The Heroic Journey In Chuck Palahniuk's

Heros are fearless individuals who not only have stamina, but also thrive in adversity. In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie underscores how an Indigenous teen named Arnold ‘Junior’ Spirit undergoes various social and mental challenges as he struggles to fit into his community and new school. Through Junior’s courage, he is willing to make unusual choices that seem to have negative outcomes. Junior can also recover from conflicts quickly and is able to become stronger because he is resilient. In addition to resilience, Junior is he is motivated. Ultimately, Junior can be considered a hero because he has the courage, resilience, and motivation to allow him to overcome the obstacles. As a result of his heroism, he is able to benefit from the experiences.

These support groups (notably, the testicular cancer survivors’ group, “Remaining Men Together”) give Jack the emotional stimulation he so desperately craves. It is the enveloping comfort of cathartic release that is his salve; but, like all addictions, tolerance sets in, and the fix must be elevated. Henry A. Giroux, in his essay “Private Satisfactions and Public Disorders: Fight Club, Patriarchy, and the Politics of Masculine Violence”, maintains the argument that Hollywood films, being in a position of public pedagogy, exhibit a great deal of influence and must be regarded carefully; he criticizes the film, saying Fight Club:

The archetype of the Hero’s Journey holds a prevalent pattern in the works of “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, “A & P” by John Updike, and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. These works all follow the 17 stages of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth which are separated in three stages; separation, initiation, and return. The main characters have different characterizations; however, they all follow the basic structure of the Hero’s journey archetype. There are many similarities and differences between the stages that are shown through many context clues and literary devices in each work. The Hero’s Journey archetype expressed in these literary works follow a similar and direct narrative pattern.

The concept of a hero has been around for many generations, and the meaning of a hero is defined in ways people grasp its idea. A hero can be a person who has a superpower and is willing to make a personal sacrifice for the benefit of others or can be an ordinary everyday person who just wants to help people out of his or her own heart. Linda Seger’s article, “Creating the Myth,” tackles the idea of a “Hero 's Myth,” and shows the ten steps of how heroes are transformed from an ordinary person to the Savior. On the other hand, Robert B. Ray piece titled, “The Thematic Paradigm,” emphasizes that in modern films, it is either having an “Outlaw Hero or an Official Hero,” which he uses three stages to demonstrates how they are different each other in the way they perform in the society. Further, the article, “Out of Character: Wonder Woman’s Strength Is Her Compassion - What Happened?” by Stevie St. John, explains how Wonder Woman was viewed as a compassionate woman in the 1940s and 1950s, and in the 2000s she changes into a more violent person. In this essay, I argue that a hero is subjective, and is defined by the villain or event that they had to adapt to suddenly.

By concentrating on an ethological approach, Dickerson also makes her family disconnect from stereotypes. In first person point of view, she is able to describe her situation through her knowledge and background. For example, Dickerson describes Johnny with a settled and calm tone of voice. She writes, “Johnny speaks little, never cries, never complains, works diligently to become independent” (225). Because he is black, most people would associate Johnny with violence and gangs. In Black Men and Public Space by Brent Staples, a black men strolling down the avenue was assumed to be a criminal. The color of his skin, in correlation to his environment, evoked a sense of danger. However, through an educated voice, Johnny is not that dangerous black kid who got shot. Johnny is a sensitive victim of an unfortunate shooting. It is very easy to label an individual according to racial status. For this reason, Dickerson is required to inform the reader of elements that do not support these stereotypes. The disconnection from stereotypes satisfies her objection, and broadens the perspective of society.

In the section Masculinity in Crisis of an online text analyzing Fight Club (Violence as a Reclamation of Masculinity in the Postmodern Moment), the author states that Fight Club is a deliberate commentary on male victimization as a result of postmodernism and second wave feminism. The testicular cancer support group and the character of Bob represent the loss of traditional masculinity in American society. Later, the violence

Another major display of a shift in gender roles is the infamous anal rape scene. Ed and Bobby, who is the most effeminate of the group, are taken captive by two (likely) inbred woodland men. These men, pariahs to society, become embodiments of the defilement of nature experienced earlier in the novel, the trash in the river and the poultry processing plant. To Dickey, Man’s encroachment upon nature has not only led to the industrialization that plows fields and fells forests, or littered the wild with our excess and excrement, it has made humanity unable to reunite itself with nature. Once man has defiled a region with our technology and our influence, we may never go back “Dickey's novel suggests that there is no free territory…” (Entzminger). These mountain men have ostracized themselves from society, searching for a way to shake off the shackles of cultural expectation. However, in their attempt to become one with nature they have simply perverted it.

Heroes are not created during hard times, but it is during these hard times that heroes are revealed. Christopher Reeve explains that a hero is an ordinary individual who possesses the strength to persevere and rise above overwhelming obstacles. Meaning no matter your size, your age, or your gender the capabilities of becoming a hero comes from within, as long as you have the determination and will power to triumph over the devastating obstacles that lay in your path. The stories “An Act of Vengeance” and “A Worn Path” by Isabella Allende and Eudora Welty, respectfully, are prefect examples. Allende portrays a young lady overcoming the terrors of her youth as she grows in to a strong woman and avenges her father. Whereas, Welty gives a description of a fragile old woman demonstrating the strength and perseverance to succeed and obtain the medicine that her grandson so desperately needs, even though her body struggles to make the trip. Although both stories depict a tale of what a hero is one has a better description, “An Act of Vengeance” more closely follows the guidelines of Christopher Reeve’s idea of a hero.

Life is a precious gift, as you only get one chance to become your best self. In life everyone has hopes and dreams to find their calling to potentially make a difference in the world. In literature we are presented with an abundance of epic hero stories, referring to fictional or non-fictional characters that have made a difference in their world. These characters grant the reader with entertaining stories pertaining to historical or fictional events that reflect the hero’s journey to making a triumphant change. Joseph Campbell’s theory that every hero has a similar journey to becoming their best self commences with a call to an adventure. The call to adventure is the first and most important step in Joseph Campbell’s hero monomyth, “A hero with a Thousand Faces.”

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.

A central theme in works detailing a hero’s journey (monomyth), such as Dante’s The Divine Comedy, is that every hero must overcome adversity. No hero, no matter how valiant they may seem, can get away from it. These works illustrate to the modern reader that we are really all heroes on our own journeys, and we must all face adversity—and no one is exempt.

hero's journey is not solely “applicable to fiction but also to the journeys that everyone goes

Chuck, a whole-hearted man who encompasses everything beautiful and wondrous about life itself; his passion for adventure radiates from him like the heat waves that radiate off the grandiose walls of the canyon that surround him as he niftily rafts the Colorado River. Chuck, a man so affectionate and so generous that he gave his only car to a homeless family with two children, too young to understand the hope that he had just given; his simple, yet trustworthy, bike has since been his main mode of transportation. Chuck, an amorous man who knows how to love deeply and wholly despite his wife leaving him after nearly twenty years of marriage; despite the heartbreak, he has convinced me that split was the best thing that could have ever happened

In his renowned work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell defined the essential stages of the Heroic Journey, using examples from a wide range of myths and stories. His objective was not only to establish the framework for hero tales, but also to convey why these elements of the monomyth prevail in so many different works. Campbell’s view states that “the hero myth is really written about every human being: we are all heroes struggling to accomplish our adventure” (Whomsley, 185). From this perspective, it seems justified that these patterns continue to appear in so many stories adventure and heroism; we all want our

Belittled by their absent fathers, broken homes, and a feminine-centered society, the men in Fight Club present an incisive notion of the lives of modern