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Of Mice And Men Hero's Journey Analysis

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The pattern of narrative “hero’s journey” has been used in stories for centuries for dramatic effect and to keep the reader’s interest. This style of writing can and has occurred in all kinds of literature like drama, storytelling, folk tales, myths, religion, and psychological development. The “hero’s journey” describes an adventure of one “hero,” or protagonist, who goes on a quest and achieves success, usually on behalf of a larger group, or society. It includes a call to adventure, initiation and transformation, and a return to the ordinary, where the hero shares what he or she has gained from the experience. The “hero’s journey” is a very important aspect to all works of good literature, and it plays an especially big role in The Odyssey …show more content…

George and Lennie’s first call to adventure was when they started working on the ranch. The goal they wanted to achieve was to save enough money to buy their own piece of land with a house. They even go through the “refusal of the call” stage, when Lennie tells George he wants to leave the ranch. “I don’t like this place, George. This ain’t no good place. I wanna get outa here” (Steinbeck 32). The initiation George goes through and the challenges he faces are all related to keeping Lennie out of trouble and taking care of him. George’s challenges come to a peak when he is forced to shoot Lennie to save him from a worse fate. He goes through transformation at this point because he goes from being scared to hurt Lennie to realizing what is best for Lennie and doing it. “The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied” (Steinbeck 106). The final stage in George’s journey is the freedom to live that he has gained. Now that Lennie is dead, George does not have to care for him and he will be able to stay out of trouble. The other characters acknowledge this when they tell him that it was what he had to do (Steinbeck 107). George’s journey, as the protagonist, mirrored the hero’s journey. Not only the protagornist, but the plot as well, of Of Mice and Men followed the pattern of the hero’s journey very …show more content…

In this novel, although it is told from Scout’s perspective, her father Atticus is the hero. Atticus’s departure on the road to adventure was when he decided to defend Tom Robinson. He knew that he would never win while defending a black man, and he knew that hostility in the town toward himself and his children would grow, but he defended him anyway because he believed in everybody being judged fairly. “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Lee 101). The initiation and transformation stage in the book was when Bob Ewell tried to kill Scout and Jem, because this is when all the conflict reached its climax. While they were walking home one night, Bob Ewell attacked them with a knife, but Boo Radley was able to save Scout and Jem ( Lee 351). Later, the sheriff found Ewell with a knife in his gut, and Atticus and Mr. Tate suspected Boo. Atticus had always been very adamant about judging people fairly and giving them the proper credit, but Heck Tate convinces him to keep it quiet and tell the town that he fell on his knife. This is Atticus’s return stage because he uses the new perspective he gained when Ewell attacked his kids to decide that it was better if nobody knew about Boo Radley’s deed, to respect his privacy. As Heck Tate says, “Let the dead bury the dead, Mr. Finch” (Lee 369). One of the most influential

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