T hroughout history the steps and format of a typical hero have continued to be similar for 1000’s of years. The existence of archetypes or ancient patterns of personality allows all literature to be satisfying and have similar plots.
I suppose you could say history has a way of repeating itself, I mean almost all movies end with the hero saving the day or obtaining his goal. The collective unconscious is like a relationship; as in, sooner or later after a relationship breakup you’ll end up back with that person. The same goes with stories how they always have the same conclusion.
In all stories and movies, there a set number of different archetypes. In a sentence, heroes contribute to the society's necessary business of reproducing itself and its values. For most of history, religion has been the main force of reproducing the dominant society's traits by using mythical figures to
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The 3 steps are seen in The Matrix such as the call to adventure where Neo gets a call to follow the white rabbit – separation, road of trials where Neo learns of the Matrix and its existence and his potential role – initiation, and his return where Neo enters the Matrix and claims victory – Return.
Although the futuristic film The Matrix incorporates 12 stages of the hero’s journey, there are other stories from centuries ago dating back at 720 B.C which also have the use of the collective unconscious and monomyth. The story is The Odyssey, a tale about a man named Odysseus travels to other lands with the help and obstruction from the gods. This story itself also has signs of the 3 steps of the monomyth such as the call of adventure where he sets out to a battle in Troy – separation, Approach where Odysseus’s crew opens the bag of wind from the god which sets them off path – initiation, and Return where Odysseus completes his task and is returned home to his wife –
Let me briefly explain a simplified plot of The Matrix. The story centers around a computer-generated world that has been created to hide the truth from humans. In this world people are kept in slavery without their knowledge. This world is designed to simulate the peak of human civilization which had been destroyed by nuclear war. The majority of the world's population is oblivious to the fact that their world is digital rather than real, and they continue living out their daily lives without questioning their reality. The main character, Neo, is a matrix-bound human who knows that something is not right with the world he lives in, and is eager to learn the truth. He is offered the truth from a character named Morpheus, who proclaims that Neo is “the One” (chosen one) who will eventually destroy the Matrix, thereby setting the humans “free.” For this to happen, Neo must first overcome the Sentient Program agents who can jump into anyone's digital body. They are the Gate Keepers and hold the keys to The Matrix.
In one of Plato’s works called The Allegory of the Cave he goes over what it means to get higher knowledge and the path you have to take to get to this higher knowledge. Plato also goes over how this higher knowledge or enlightenment will affect people and how they act. He ties this all together through what he calls the cave. Plato tells Glaucon a sort of story about how the cave works and what the people within the cave have to do to get to the enlightenment. A while down the road the Wachowski siblings with the help of Warner Brothers Studios made a movie titled The Matrix. This movie follows the came concept that Plato does in the cave. With saying that the world that Neo (the main character) was living in was in fact not real but a made
This paper examines the argument and theory proposed by Richard H. Tyre of the six basic movements of a plot in a hero story. Although Tyre’s theory does seem too narrow focused, fixed and direct to fit with the plot structure of all hero stories, he makes a great point and provides adequate evidence to support his statement.
The Iliad, the Odyssey, Beowulf, and Hamlet are classical stories that are still relatable and debatable to read and discuss. Though some of the stories are intertwined or continue off one another, the character and stories are distinctive. The stories contain different hero development and progression among them. All the stories contain an idea or concept of a hero that may not necessarily have to do with gaining power or control like modern superheroes. Power and control are referred to having to be the ruler and having the ability to do what you'd like. The modern heroes selflessness of a human on duty or even volunteering, and that person’s willingness to put their own lives on the line for the lives of absolute strangers, is specifically the quality that redefines the modern hero and separates them from heroes in the past.
The Odyssey is an epic poem about Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaca after defeating Troy in the Trojan War. Odysseus is the hero, and experiences all the stages outlined in the monomyth. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time also follows the monomyth.
In the movie, The Matrix there are many similarities with the book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? One similarity is that of the matrices in both works. The movie has a matrix of dreams. According to the movie, humans are dreaming. Dreaming means that the reality humans think of, is not reality. The reality humans think of, is a dream. Confusing, isn t? An easier way of understanding this matrix is to think of human dreams. When humans experience dreams, it is not perceived as a dream until the dream ends. The movie exemplifies humans in the dream state of mind, similar to the dreaming stage. Neo is exposed to his real matrix. The matrix outside of his perceptual reality. He is able to perform with an incredible flexibility and high speed thinking. He is no longer dreaming, or as Neo called it, living. Neo has waken up. The book shares this matrix as well.
