Stone Boy: A Tragic Hero

Heroes and their stories have been at the center of almost every culture throughout history. There are vast differences among these legends since they have to serve each particular culture's needs. The events, settings and other characters may change dramatically, but the hero is basically the same for all. And the understanding that the use of violence is always justified in the name of the `Gods'.

The American author, teacher, and mythologist, Joseph John Campbell, is universally known for his work in comparative folklore and culture. His studies led him to discover the pattern, journey of the hero. The sequence consists of three stages and exists in many dealings with Greek mythology as well as current popular culture. A modern example of the occurring cycle is the 2001 production, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. In the film, an orphaned young boy named Harry Potter is invited to study at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In time, he is involved in a dangerous quest to save the wizarding community from the grasps of the Dark Lord. The film demonstrates aspects of a traditional journey of the hero because Harry

Thomas Malory’s King Arthur and Betsy Hearne’s Sir Gawain and The Loathly Lady are examples of how heroism is a key event in most stories. In King Arthur and in The Hobbit, the main character starts out as not being trusted and being very quiet and non- adventurous but is soon transformed into an important and honourable figure. “Then stood the kingdom in great jeopardy a long while, for every lord strengthened himself, and many a one thought to be king rather than be ruled by a child that they had never known.”(Thomas Malory’s King Arthur) As a comparison to what happened in The Hobbit, “As soon as I clapped eyes on the little fellow bobbing and puffing on the mat, I had my doubts. He looks more like a grocer-than a burglar!”(The Hobbit) In The Hobbit, Bilbo is the character whom Dalin distrusts and thinks, “he looks more like a grocer than a burglar.” Yet later on, Bilbo ends up saving the dwarves and takes the Arkenstone and retrieves the treasure from Smaug. In King Arthur, the child Arthur was not trusted to rule the kingdom. Later, he proves himself worthy by drawing the Excalibur from the stone and becomes king. Another pattern in both stories is that the character receives something before becoming a hero. In The Hobbit, “Bilbo pinched himself and slapped himself; he gripped on his little sword; he even felt in his pocket with his other hand. There he found the ring he had picked up in the

A tragic hero is a character that performs courageous actions but develops a tragic flaw as they move on with their lives. The effects of the flaw begin to increase and the character usually makes unwise choices. It often leads to his downfall or even death. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is depicted as a tragic hero. He lived a life full of contradiction. He desired to be successful and achieve everything he wanted but he ended up committing suicide. The author develops a story in which Okonkwo has to make a lot of decisions and sometimes he makes the wrong choices without himself knowing, which eventually causes his own death. He is a tragic hero in the story for the sacrifices

In the play “The Crucible”, we have a great example of a tragic hero as a main character. A tragic hero is a main character of great or noble standing that has a tragic flaw will lead to their demise.

In everyone’s life, we experience fear. It is an emotion which seizes everyone’s attention and actions. It can cause a person to perform something they never imagined doing. Yet, after constant submission to the same feeling of fear, one becomes desensitized to it. The same chemical reactions in someone's head which caused their heart to race and mind to blank no longer has those same effects. It leads a person to wonder how they can survive past this dreadful feeling. Yet, there are people who stand in the face of fear and experience these feelings so no one else has to, heros. One of the main traits of a hero is standing resilient in the face of fear and the adversity which accompanies it.

The Hero’s Journey tells us the path that every hero takes in every story, and the conflicts that he faces throughout it. In the Ordinary World the hero is in comfort and tranquility until he is called upon to take this journey, into and unknown place called the Special World. The Special World is nothing like the Ordinary World, it has unstableness and that is where the hero will meet the villain which he must stop. In the Call Of The Adventure Stage, the hero will be presented with his challenge and will be told where to go and if he is willing to perform this journey. The Hero is left to choose if he has the courage to go to an extremely strange and unpredictable world. Next he will enter the Refusal Of The Call, here the hero feels frightened by the quest he must face and

There are many steps of “The Hero’s Journey”. The first step of The Hero’s Journey is the ‘Ordinary World’. The ‘Ordinary World’ allow us to get to know the Hero and identify with him before the Journey begins. This step refers to the hero 's normal life at the start of the story.

When Graham loses his wife in a tragic accident he starts questioning his faith, since god

Throughout all of history there has been stories and tales about heroic characters saving their societies, or even the world. Over these eras, the way these heroes have been illustrated has changed and been refined by numerous people. These stories are called Hero’s Journey’s. There are three main types of heroes; Epic Hero, Greek Hero, and Shakespearean Heroes. Over time their stories have been twisted and turned in many ways. All of these heroes have many differences and similarities. The Epic Hero being a great warrior while the Greek Hero is civilized and the Shakespearean Hero is more centered on the wellbeing of their people. This shows the evolution of each of these themes throughout time.

All stories consists of some common structural elements. These elements are known as the twelve stages of a hero’s journey. The first stage is called the Ordinary World. The Ordinary World allows the reader to identify the hero’s background before the journey starts. The reader is able to relate to the hero through this stage. Every story has a central dramatic question that disrupts the Ordinary World. This lets the author contrast the Ordinary World with the Special World. Once the reader has identify with the hero in the Ordinary World, a new stage called The Call To Adventure sets the story in motion as it disrupts the comfort of the Ordinary World. This stage set the Ordinary World off balance as it establishes the stakes involved if

The book ‘the lost boy’ by Dave Pelzer tells about the authors struggles though foster care in California during the 1970’s. David was taken from an abuse home at the age of twelve where he was made a ward of the state and sent into the foster care system and later the juvenal justice system. This book covers three point in David life that was important in him becoming the man he is at the point where he wrote the book. These points where his struggle with recovering from his past trauma, his struggle with being stereotyped as a foster child and his choice to move forward and prepare for the future.

It was a clear tranquil London evening, warmer than you would expect in mid fall. At this late hour these streets were completely vacant, with only the street lamps and occasional shop window illuminating the road. The only sound was the pounding of sneakers frantically hitting the pavement. With every step the noise grew louder, bringing the woman closer to the street and,she prayed, safety.

A possible theme for Oedipus the King by Sophocles is that one’s blindness can hide the inevitability that is his destiny. Oedipus is in this situation. He struggles to escape his fate: killing his father and marrying his mother and believes he is successful. Sophocles believes that the gpds control one’s destiny and the inevitability that a person will do what is destined despite there hero’s intentions.Oedipus represent the standards of a true tragic hero: he is well known, basically good, his punishment is out of proportion compared to his crime, the audience at some point feels sorrow and pity for him, and Oedipus has a tragic flaw. During the whole story Oedipus thinks that he may be able to change his fate a live life how he wants but he falls to that which is his destiny.For these reason Oedipus is truly an example of a tragic hero and is unable to avoid his tragic fate.

The idea of heroismhas been traced back to centuries of years throughout history. Greek Mythology is the father of this concept of heroism and this concept has continued to grow and develop through stories, writings, and films over the years. Humans have always been intrigued with the idea of heroism which is why many movies, books, and stories are written after this very idea. In Linda Seger’s “Creating the Myth”, she argues there are 10-points into creating every “hero myth”, using Luke Skywalker in Star Wars as her hero myth example; in the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry follows Seger’s 10-point system of creating a