The Hero's Journey Summary

Campbell’s third stage is Refusal of the Call. The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure. Although the Hero may be eager to accept the quest, at this stage he or she will have fears that need overcoming. Second thoughts or even deep personal doubts as to whether or not he or she is up to the challenge. The problem he or she faces may seem too much to handle and the comfort of home is desired. As Susanna lives her new life in McLean, she refuses her psychosis and ignores the help she receives from Nurse Valerie and the other doctors, “[...]because the contrast between their language and my language was interesting [...] I didn't have their kind of clinical detachment and particular prejudices and thoughts” (Daniel). Susanna see’s her life in McLean and compares it to her old world. She knows that the people are different in both sides of the world. She faces internal dilemmas of where to fit. Campbell convey’s this as, “[... of the whole world make clear that the refusal is essentially a refusal to give up what one takes to be one’s own interest” (Campbell 49). Since, in both worlds she does not feel accepted. The world with her parents she would not be accepted and her life in McLean where she

constantly pushes away the doctors and nurses and disregards her diagnosis. In order for Susanna take upon the adventure she will need guidance to put her in the right track.
The fourth stage of the hero’s journey is the Supernatural Aid.

At this point the hero needs guidance. He or she meets a mentor who gives the hero training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey. Whatever the mentor provides the hero with it serves to dispel his or her doubts and fears and give him the strength and courage to begin his or her quest. For Susanna that mentor is Valerie, a nurse at McLean, who steers Susanna on the right path to better herself and who isn’t afraid to tell Susanna the truth, “[...] She said things like “Cut that out” and “You're a bore”. She said what she meant, just as we did” (Kaysen 84). Valerie mentors Susanna into the right path in order for her to leave McLean as a healthy

person.
Campbell’s fifth stage of the hero’s journey is The Crossing of the Threshold. The hero is now ready to act upon his call to adventure and truly begin his or her quest, whether it be physical, spiritual or emotional. He or she may go willingly or may be pushed, but either way the hero finally crosses the threshold between the world he is familiar with and that which he or she is not. The hero then meets the Threshold Guardian. Campbell defines the Threshold Guardian as the watcher of the established bounds, “[...] only by advancing beyond those bounds, provoking the other, destructive aspect of the same power, that the individual passes, either alive or in death, into a new zone of experience” (Campbell 67). When Susanna crosses the threshold of signing herself into McLean, she comes face to face with the threshold guardian, Lisa Rowe, a sociopath patient at McLean. Once Susanna has signed her name on the admission documents, she must see the program out completely until doctors say she can be released. Although the character of Lisa plays the threshold guardian; Lisa also becomes someone Susanna has an emotional bond with and does not impact Susanna negatively in her journey.