Hero's Journey Archetype

Campbell describes in detail each stage of the archetypal Hero's Journey, reiterating at several points that the archetype has both a clear basis and a clear echo in the actual living existence of each human being. These spiritual echoes are awakened by metaphor, the various uses of which Campbell also describes in detail. The ultimate purpose of both myth and metaphor, Campbell maintains, is to awaken in each individual human being an awareness of the spiritual aspect of life. This awakening, Campbell maintains, is the first step in the necessary journey away from resistance to the various inevitable physical and spiritual truths associated with being human (i.e., death and suffering) and toward an embracing of them as part of the universal

Jonas goes through the 3 steps of the departure stage in the Hero’s Journey archetype. The first step in the Hero’s Journey, the call to adventure, is when Jonas is selected as the Receiver of Memory. On page 76 it says, “‘Jonas has been selected to be our next Receiver of Memory.” The second step, refusal of the call, is when Jonas is selected and he is very afraid because he did not know what the selection meant. On page 81 it says, “But at the same time he was filled with fear.

Countless cultures and religions gather around campfires and even hold ceremonies to hear a good hero story. But little do they know that these traditional stories that they are oh so eager to listen to, are all alike someway, somehow. All heroes in all cultures, dating from the earliest hero-story written, miraculously follow a sequence of events called a mononmyth/heroes Journey. The ineffable spectacle of the mononmyth is that despite the thousands of miles between ancient civilizations it was subconsciously present in the psychology of all the hero-writers. Joseph Campbell, an established psychologist stated his identification of the monomyth in his book, A Hero with a Thousand Faces. But, Campbell not only explained the monomyth in great detail, but he also elaborated into the psychology of humans. He did this by elucidating the exact steps in every hero’s journey, and providing factual proof. The initial belief is that no matter what the circumstance is, No matter past or present, man or woman, the heroes all have the same initiation. Here Campbell states that, “Whether hero ridiculous or sublime, Greek

J.J. Abrams’ film Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a modern heroic journey archetype. An archetype is a universal pattern that can be applied to stories across cultures and historical periods. In this heroic journey archetype, the main character- Rey- goes through various stages of her journey that greatly contribute to her final transformation into a hero. The stages that contribute most to her transformation are: departure, road of trials, and return and reintegration. In the departure stage, the hero is typically called to adventure. The call usually comes from a herald of some sort carrying the message that ultimately causes the adventure to begin. In this film, Rey’s departure stage takes place when she rescues BB-8 (who is carrying

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.

In 1949, Joseph Campbell popularized his version of the monomyth, or the hero’s journey. In this version, there were seventeen stages which were split into three distinct categories including the Departure, the Initiation, and finally, the Return. Over the course of several years, there have been numerous versions of the hero’s journey; most of them derived from Joseph Campbell’s initial version. After watching “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, I was able to categorize the events in the movie into Christopher Vogler’s version of the hero’s journey which consists of twelve stages. The twelve stages are 1. The ordinary world, 2. The call to adventure, 3. Refusal of the call, 4. Meeting the master, 5. Crossing the threshold, 6. Tests, allies, and enemies, 7. Approaching the dragon’s den, 8. The ordeal, 9. Seizing the treasure, 10. The road back, 11. Resurrection, and finally, 12. Return with the treasure. However, modern film tends to stray from the typical hero’s journey more than the usual traditional epic poem.

    “‘I come from under the hill. And under the hill and over the hills my paths led. And through the air, I am he that walks unseen’” (The Hobbit). When the dragon Smaug asks Bilbo of his identity, our hero speaks to him in riddles as to not give away who he is. Bilbo has snuck into Smaug’s lair, using a magical ring to become invisible. This part of his adventure is called the “Ordeal,” one of the twelve stages in the Hero’s Journey Archetype. The Hobbit, an animated film directed by Rankin and Bass, fits the Hero’s Journey Archetype by following these three stages: “Call to Adventure,” “Tests, Allies, [and] Enemies,” and “Ordeal.”

During the course of this World Literature class, several stories have been covered that accurately describe Joseph Campbell's mono-myth, or basic pattern found in narratives from every corner of the world. The Hero's Journey in it's entirety has seventeen stages or steps, but if boiled down can be described in three; the departure, the initiation, and the return (Monomyth Cycle). Each stage has several steps, but the cycle describes the hero starting in his initial state, encountering something to change him, and this his return as a changed person. To further explain this concept, there are a few stories covered in this class that can be used.

The Hero’s Journey Elizabeth Lane Back to the Future (1985) The hero’s journey is an outline that maps out stories and adventures. It is used to describe a layout of events, whether they are mundane or not. These steps can be applied to almost any adventure. The popular movie Back to the Future is a perfect example of just that.

Throughout life, it has become evident that people are shaped by the experiences and actions of the people around them. It is merely impossible to survive in complete isolation; the actions of others create long lasting impacts on how people live. This is evident both in fictional and nonfictional scenarios. As literature progresses, it has become seen that almost all fictional stories, and sometimes even nonfiction, are based around the same recurring storylines. This theory, brought about by Joseph Campbell, has been explored tremendously within the last century. Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist and writer, has become known for his theory of the monomyth, also known as “the hero’s journey”. In this theory, there were eighteen stages that each common hero was known to undergo before achieving an ultimate success. After further research, Campbell reduced his theory into twelve stages. Each of these stages are known to evidently lead the hero to their goal, and these stages include struggle as well as parts that are not too difficult.

What is a hero? What qualities does he or she have? In our modern lives when we think of a hero we think of nurses and soldiers, but according to the American Heritage Dictionary, a hero in mythology and legend is a man or woman, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods. A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.

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:

Shadow - Zeus is the God of the sky and leader of the Olympians. He has an awful temper, so don’t get on his bad side. He controls the weather and everything in the sky. His symbol of power is a master

But, also included in this format is the idea of a structure common to all Romance Narratives — the “Romance Narrative Cycle” as proposed by professor Jay Clayton, of Vanderbilt University. This cycle is an adaptation to one more commonly referred to as the “Hero’s Journey”. The 12 Stages of The Hero’s Journey is a form of structure common to Romance and was introduced in Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth from his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces also adapted by Christopher Vogler’s the Hero’s Journey Arch: Myth and the Movies Vogler. These texts allude to the notion that the journey, whether metaphorical or literal, requires the hero to undergo challenges which repeat themselves throughout the plot of an epic quest as well, and as Clayton informs us, the Romance genre.

The protagonist of every story is the hero of a journey, even if the path leads only into his own mind or into the realm of relationships. The way stations of the Hero's Journey emerge naturally even when the writer is unaware of them, but some knowledge of this most ancient guide to storytelling is useful in identifying problems and telling better stories. Christopher Volger condensed these seventeen stages into twelve stages in his book The Writer’s Journey. Here in observing the heroic journey Christopher Volger’s condensed model of 12 stages of heroic journey is followed illustrating each by utilizing the experiences of protagonist of the novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistressof