Essay On The Hero In The Hero With A Thousand Faces

In “The Hero’s Journey Defined”, an article by Anthony Ubelhor, he talks about what the hero’s journey really means and what Joseph Campbell meant when he when he defines it. He also goes into depth of the characteristics of a hero and defines each of the stages of the hero’s journey. One of the essential ideas from the article is when Ubelhor states that “The hero’s journey is about growth and passage.” (Doc. 1). This demonstrates that when someone undergoes a hero’s journey, they sometimes come out from that journey changed and a completely different person than before. This portrays to the reader that the bigger picture of a hero’s journey is finding who someone really is and discovering who they really are. Another big idea from the article

The first stage of The Hero’s Journey is the ordinary world, which is essentially the part of the story in which the protagonist is

The biggest life or death crisis – the hero faces his greatest fear & only through “death” can the hero be “reborn” experiencing even greater powers to see the journey to the end.

They are shaped by their circumstances and desire to change. Heroes have commonly been viewed as mythical beings filled with strength and wisdom. However, it is also true that a hero’s journey is a perpetual part of the hero's identity. Through this journey, the hero is put through difficult circumstances that shape their character, as

“The Hero’s Journey” Pg 15- “All things are changing, nothing dies.” This perfect explanation of the structure of a hero’s life involves 12 stages; each accurately representing almost every hero’s story. They all tend to face struggles and challenges, and experience moments that change them and/or appearance, while managing to shape them into the heroes they become.

The “hero’s journey”, coined by Joseph Campbell, is a pattern in the plot structure of literature, myths, and oral tradition in which the hero is consistently faced with similar obstacles and achieves many of the same goals. The first part of the hero’s journey is “The Call.” The hero is usually living a very comfortable and easy life, unaware of the journey ahead. The hero is then faced with a situation or dilemma which eventually causes them to seek change. The hero, at this point, tends to refuse the call to adventure in fear of the unknown. Once the hero has been given the strength to push past the unknown, they have entered the threshold. The hero will experience many challenges and temptations where the hero is tested, eventually reaching “The Abyss,” the most difficult challenge. The hero is then transformed by these trials and returns home to every-day life and begins to contribute to their society. The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist, Janie, experiences the hero’s journey first-hand through overcoming obstacles and transforming herself. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the heroine Janie overcomes many obstacles and is therefore transformed into a self reliant woman.

The hero’s journey will cause the hero to act like a different person. The hero will usually return to where they started but their lives will

In 1949, Joseph Campbell published his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” It details his theory of the “monomyth,” a theory that illustrates how many heroic mythological stories have similar outlines and archetypes. During his discussion of the second chapter of the monomyth, Campbell says that the monomyth can “serve as a general pattern for men and women” in their everyday lives (121). In many circumstances, comparisons can be made between normal situations throughout life and the monomyth. When a challenge of task is encountered in life, it can be analyzed under the three main stages of the monomyth: the departure, the initiation, and the return.

However, since the hero is part of society, the journey is also one of personal development. On a more psychological level, one could suggest that the hero’s quest is symbolic of all personal conflict. Conflict begins when a problem arises that must be dealt with. Most people, at first, refuse to come to terms with whatever this problem may be, and attempt to ignore it. With enough mental determination and/or aid from an outside source, however, one can bring themselves to cross the first threshold, and begin their journey into the heart of the problem. For example, victims of rape or other types of abuse must face what is haunting them in order for it to be exorcised properly.

Leaving the everyday world, the hero follows a path filled with challenges and adventures, perhaps involving magic or the supernatural. A hero may even enter the underworldand confront death itself. Heroes must use strength, wits, or both to defeat enemies, although some are aided by luck or by a protective deity or magician. Sometimes heroes have to give up something precious to move forward in the quest. In the end the hero returns home enriched with powers, wisdom, treasure, or perhaps a mate won in the course of the quest.

Moreover, in the Ordeal the hero faces his greatest fear and dies. The hero may also face the death of someone close to him, from which the hero will have more reason to complete the journey. From this death the hero will come back stronger and even more prepared to defeat the villain. On to the Reward stage, the hero receives a reward or treasure because he finished the journey, but because of death he can lose it. On The Road Back the hero decides to leave the special world with the treasure that he has earned, now he must go home as a hero. When he is resurrected he is purified and is made stronger than he ever was before, this sacrifice that he made brought peace to the world and the villain was stopped. No longer will the villain return, and for now on the hero will be praised because he has earned it. Finally, in the Return With The Elixir Stage the hero proceeds with the journey or decides to return back home to the Ordinary World with the treasure that has the power to make the hero’s world how he pleases, at the end of the story the hero is now everything he set out to

In his outline of a hero’s journey Joseph Campbell talks about the main parts of the departure phase. The hero will realize something is different

Screams filled the air. Only then did Jessie Grant realize they were his. He had been having this dream for some time, his dad’s and mom’s death. Before they boarded a cruiser when he was seventeen, his parents were his best friends, now he had nothing.

The author uses the story of the Buddha to state the journey a hero has to go through to achieve their powers/ability. The hero leaves his environment, learns or develops, and then returns to spread what he loved. All hero stories follow the same guidelines.

Superman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman—what do all these characters have in common? They are all products of the human aspiration to be saved. The word hero is passed around too much these days. A hero is not a football player that scores the game-winning touchdown or the goaltender who saves his team from a loss. A hero is usually an ordinary person that did extraordinary things. A true hero is really never a hero at all; at least not in their own mind. However, there are various cases today in which we see the exact opposites of these characters, the anti-heroes. The anti-hero is one who cannot be classified as a hero, for that said character lacks natural heroic qualities. However, the anti-hero cannot be described as a villain either.