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 protagonist Thomas Anderson in the series is one of billions of humans connected to the Matrix, he is a quiet programmer for the "respectable software company" Metacortex. Thomas Anderson is the character in the movie whose later alias becomes “Neo”. Which an anagram for “the one” a name that is most profound parallel to the Bible. Coincidence I think not. Neo is the Christ-figure in The Matrix who is sent to liberate men from their fallen and enslaved state Zion that is the last human city on earth, paralleling the Zion of the Bible. Morpheus and other believers herald him as the “One.” Neo or Christ sets humans free from the matrix or sin as agent Smith who in terms is Satan. Neo has a resurrection scene at the end of the first installment of The Matrix. In this scene Smith kills him, and his coming back to life serves as a testament to his power, and sets the stage for Neo’s final sacrifice at the end of the third movie. It is the scene at the end of the trilogy when Neo makes his Christ-like death. After this sacrifice, Neo is lifted into the sky, the same way one might describe Christ’s resurrection. Neo's performance was so good that famous hollywood director Quienten
Societies construct heroes that represent and embody the ideals of those who create them and read about them. Their is a stark contrast between the hero in the time of Beowulf and Hamlet’s creation and heroes created in modern times. Current literature, movies, and television portray a different kind of hero from those created in 1000 AD to 1600 AD. A hero is defined as someone who is "admired for achievements and noble qualities"," shows great courage", and in historical texts such as Beowulf and Hamlet is a "legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability" or an "illustrious warrior" (Merriam-Webster). Despite the popular belief that the time for heroes has passed away, based on the needs of society, today's heroes still exist and have evolved into something new.
The Matrix, is a science fiction action based movie that has one main focus being Neo who symbolises ‘The One’. Fate essentially your destiny and freewill meaning a decision you make under no one’s obligation both are shown throughout different moments in the film. There are some key scenes where these points are evident and where it explores these main themes. Some key relations to this topic are the pill scene, just after Morpheus and Neo do Japanese martial arts known as jujitsu and his visit to the Oracle. This movie has many overall links and will be discussing the major contributions this all had on the overall film.
...ation that would be interchangeable with the assessments. Is it a coincidence that many cultures share certain aspects of a hero? No, all societies wish for their champions to hold certain values; such as valor, strength, determination and the ability to overcome when faced with horrible adversities. I believe these traits transcend culture, religion and time; the only difference is that most of the ancient religions are now relegated to mythology.
In 2002, Brent Staples communicated with Jean Baudrillard about the use of his philosophy in The Matrix (1999), a film written and directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski. Staples wrote, “He [Baudrillard] noted that the film’s “borrowings” from his work “stemmed mostly from misunderstandings” and suggested that no movie could ever do justice to the themes of this book”. In this paper, I will argue that the Wachowski Brothers did not want to “do justice to the themes of this book”; they wanted to adapt Baudrillard’s theories about the blurring of the real and unreal, and the eventual extermination of the real, into a story that provides hope for humans wanting to escape the suffocation of the “hyperreal”. The “hyperreal” was first coined by Baudrillard in his book, Simulacra and Simulations (1983); it is the product of the distortions of the real through endless simulations of it in radio, newspaper, television, and film.
‘The Odyssey’ by Homer, ‘The Aeneid’ by Virgil and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee were written in different eras, were produced for different audiences and contain heroes which displayed different beliefs. Though produced in different time periods, the narratives share some striking similarities and resemblances. They focus on male heroes, typically who are (in some way) more inclined compared to the ‘average mortal’. Atticus is very intelligent, Aeneas is a great leader and Odysseus is remarkably courageous; all three narratives deal with the trials, challenges and achievements of the hero.
Deep within the cave the prisoners are chained by their necks and have a limited view of reality. Around them, by the distant light of the fire, they only see shadows and outlines of people or objects. From their conclusions of what they may think is real, are false. “The Matrix” parallels Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” in a number of ways. Similar to the prisoners of the cave the humans trapped in the modern day puppet-handlers (the machines) want them to see. In the movie, Neo is a computer hacker, and on day he suddenly realizes that his world is fake, by finding out the truth after he was released from the pod. Neo discovers that what he has been presented with his entire life is only reflections or merely shadows of the truth. The theme is recognized throughout the movie as we see many objects, as well as Neo, reflected in other objects. The puppet-handlers (the machines) represent what Plato calls the influential and powerful members of society. The objects making the shadows in “The Allegory of the Cave” are also creating a false conclusion for the prisoners. In “The Matrix” the puppet-handle...
For a time, the main characters in a story, poem, or narrative were easily classified as either being a hero or a villain. A hero would be easy to identify by the traits he'd possess, such as bravery, honesty, selflessness, trustworthiness, courage, leadership, and more. The villain would be easy to identify as well, possessing traits such as maliciousness, deceitfulness, immorality, dark, wishing harm upon others, and more. But what if the character lacked the natural heroic qualities but wasn't a villain either? What if the person displayed personality flaws that would traditionally be associated with a villain, but has heroic intentions? These questions were finally answered with the emergence of the anti-hero in literature.