To What Extent Did the Book Hero with a Thousand Faces Influence the Sci-Fi Fantasy Film Genre, Specifically George Lucas’s Star Wars Trilogy?

Even at the beginning of the film it is clear that the archetypal hero’s journey is being portrayed due to various symbols, events and lines from characters which help identify the ordinary world as well as the call to adventure. Starting from Luke’s home planet of Tatooine, which is a desolate and barren desert. In literature a desert usually symbolizes dullness, hopelessness and an overall lack of excitement; a classic case of foreshadowing in that Luke has a desire to escape this empty and lifeless humdrum. Later in the film the audience is introduced to Luke Skywalker, a plain farm boy who is caught in a seemingly never ending routine. Day after day Luke spends his time performing chores and aiding

Do you ever wonder if your favorite movie follows the hero's journey? You might ask yourself what even is the hero’s journey. Well the Hero’s journey was made by Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell was born March 26 1904 and died October 30 1987. There’s 12 stages for the hero’s journey,which does not mean that all movies follow them,but most do. For example, one movie that follows the hero’s journey is Maleficent. In the movie maleficent, Maleficent displays the hero’s journey when Stefan cuts her wings, then later on she meets Diaval, and a few years later she gets to know Aurora and got to see her more than a monster.

The hero’s journey usually follows a certain rubric with little variation. These films are no exceptions. In “Star Wars,” Luke Skywalker is without a doubt a disadvantaged youth. His parents have died, and he lives under his aunt and uncle who spurn his attempts to leave the farm and make it on his own. Through a chance meeting, Luke finds himself a mentor, the wise recluse, Ben Kenobi. Kenobi tells Luke of amazing battles throughout the galaxy, sparking his inborn interest in the stars. Later in the film, after his aunt and uncle are murdered, Luke finds himself thrust into an ongoing intergalactic war between the evil Empire and the rebellion. It is here that Luke

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 use of a journey narrative as both an archetypal plot device, and a technique that facilitates and informs character development, is an enduring literary trope, likely as old as literature itself. The mere fact that journey narratives have persisted in literature, without inherently being regarded as overused, outdated, or clichéd, is indicative of the impact and influence this technique has when executed effectively. Additionally, this is testament to its adaptability, and capacity to complement and integrate within various styles and genres. Conventional journey narratives often follow a basic structure, contributing to reader expectation that a vast, far-reaching journey should be inherently reflected by vast emotional progress, and

The idea of a clear and precise pattern that nearly all heroes follow is not something new. In fact, one of the most famous examples of a hero cycle is the one created by Joseph Campbell. In his world-renowned book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell sets up and explains how every hero follows the same basic path until he/she winds up back at the beginning and another cycle begins. “The mythical hero…is lured…to the threshold of adventure…journeys through a world of unfamiliar yet strangely intimate forces…undergoes a supreme ordeal…” and then returns back to his home either a hero and changed person or a coward and disgrace (Campbell 211). After the challenges are dealt with in some

The first stage of the monomyth is the departure. In this stage, the hero first receives “call to adventure,” either directly or sometimes unwittingly. In a real life example, this would be taking on a task, one that is assigned by someone else or one that is chosen by oneself. This could be an assignment at a job, or it could be the desire to pursue a new hobby. Campbell mentions the “refusal of the call,” or the turning away from the journey. In life, when taking on a task, it can seem too difficult or frightening, and the natural desire may be to turn away. Campbell warns that this “converts the adventure into its negative… [and] the subject loses the power of affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved” (59). Though an adventure may be difficult, the hero will usually gain the assist of a supernatural aid. Many

But to fully grasp an audience, with twelve to fifteen steps is a lot to explain. Joseph Campbell gisted the essential components of the mononmyth as a whole, “The standard path of the mythological hero is a magnification of the formula represented in the rights of a passage: separation—initiation—return” (23). In these simple steps Campbell identified the foundation of all monomyths. In separation, the hero ventures astray from their later “prosaic” life into a region of supernatural wonder (23).Initiation, overzealous figures/forces are encountered and a decisive victory is won (23).Lastly,the now master of the narrative returns from the surreptitious journey with bestowed power

The hero’s journey is comprised of 12 steps in which the protagonist must complete in order to be known as a “hero”. The first step is known as the “Ordinary World” which is where the hero exists before his present story begins. In Star Wars, Luke’s story begins on the desert planet of Tatooine, where he is just a simple farmer working with his family. Although this is where Luke’s world starts off the journey really begins for him when he experiences his “Call to Action”. In Luke's case this was when he finds a message stored in R2-D2 from Princess Leia a high ranking leader in the rebel alliance, saying the famous line, “Help me,

In the late 1940’s a man named Joseph Campbell shared his Mythic principal with the world. He explains that there is a three-stage formula that he calls a Hero Journey which is the structure of every story. Though most stories are completely different on the outside, the stories are almost structured around these three stages. Stage 1 is the hero leaves the everyday world and enters another world. While Stage 2 the hero is challenged by opposing forces and must pass a series a test throughout the movie. That will then determine who will be victorious, either the hero or the opposing forces. Stage 3 is tied into Stage 2 because if the hero is victorious, they will return to the ordinary world with a gift for the world.

The protagonist is called to adventure after his feelings for the girl next door overwhelm him. In the introduction, Joyce establishes the protagonist’s admiration of her, “Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance.” (39). This strong attraction to the girl is the hero’s call to adventure and leads him to go on his quest in hopes of

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.

Another name for the hero’s journey is the Monomyth. This paragraph will be mostly talk about the outline of the hero’s journey mostly the tropes that every hero’s journey story talks about. Here is the first trope of the hero’s journey “Movie Outline”talked about this subject. The very first trope is called the “Ordinary World”. “Movie Outline”talks on the subject.

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:

Star Wars: A New Hope, brought forth a diversification in the industry of not just a science fiction film, but a contemporary aspect of film in the late 1900’s. On the 25th of May 1977 George Lucas released a two hour journey through a dreamlike universe in which this exceptional exploration takes place. Star Wars fabricated the start of the science fiction film era. Science fiction provides an incogitable world that alters the thoughts of general world, and offers a chance for the reader or viewer to relate the altered world to their world. Star Wars offered this to dreamers of that time and bestowed a escape from reality on its viewers. This is illustrated when ¨Luke¨ played by Mark Hamill takes his first steps into a truly legendary expedition across the galactic universe. Luke is not alone on his dangersome journey along the way he finds his Mentor ¨Obi-Wan Kenobi¨ played by the ingenious actor Alec Guinness. Luke´s journey across the galaxy is distinctly related to The Hero Cycle, composed by Joseph Campbell. The Hero Cycle explains the events in which a character grows into a hero and fights their way through a fatal battle all to obtain elixir or experience. In this essay I will illustrate how Star Wars: A New Hope relates to The Hero Cycle.