Joseph Campbell's Hero Cycle In Relation To Bless Me, Ultima

Joseph Campbell’s Hero Cycle In Relation to Bless Me, Ultima From the moment Anaya wrote Antonio Marez into existence his character mirrors the departure in Joseph Campbell's’ hero chart. Even during his birth, his parents argue over what path he will follow. Consequential to their obsession of molding Tony in their image, his parents are absent throughout his devastating experiences, despite the fact they are quite overbearing. With his parents’ desperate attempt to vicariously live through Antonio, and all their other children also “having lived with the dreams of their father and mother haunting them,” Tony assumes the role as the leader of his family (Anaya 67). Joseph Campbell's call to adventure, or what triggers a hero’s journey, applies to Antonio when he witnesses Lupito’s death. As he watches the mentally ill war veteran “bathed in hot blood,” he questions how the Catholic God could allow such injustice in the world, which results in Tony setting off to learn more about the world and himself (Anaya 22). Antonio’s willing journey of self-discovery demonstrates his heroism because it reveals his human need to

He encounters multiple obstacles, but observing Lupito, Narciso, and Ultima’s deaths are the trials Tony must endure, which although traumatize him, allow him to gain a deeper understanding for both his views of the natural and supernatural world. This superior knowledge grants him wisdom that benefits him in his heroic endeavors. Father Atonement, a fragment in the hero cycle, is often depicted as a father figure bestowing forgiveness. In the predominantly Catholic area the story resides in, Catholic priests are revered. Antonio’s impersonation of an atoning priest, who “absolved” his friend Florence of “his sins” reveals his heroism because this moment demonstrates the embodiment of his society’s