The Island Hero's Journey

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

What images come to mind as you reflect on your childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the warmest of memories. Yet for many mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept of their feet, and lions roar to their loyal place in the animal kingdom. There is no doubt that today’s entertainment has most of its touch using classical influences. Walt Disney has produced animated films that have captured the heart and imagination of audiences of all ages around the world through the magic of storytelling and imagery. Many of us appreciate the imagination and magic that Disney puts into its animations with out knowing they are based off of classical and traditional storylines

The night air was heavy with silence. Clouds drifted across a calm sky, and a full moon shone in the distance. In a small hut on the outskirts of the valley, an old man lay in bed, awake in the peaceful slumber of the village. His breaths came in rattling gasps, his forehead burned, and his joints felt stiff with pain. He shifted on the blankets, his withered hands clenched in fists as he tried to suppress the wave of bitter memories coming to him. His life had been nothing more than work, loss, tragedy. He remembered all of his hope, his ambition, in his youth, and he smiled bitterly. No one would remember him as the man that he had once hoped he would become. Now, as his breathing became heavier and he felt himself fading on the brink of

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.

These examples show both the author’s and the protagonist’s challenge to the order of things and the complete belief the character has. The best example of this is on line eight when the king says that he ‘shall not give you the boat’ the man replies ‘with calm assurance’ ‘you will’.

The Hero's Journey is never an easy one. This particular journey, as detailed in Homer's The Odyssey, is one of struggle, loss, heartache, pain, growth and triumph. It is comprised of many steps that Odysseus has to overcome and battle through in order to achieve his final goal of reaching his home and his loved ones. From the Call to Adventure to the Freedom or Gift of living, Odysseus conquered them all. The story begins in the middle of the story, as many of the oral Greek traditions did, with the Journey of Telemachus to find his father. Although Telemachus has not yet met his father, it is almost as if they are journeying together, where the end of both of their journeys results in being

Joseph Campbell, an American mythological researcher, wrote a famous book entitled The Hero with a Thousand Faces In his lifelong research Campbell discovered many common patterns running through hero myths and stories from around the world. Years of research lead Campbell to discover several basic stages that almost every hero-quest goes through Many followers of Campbell have defined the stages of his mono-myth in various ways, sometimes supplying different names for certain stages. For this reason there are many different versions of the Hero’s Journey that retain the same basic elements. these steps are ;ordinary world : This step refers to the hero's normal life at the start of the story, before the adventure begins. Call to Adventure:

Hunger Games, Star Wars, and A Wrinkle In Time have many similarities, and differences when they go through the Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s Journey is what the main character goes through in a book or movie. For example, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Ender's Game, and much more.

Hannah the MII woke up and got dressed into her favorite racing suit. She hopped into her shiny, blue, new, bright car. The whirl of the engine flew as they lined up. Mario said “let's-a-go” before the beginning of the race. Hannah had a feeling that something was going to go wrong but forgot the fear. They were in the moo moo meadow and were so excited. Just then the ghost held up the sign that said “3-2-1” and the karts flew with a blink of an eye past the starting line. Mario raced into first place as he got the extra boost, while Hannah was stuck without the boost but was making her way to 6th place.

“Aye, that’s why I came back this year. I was here last year for a motorcycle tour of California’s Route 1, the Pacific Coast Highway.”

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:

People react to experiences based on what they have been previously exposed to. This is why patience, good listening skills, understanding and respect are what I aspire to teach by example; along with the magic of music. My plan is to do this while being a great, multi-culturally competent, elementary school music teacher. What a mouth full, but that’s the goal! Western would be a great school for me. I have turned tragedy into something positive and feel like I would be coming to your school prepared with a good amount of experience.

He frowns intently at the sign taped on the inside of the door. 'Family emergency', it says.

The main character in the story is Jim Hawkins. He is a young boy who looks for adventure. He and a few experienced men search for Ben Gunn, and want to have him enlist in their cause. They steal the Hispanolia (a ship) and return it to the captain to which it rightfully belongs.

“The man fell back instantly and lay with blood bubbling from the hole in his forehead. The boy was lying in his lap with no expression on his face at all” (McCarthy, pg. 66). In other words, the boy was so shocked by the situation he was in; this caused him to change his attitude towards strangers. In the same manner The Island has important character development that causes the protagonists to change their behaviours. For instance, when Jordan Two Delta and Lincoln Six Echo escaped and went to Tom Lincoln’s house. In this scene there was an altercation that resulted in the client –Tom Lincoln- dying, which was a great example of how the characters developed. After this scene the protagonist realized how careless and willing they were to hurt others in order to get the clones back to the facility. The scene allowed the protagonist -Lincoln Six Echo- to develop and take extra precautions to maintain safety. Six Echo would always be on his toes; look back every so often, and though through his plans. This leads into the theme that is related to brute force which is that people will do anything to survive.