Hero's Journey Analysis

In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, William Butler Yeats’ “The Song of Wandering Aengus” and George Orwell’s 1984, each literature piece exemplifies all of the connections in Joseph Campbell’s 17 Stages of a Hero’s Journey in order to demonstrate the changes in the character’s development and the motivation behind their transformation.

This paper aims at using Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung’s collective unconscious and archetypal theories to interpret the archetypes of characters, natural scenes and themes.

Do you ever wonder if your favorite movie follows the hero's journey? You might ask yourself what even is the hero’s journey. Well the Hero’s journey was made by Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell was born March 26 1904 and died October 30 1987. There’s 12 stages for the hero’s journey,which does not mean that all movies follow them,but most do. For example, one movie that follows the hero’s journey is Maleficent. In the movie maleficent, Maleficent displays the hero’s journey when Stefan cuts her wings, then later on she meets Diaval, and a few years later she gets to know Aurora and got to see her more than a monster.

Watching a film, one can easily recognize plot, theme, characterization, etc., but not many realize what basic principle lies behind nearly every story conceived: the hero’s journey. This concept allows for a comprehensive, logical flow throughout a movie. Once the hero’s journey is thoroughly understood, anyone can pick out the elements in nearly every piece. The hero’s journey follows a simple outline. First the hero in question must have a disadvantaged childhood. Next the hero will find a mentor who wisely lays out his/her prophecy. Third the hero will go on a journey, either literal or figurative, to find him/herself. On this journey the hero will be discouraged and nearly quit his/her quest. Finally, the

A mythologist Joseph Campbell’s belief, of "the hero's journey" is a pattern that is found in many, many stories world wide. It’s a way we analyze a text, film, music… A movie that is a perfect example of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth is the 2009 film, Twilight, in which the main character Edward. Edward is a vampire whose family does not drink blood, and Bella; another main character is far from being frightened as she enters into a dangerous romance with her immortal soulmate. Edward feels some kind of connection that he can’t make sense of and makes it his duty to care and protect her from the other vampires that want to suck her blood and kill her. Joseph Campbell defines a classic sequence of actions that include the

"Star Wars" was arguably the first in a new breed of high concept, high budget sci-fi action films. It was directed by George Lucas and originally released in only a few cinemas in 1977. However, the buzz around the film grew, and it is now one of the highest grossing films of all time, and along with its sequels, prequels and re-mastered re-releases, has a large cult following. I feel this is because of Lucas` ability to engage the audience through careful use of sound and camera technique;

Taking the time to pick apart the hero’s actions and thoughts can make the journey much more interesting and easier to understand. By understanding the basic characteristics and the stages of the hero’s journey we can not only understand the story more but we can also understand ourselves more. We can learn new ways to relate to heroes and our peers we did not know of before. In conclusion, the hero’s journey is a great way to learn a new lesson or two, learn more about yourself, and be entertained at the same

Small or big, everything we do in life is part of our journey. Reg Harris’ “The Hero’s Journey” describes the voyage one takes throughout life to grow and change as a person. He breaks the journey down into eight steps leading to the return. It starts out as a goal that isn’t always easy to reach, one goes through hardship and personal doubts only to succeed and become a better person. An example of this journey can be found in the movie, Troy through the character Achilles. Achilles is a strong fearless warrior in the movie, Troy who goes through “The Hero’s Journey” and ends up with a change of heart.

Luke Skywalker, a modern epic hero in George Lucas’ film Star Wars, portrays many of the same traits as those of an epic hero during the Anglo-Saxon era. He embarks on many quests and shows bravery as well as courage throughout his journey. Luke Skywalker is not your average hero; he is not the strongest nor is he the biggest, not by a long shot. He does however have a strong will power, and when he wants to get something done, he will not let anyone or anything get in his way. He may not look like the hero, but he has the heart and mind of one and does not let anyone tell him otherwise.

The creator and director of Star Wars, George Lucas, was incredibly successful for his movie series, but even more successful for its overall purpose: to sell toys to ten-year old boys. The use of ethos, pathos, and logos are very abundant in this movie. Ethos, Greek for “character”, is anything referring to or relying on the author’s credibility. Pathos, Greek for “emotional”, is anything that makes you feel emotion. Logos, Greek for “word”, is anything that makes you think. By using these he was able to persuade the audience into thinking, feeling, and loving Star Wars, making the audience want to purchase figurines.

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”(Joseph Campbell). Joseph Campbell showed how important hero’s are by creating the Hero’s Journey and that you can be a hero just through writing and showing it through different characters. A hero shows that you can help other people to make the world better

In 2014, I attended the Hero's journey summer program in hope to discover myself and to become a better man. My father who has attended the program many of times introduced me to the foundation and thought I should give it a try under the Young Men’s program with 8 other teens from around the world. Nervous but also excited about discovering who I truly was and what brotherhood really meant I found myself becoming the best of friends with these guys for 7 days. During the trip I learned that in relationships it is not only about how much you have in common, but that you trust each other and can work together as one. I could not tell you those guys last name or their favorite video game but I can tell you that I knew they had my back no matter what.

Heroes are seen all around us, in life, literature, and movies. Heroes like Superman, Captain America, and Thor are common, but have you ever thought of Luke Skywalker as an archetypal hero? Luke Skywalker is an aspiring young Jedi Knight, who is called to the quest of defeating the empire in the movie Star Wars IV: A New Hope, written and directed by George Lucas. Luke Skywalker demonstrates certain characteristics before, during, and after his quest that makes him an archetypal hero.

Jung defines archetypes as, “Universal images that have existed since the remotest times. As a figure that repeats itself in the course of history wherever creative fantasy is fully manifested” (Jung, 7). Regarding the idea of archetypes, Northup Frye was a prominent theorist who contributed to the study and progression of archetypes; he applied Jung’s theories about collective unconscious, archetypes, and primal images to literature. Through Frye’s proposition of four mythoi type plots, “He formed a strong basis for four major genres that associated with each season of the year: comedy (spring), romance (summer), tragedy (fall), satire (winter)” (Frye, 45). According to Carl Jung the goal of humanity is to achieve individuation, the goal is to reach a state where the unconscious is known and integrated into the conscious mind. It is collective in nature from our human ancestors, predisposed human ways of perceiving, responding and reacting.

The Hero’s journey, or in its more correct terminology the Monomyth is an object from the area of comparative mythology. Its definition in the most basic of forms, it is a pattern or outline that is used in storytelling, usually the myth. This pattern is found in many famous pieces from all around the world. In the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces from 1949 by author Joseph Campbell, this pattern is described in detail. Campbell describes that numerous myths from different times and areas of the world seem to share an identical structure in their storytelling. He summarized this with a well-known quote found at the intro of his book: