The Journey of Becoming a Hero
Most people think that superheroes in fairytales are the only one’s who go through a “hero’s journey” for the simple fact that the name hero is what they called after they defeat or take down the “bad guy”. But a hero’s journey is an event that can happen to anyone. It is when a person’s life changes from their everyday ordinary day and are confronted against obstacles that change who they are and their perspective in certain aspects of life at the end of their expedition. In the novel True Grit written by Charles Portis, Mattie Ross goes on a hero’s journey seeking revenge for her father’s death. Generally, Mattie didn’t change too much as a person once her voyage was completed; throughout the course of
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The crossing of the threshold is the moment when the hero goes off on to their journey seeking for their destination leaving their ordinary world and going off into the special world where anything can happen. In this case Mattie can either get her vengeance and capture Tom Chaney or not find him at all. In True Grit the crossing point is when Mattie crosses the through the river leaving Indian Territory meeting up with Cogburn and LaBoeuf on the other side. Once being in Indian Territory for a few hours, Mattie still seems to stay calm and collected as she has been since leaving Yell …show more content…
She is intelligent, determined, brave and very persistent. As one reads more of the book, you then start to see that Mattie does not adhere the traditional ideas of what a girl her age does. Such as her stubbornness, bossiness, and her business side on being able to take over her household when her father died. As good as all these qualities seem to be overall, in the book some of Mattie’s personality traits end up putting her in conflict throughout her journey. For example, when she gets captured by Tom Chaney at the river, that could’ve easily been prevented if she would have gone to Cogburn and let him handle the situation rather than her taking a shot for him. Due to her over confidence in the situation she didn’t think that the gun could have too much of a kick for her to handle and fell into the water, which put her in a vulnerable state for Chaney to take
Colin Powell once stated, “A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” Powell means that the only path available to achieve a goal, is the one where everyone brings their best characteristics to the table. This describes the characters in a quest story as they all bring their talents and best attributes to accomplish a common goal. Charles Portis’s True Grit is no exception as the three main characters resemble those of a quest story having characteristics that play a big part in achieving their goal. Mattie Ross resembles the quest hero persona, Rooster Cogburn as the wise old man, and Ranger LaBeouf as the hero’s helper and guide.
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. Joseph Campbell calls the initial phase of a hero’s development the “Call to Adventure.” The call is the in... ...
A prevailing theme that is present in The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown is the idea of grit. Grit is the mental toughness and firmness of mind and spirit; it is also the courage and resolve of character. The theme of grit evolves and unfolds throughout the entirety of the book. From the beginning, Joe has had to persevere through rough child hood, barely scraping by and each day strengthening himself to be more self-reliant. During school, Joe was required to change himself in order to better himself and the team. He was driven to be the best that he could; and maybe one day, he could finally fill the void left by his father. Whether it be his childhood, college, or the Berlin games, Joe had to fight through and toughen his mind
In the book, Mattie starts out as a lazy teenager who needs to be told what to do by her over controlling mother, but throughout the story, she becomes more responsible and adult-like. For example, at the start of their adventure, Mattie leaves P...
First of all, in plot, the works share the same event progression. An early start, a determined drive, a final showdown, and an attempt to continue the achievement. The intentions were to simply accomplish no matter what the circumstance. The Old Man set out early in the morning as indicated here, '…he began to row out of the harbour in the dark.'; In True Grit, Mattie, a girl bent on avenging her father's death, Rooster, a federal marshal, and LaBoeuf, a Texas Ranger, set off when, 'It was still dark outside and bitter cold although mercifully there was little wind.'; The dedication involved in the characters' pursuits becomes more evident later on. 'He is a great fish,'; the old man told himself, 'and I must convince him not to learn his strength…'; As it was also with the Mattie from True Grit. 'I knew both of them (Rooster and LaBoeuf) were waiting for me to complain or say something that would make me out to be a 'tenderfoot.' I was determined not to give them anything to chaff me about.'; Her intents were not purely superficial though. Her anger toward '… a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney,'; was a key factor in driving her to achieve her purpose. Finally, after toiling with the fish, the Old Man, '…took all his pain and what was left of his strength and his long gone pride and he put it against the fish's agony,'; in his last bout with the great fish. The same sort of event occurs at the same point in the story line in True Grit. 'Rooster said, 'Fill your hand you son of a bitch!' and he took the reins in his teeth and pulled the other saddle revolver and drove his spurs into the flanks of his strong horse Bo and charged directly at the bandits.
Mattie Rigsbee is the main character in Clyde Edgerton's southern style novel, Walking Across Egypt. Mattie is a seventy-eight year old widow with two middle-aged children. Living alone in a small house, she makes sure that everything is taken care of. Although begins to display some signs of aging, and her family is trying to convince her to slow down her lifestyle, Mattie's character and mind setting prohibits her from becoming the stereotypical elder. She must make a decision in which direction to turn.
