Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
The hero's journey theory
A heros journey essay
Heroism why heroes are important
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The hero's journey theory
A heros journey essay
Heroism why heroes are important
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Travis Bradberry once stated, “Everyone knows that life isn't fair. Saying it's not fair suggests that you think life is supposed to be fair, which makes you look immature and naive.” Things don’t always go the way people want them to and sometimes they do not want to accept that. The characters in William Goldman’s novel, The Princess Bride, face difficult trials, where they nearly die in most of them. Additionally, none of the characters get a happy ending.
“A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown” Tom Hanks. An assumption that can be made about the characteristics of a hero is that heroes are brave and will do anything for the safety of others. These features are found in the lifestyles of Eddie Aikau, King Kamehameha and Father Damien. The introductory example of heroes being brave and will do anything for the safety of others.
In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, and the movie, The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner, both epic heroes have lots of metaphorical similarities, but also have drastic differences. In The Odyssey, a man named Odysseus is trying to sail home to Ithaca, but runs into lots of problems. In The Princess Bride, a side character named Inigo is on a quest to kill his father’s murderer. Both heroes, Odysseus and Inigo eventually reach a low point, but then miraculously return to greatness; however, Odysseus and Inigo have different quests. Odysseus and Inigo are similar for many important reasons.
A hero’s journey is not necessarily an explosion filled, action packed, kung fu filled story that has a happy ending. It is “the pattern of life, growth and experience,” (The Hero’s Journey). Paul Baümer, young german soldier, goes on true hero’s journey of his own even though he lacks encaptivating superpowers, stunning physical features, an attractive damsel in distress, and a super villain to fight. Paul Baümer, the protagonist of All Quiet on the Western Front, goes on his own hero’s journey by incorporating the same steps of a traditional hero’s journey, though divaracates slightly from the traditional hero’s journey when Paul actions contradict that of a hero.
Everyone has heard a good hero story, because they are everywhere, in the media, in history, and in even with each other. Tales of action and adventures have been around since humans have known how to tell stories, but every story has a similar journey that they embark on. The tale of the hero has many variations, but they each follow the same basic pattern that Joseph Campbell describes in his book A Hero with a Thousand Faces. Some stories only follow the basic outline of a hero, and others can be traced along the route exactly. An example that follows the outline exactly is The NeverEnding Story (1984) which is a movie based on a German book by Michael Ende.
In his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell discovered a basic pattern that can be found in all stories portraying a hero. In his hero’s monomyth, the main character is called to an adventure into a foreign land and the skills obtained during the journey are later tested to defeat their toughest challenge. An example of a heroic monomyth can be illustrated in Marissa Meyer’s fantasy novel, Cinder, because the heroine is called to an adventure that she at first refuses, explores an unfamiliar landscape, the castle, where she learns more about her tragic past, and soon comes face to face with her greatest adversary. The events of Cinder follow a linear story that begins in New Beijing, China.
Everyone faces challenges sometime in their life, something that blocks them from moving forward in life. However, sometimes these challenges seem too hard, and that leads a person to give up on the reward offered at the end. These challenges differ from person to person, some people face challenges like physical disabilities, like Kayla Montgomery who has multiple sclerosis (MS). This disability makes her legs go numb when she pushes her herself too hard running. However, that does not stop her doing the thing she loves most, running.
The Revolution of Heroism In modern times, people toss around the word hero, but the idea of heroism through the centuries has never perished. What is exactly as a hero? A hero is not someone that can fly or has super strength. A hero maybe someone who is fighting for their people, to someone that crushes fear, or to an average person that sacrifices themselfs for people in need. Overtime, the evolution of a hero has changed drastically.
Every hero archetype has to experience the journey. James Campbell, a scholar who studied mythology across the world defines archetypes as people such as a mother figure, a father figure, a hero, a maiden,or a trickster. A hero is a person who has curiosity, humility, and is courageous. In addition, a hero goes out of their way to reach their goal, even if that means putting their life on the line for others or for a set accomplishment. Furthermore, the hero archetype must experience the three stages of the Hero’s Journey which includes The Departure, The Initiation, and The Return.
We have all lived in the world of fairy tales and imagination but have we ever really focused on what intrigues us about these stories? The hero’s sacrifices and the villain’s decisive plots intrigue us the most in stories but these characteristics are what makes a character known for as a hero, villain and this is known as archetypes. This analyzation revolves around, The Princess Bride and archetypes that some of its character’s qualify of. According to my analysis, Westley portrays the hero, Prince Humperdinck portrays the villain/shadow and Dread Pirate Roberts portrays the Threshold Guardian. The first archetype that I have analyzed is a hero and I have identified Westley as the hero because he sacrifices many things in order to achieve his goal, a hero’s trademark.
He has proven by his heroic characteristics in Harry Potter the Sorcerers Stone. Taking lead to his journey of being a hero. Harry Potter is an example of an archetypal hero, shown by his unusual birth circumstances, lives else where and initiating event. Supporting the evidence found for unusual birth circumstances, Harry Potter was faced against voldemort trying to make an end to him.
While many movies, books, and poems have heroes. Only some are the real epic
(“The Dark Knight” par. 6). The common stereotypic traits of heroes and kings in modern films compared to similar characters in famous medieval romantic
Literature has maintained a strong influence on society and its perceptions of heroes for centuries. In consequence, the time period in which a literary work is written reveals much about that society’s ideal. For example, the Anglo-Saxon epic, Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, illustrates the deeds of a heroic knight and reflects the values of his community. Throughout the poem, Beowulf displays commendable behavior by saving another kingdom, defeating three villains, and maintaining allegiance to the lord and his people. Even though a millennium has passed since the release of this epic, heroes today display characteristics similar to those of Beowulf.
• The hero’s journey: Harry’s narrative follows an age-old pattern found in numerous myths and stories. American mythologist Joseph Campbell analyses this storyline of the journey of an archetypical hero in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” (Campbell, 1949), a work that has inspired many writers and artists. Classic examples of Campbell’s archetypical hero include ancient Greek myths such as that of the hero Odysseus, the story of Moses and Star Wars’ protagonist Luke Skywalker (cf. Colbert, 2008, 208).