Quickwrite: 27 August 2012

1. Quickwrite: 27 August 2012 What makes someone a hero? What does our culture value as heroic?

2. The Hero’s Journey Applying myth and archetype to literature

3. What is the Hero’s Journey? • Joseph Campbell argues in his book that literature follows a pattern of journeying/questing. • It can be applied to large as well as small journeys. • It is cyclicaland not alwayslinear…characters may get “stuck” going back and forth between steps and once they complete the journey they may begin a new one immediately. • It’s true purpose is more often than not for self-knowledge.

4. Mythological Analysis The Journey An understanding of THE JOURNEY enables readers to make sense of the mythological elements of a literary piece. The journey consists of stages: Innocence Initiation Chaos Resolution • Despite the connotation of its name, the mythological approach to analyzing literature is a 20th century development. • It helps us understand how stories contain structures and symbols that are a part of all cultures. • These structures and symbols are embedded in all literature, no matter its date of composition.

5. The Mythological Approach:The Stages of the Journey Innocence The world and we are one. No division or separation from others. Suffering is minimal and short-lived. Death is a foreign concept. For the most part, life is happy and peaceful.

6. The Mythological Approach:The Stages of the Journey Initiation Three events can cause a fall from innocence: death (tells us that no one, even ourselves, is immune) awareness of evil (violates our belief in fairness and justice in the world…if bad can go unpunished, our moral compass has failed us) sexual awakening (creates intense desire that can be frustrating, granted and then taken, or rejected…all damage our abilities to trust others or ourselves)

7. The Mythological Approach:The Stages of the Journey Chaos Where all art is created. The struggle of our existence to reconcile the information revealed to us through our initiation experience. For many, the desire is to move backwards into innocence, but a true hero is not defeated by this knowledge. A true hero transforms the knowledge into wisdom. He reconciles good vs. evil and is strengthened by it.

8. The Mythological Approach:The Stages of the Journey Resolution It is important to remember that the hero moves forward with open eyes. He has integrated knowledge into a fuller, richer, truer vision of the world. He goes on, not IN SPITE OF, his knowledge, but BECAUSE of it. • In the modern/post modern era, many heroes do not achieve a final resolution. Also interesting, is the number of antiheroes that pop up after WWII (batman).

9. The Details of the Journey… Innocence Ordinary Life/Known World Separation Call to Adventure Initiation Threshold Crossing into the Unknown (Departure, Meeting Allies, Gift, Mentor) Chaos The Abyss Confronting Challenges Final Ordeal Resolution Atonement Return

10. Return Known Challenges Atonement Temptations Enlightenment/Revelation Abyss The Hero’s Journey Call and Separation

11. The Hero’s Journey • Known: • What we know about the character at the beginning • His/her life, family, place of residence, how he/she sees the world • An innocent perspective • Call/Separation: • A fall from innocence • One of the 3 previously discussed reasons for leaving the home and the familiar • The hero can choose to ignore this call but will then be stuck on his journey

12. The Hero’s Journey • Challenges: • The hero must face a variety of challenges • They can be mental or physical, internal or external • Conflicts must be conquered before the hero can move on in her journey • Temptations: • Events/people that try to stop the hero on his journey. • While there are many, the big 5 are • Sex/idleness • Drugs • Gambling • Power • Money

13. The Hero’s Journey • Abyss: • The lowest point of the hero’s journey. • Literally or figuratively a bottomless pit from which escape seems nonexistent. Depression. • Desire to give up and return home or forgo the journey. • Revelation/Enlightenment: • If he gets out of the abyss it will be through a moment of clarity. • The hero recognizes something about himself or the world that causes him to continue on the journey. • A realization about his path

14. The Hero’s Journey • Atonement: • Now that the hero has decided to continue on the journey, there needs to be a moment of atoning or “paying back” for the sins, temptations etc. that waylaid the hero on his journey. • A process of purification or healing either literally or figuratively. • Return: • The hero returns to her people, home etc. bearing gifts (usually knowledge). • The hero has reached a higher plane of thinking/understanding of the world. • No longer innocent. • Can begin the journey again.

15. Return Known Atonement Challenges Enlightenment/Revelation Temptations Abyss The Hero’s Journey Innocence Resolution Call and Separation Chaos Initiation

16. Types of Archetypal Journeys • The quest for identity • The epic journey to find the promised land/to found the good city • The quest for vengeance • The warrior’s journey to save his people • The search for love (to rescue the princess/damsel in distress) • The journey in search of knowledge • The tragic quest: penance or self-denial • The fool’s errand • The quest to rid the land of danger • The grail quest (the quest for human perfection)

17. Archetypal Mythological Heroes The Innocent Possesses an innate understanding but has little basis in wisdom or knowledge. The innocent understands intuitively. Examples: Walt Disney’s Goofy Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk

18. Archetypal Mythological Heroes The Trickster Teaches through deception, tomfoolery and playfulness. Often seen as irreverent and disrespectful. The trickster often challenges the status quo through subversive tactics—thus, a favorite in teen films Examples: Pretty in Pink The Breakfast Club Shakespeare’s fools Odysseus’s deception of Polyphemus

19. Archetypal Mythological Heroes The Warrior Does not subvert the system (like the trickster) instead faces it head-on. Acknowledges rules, matches strength against established boundaries. Demonstrates it is possible to be good, wise, pure, decent, and still win. Examples: Odysseus Achilles Arthur and Lancelot Hamlet McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

20. Archetypal Mythological Heroes The Teacher/Prophet Turns adventures to instruct initiates. Integrated into society—the matured hero who becomes other-directed, using wisdom to guide others. Going beyond example-setting, to instruct others. Examples: Star Wars: Obi Wan Kenobe or Yoda Mr. Yimagi from The Karate Kid

21. Archetypal Mythological Heroes WISE FOOL/SAINT At the other end of the spectrum, the saint returns to a child-like innocence, learning that a lifetime of experience compels an innocent wonder of the world. The wise fool/saint usually takes himself out of the complexity of the world to lead a simple, austere life. Example: Herman Hesse’sSiddartha, based on the life of Gautama Buddha.

22. ARCHETYPAL HEROES The point of each of these distinct heroes is to guide us to a truth that eludes us, to make us aware of the entrapment of our existence, that, for all its realistic appearance, is not reality. These archetypes appeal to our need to recapture a sense of paradise…