The hero’s journey can be seen as a set of laws or challenges that every hero faces through their own journey(Christopher Vogler). The hero’s journey is used as a general term such as all
The way I that I only knew what did the hero mean was when a man named Joseph Campbell. When me and my mo and sister lived with my dad it was not what i thought it would be.It was different and mydad did look like if he even care of us. Just like in the hero’s journey. The hero would start in it ordinary world.After the ordinary world the hero is called fir and adventure. So after being with my dad my mom decided to move and it was quite my adventure.Then Joseph campbell wrote that when the hero is called for the adventure someone would come and tell the hero what to do even if the hero doesn’t wants to. Then when my mo told me that we had to live, but I told her that I didn’t want to leave my dad. See just like the hero’s journey someone
Have you ever lost something in life? Mattie the main character in Fever 1793 has lost a lot. She has shown how strong she has been throughout the book. She shows us how strength is the main theme in this book. She shows you that this gives you a reason to never give up. It helps you get through hard times, and shows you who you really are.
Mattie Ross, True Grit’s protagonist, clearly matches the quest hero description. One aspect of quest heroes is that they see the necessity for change in their world. Something calls them to adventure, perhaps a spark from inside the hero, motivating them to seek that needed change. In this novel, Mattie personifies these traits of the quest hero type. One way she fits the quest hero archetype is that she realizes the need for change when she learns of the lack of effort being done to imprison Tom Chaney, her father’s murderer. When she visits Fort Smith’s deputy, he shows her the long list of desperadoes to be caught before Tom Chaney. Shirking responsibility, he claims that Tom Chaney “‘is now the business of the U.S. Marshals’”(26). Clearly, his apathy towards working to apprehend Tom Chaney will not help Mattie achieve her goals. Mattie, exasperated, realizes that if she wants Chaney in jail, she must take things into her own hands. She swears, “I would not rest easy until that Louisiana cur was roasting and screaming in hell”(25)! If necessary, Mattie will kill Chaney to answer the call of revenge surging from her intense hatred of him for cold-bloodedly killing her dear fat...
Revenge is the centerpiece of both the book True Grit and the film Leon: The Professional. True Grit’s main character is Mattie; Mattie’s father went into town and was shot and killed, and Mattie is shielded from becoming a serial killer. Contrasting, in Leon: The Professional, Mathilda’s family was also killed, but Mathilda becomes a cold blooded killer in the process. Both characters are bothered by their loved ones being killed. However, both characters show their utmost loyalty to avenge their families’ death, but are ultimately influenced by a man to affect who they become in the future.
In every story involving good versus evil there is always a hero and a villain, a quest to accomplish, and people that need to be saved. Moreover, the archetype, “The Journey”, describes the main character, who takes a journey that may be physical or emotional, to understand their personality and the nature of the world. Consequently, a journey is a key component to a hero’s development, as it represents a change and growth within the hero. Usually this new growth affects the hero positively and makes them mentally stronger. The situational archetype “The Journey”, is present in both “Theseus” and Hercules.
Many stories from ancient times have been passed down to present days in forms of tales, legends and lores. Most of these stories differ from one to another; especially from today's stories. Stories can have many differences from each other; they have different authors from a different time period, which would have different events to write about. Despite the different style, characters, goals, and even languages and cultures, most of these stories follow a set of archetypes. Within these archetypes, a protagonist is placed as a hero on a journey of leaving their familiar surroundings to enter an unfamiliar and challenging world. This is most commonly known as the hero's journey: a journey that mainly consists of a hero that has been called
Myths have been a great example of the hero’s journey. Many heroes have journeys and trials to face throughout their life. Most of their journeys start out with their origin and end with the return. However, the hero’s role remains identical to every other hero. Most heroes like Gilgamesh has heroic traits because of the stages in the hero's journey. Gilgamesh is a man who can turn into a hero by changing himself, even when he has unusual circumstances surrounding his birth. Gilgamesh is viewed as a hero due to the stages of the hero's journey.
A person can be a hero for saving the life of one or of millions. Heroes are not only real people, but they are also fantasy figures. Children are extremely interested with legendary and fantasy figures because they take on such tasks as: difficult journeys, challenges with dragons, discovering lost treasure, and changing the nature of the world through their singular acts of courage and selflessness. They also endure much resistance, hardship, and danger. Often the hero learns valuable lessons about survival and self-reliance. Not only do heroes teach valuable lessons they give a child a sense of belonging. To a child, a hero is an invincible person who will change the world.