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Atonement Hero's Journey

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Sooner or later any true mythological hero must experience “Atonement with the Father”. The father-figure can, like the “goddess”, either be a threat to the hero or a helper on his journey and represents “great power and the balance between life and death” (Mann). Either way, reconciliation is necessary for the hero’s journey to be complete. If the hero wants to achieve atonement he has to abandon his ego. The problem of the hero going to meet the father is to open his soul beyond terror to such a degree that he will be ripe to understand how the sickening and insane tragedies of this vast and ruthless cosmos are completely validated in the majesty of Being. The hero transcends life with its peculiar blind spot and for a moment rises to a …show more content…

By doing the right thing and using his powers for a good cause, Peter Parker atones with his father-figure uncle Ben by not giving in to his feelings of hate and lust for revenge. Simultaneously, he defeats the Green Goblin, his anti-father figure. Arthur's father Uther was ruthless and lustful. He used Merlin’s power and loyalty to satisfy his personal needs. With the help of Merlin’s magic, he tricked lady Igraine by making her think that she is sleeping with her husband while he fathered Arthur with her. Uther’s evil legacy puts Arthur in a position to atone for his father's sins by being a good king and helping people selflessly. Like Arthur, Luke also chooses to do good and therefore also atones for his father's sins. Superman, after choosing to abandon his superpowers and live a normal life, decides to nevertheless fulfill his destiny as humankind’s savior, the faith his father has predestined for him. When Superman saves Lois from certain death by interfering with human history, he disregards the instructions of his biological father but remembers the teachings of his Earthly father Jonathan Kent because he is now able to save the one he loves from

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