Early on, Luke discusses his father which foreshadows the journey his fate is going to take him
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on. Tragedy struck Luke early in the film when his uncle and aunt got murdered in the cross-fires of the empire and the rebel’s war.
Fate led him to Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ben), who became his guardian figure when his caretakers passed. Once Luke accepts his call to action, he begins his transformation to his true identity. Ben uses his wisdom to guide Luke on the beginning of his journey to relay the empire’s plans to the rebels. Luke switches roles from student to teacher when he takes the lead to save the princess, regardless of the dangers that were in front of him. “There comes a time, however when the individual becomes self-reliant and not dependent on himself but himself the authority,” (Gordon). Luke needed to assume the role of leader to continue his journey into manhood.
Unfortunately, Luke’s aunt and uncle dying was not the last of the travesties that he had to face during his journey. The reason Luke was propelled into the driver’s seat was because Ben got his life taken by the infamous Darth Vader. During Darth Vader and Ben’s battle, Ben locks eyes with Luke and symbolically passes the torch to him before choosing to stop fighting back. “Basically the function of the pedagogical order is to bring a child to maturity and then to
help the aged become disengaged,” (Campbell). Ben plays a large role in the film, especially in Luke’s journey from adolescence to a man, the prominent lesson. Ben leads Luke into his destiny, but when it was time for him to disengage, Luke had to accept it. After a series of near death moments and combat with the storm troopers, Luke rescues the princess and returns the outline of the Death Star back to the rebels. At this point in the film, Luke has evolved immensely from a child to the leader of his group, and is scheduled to fly in the attack of the Death Star. Though it is not until he reaches the final moments of destroying the Death Star, does his true self become apparent. “In combat, Luke now assumes his true identity, which is that of the ideal father: Jedi Knight, starship pilot, and cunning warrior,” (Campbell). He removes is targeting camera and uses what is within, the Force, and destroys the Death Star. Now all because of the journey of one timid boy into a fearless hero, the Force was awakened. Many themes can be seen throughout Star Wars, but one stands out more than the rest and is hidden in every crack of the movie. Luke’s journey into a hero from a child is the best fitted overall theme for this film. Luke saves many lives and rescues planets all because of his fate to be a Jedi Knight, which could have never been revealed without his journey from boy to man.
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.”
Luke goes through many initiations during his journey. He is initiated to the loss of loved ones with the deaths of his Aunt and Uncle and eventually Obi-wan. He is initiated to the way the world really works by spending time in the Mos Eisley Cantina. He is also initiated to battle during the groups amazing escape from the Deathstar. The final step in Luke’s journey is the return.
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
Humanity has created this “universal story” of what a hero is, or at least the myth of it, time and again. Different tasks and encounters with a variety of villains all lead the hero to the prize, to a new life (Seger). This person deemed the hero is as ordinary as the next but what makes them different is the drastic test that they must face. Individuals admire this character because the hero stands for something, something bigger than themselves. Whether it be the compassionate act of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games or the death of the oldest brother in Brother Bear, as an outsider, an individual sees the human side of these heroes and relates. Connor Lassiter from Unwind by Neal Shusterman is an ideal example of the myth due to the
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.
After Luke’s foster parents are killed, he decides to help former Jedi warrior, Obi Wan Kenobi, aid the Rebel Alliance in restoring freedom to the galaxy, to learn the ways of the Force, and become a Jedi. Odi Wan becomes Luke’s teacher and is later replaced by Yoda, who has trained Jedi warriors for eight hundred years.
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.
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.
“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us; the uncanny discovery that the seeker is the mystery which the seeker seeks to know. The hero journey is a symbol that binds, in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas, and the spiritual quest of the ancients with the modern search for identity always the one, shape-shifting yet marvelously constant story that we find.” (Phil Cousineau) The Hero's Journey has been engaged in stories for an immemorial amount of time. These stories target typical connections that help us relate to ourselves as well as the “real world”.
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
The archetypal hero’s journey starts in their ordinary world, where they are usually sheltered and safe, but an event that disrupts the hero’s society will prompt him to leave his world and start the journey. Diana, an example of an archetypal hero, felt as if she was personally obligated to go and help end the war, and by doing so she
The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative that appears in novels, storytelling, myth, and religious ritual. It was first identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell in his book A Hero with Thousand Faces. Campbell also discussed this pattern in his interview to Bill Moyers which was later published as a book The Power of Myths. This pattern describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds. Campbell detailed many stages in the Hero’s Journey, but he also summarized the pattern in three fundamental phases: Separation, Ordeal, and Return that all heroes, in spite of their sex, age, culture, or religion, have to overcome in order to reach the goal. Alice in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, provides a good example of the Hero's Journey. This story describes the adventures of Alice, a young English girl, in Wonderland. Although she lacks some of the stages identified by Campbell, she still possesses many of them that are necessary for a Hero to be considered a Hero.
Ben tells Jim, “I’m poor Ben Gunn, I am; and I haven’t spoken with a Christian these three years.” (15) Even though he has been alone, he is relying on God to help him survive. Ben is content with his station in life. He does not need a title or friends to make him feel important and others realize this about him. One of the crew members, George Merry, says "Nobody minds Ben Gunn [.] dead or alive, nobody minds him" (32.30)....
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.
The major obstacle for Ben is the struggle to cope with the antics of Gus. Gus has many idiosyncrasies that Ben finds intolerable. One example that is made very clear is gus’ inquisition. Gus questions everything, especially when the message will come. Ben overcomes this obstacle quite easily when he turns the gun on his own partner.