Morrigan In Challenger Deep By Neal Shusterman

370 Words2 Pages

Many things start the same, and end drastically different. The main character, of Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, Caden, follows the path of two contrary hero's journeys; with the same call to adventure and conflicting mentors and threshold guardians. As Caden embarks on his journeys of healing and illness, he has foil mentors and threshold guardians. In Caden’s journey to the bottom of the trench the captain helps Caden in every possible way, in addition the captain strongly opposes Caden’s “partaking in [the crows nest’s] odious liberations” (Shusterman 55), and even “order[s Caden] to kill the parrot” (Shusterman 250). The captain plays the role of the mentor in Caden’s journey to the trench due to the extensive help and guidance the Captain gives Caden, likewise the …show more content…

Throughout Caden’s journeys the parrot disagreed with the captain on everything. The parrot instructs Caden to “visit the crow’s nest twice a day” (Shusterman 45), and advises Caden “to kill [the captain]” (Shusterman 125). From the start, the parrot, Dr. Poirot, encourages Caden to take his medicine and heal; these actions make the parrot Caden’s mentor in his journey to remission. Additionally, the parrot was against the journey to the trench and the captain’s decisions, consequently delaying Caden from completing his journey; therefore, in Caden’s hero’s journey to the trench, the parrot is the threshold guardian. Although Caden’s two hero’s journeys contradict each other, they both began in the way. Caden’s mental illness “[begins] with [the Captain],” and his journeys began “before there was a ship” (Shusterman 1). Caden’s first sight of mental illness was meeting the Captain which scared him so much that his later mental illness was centered around the Captain, consequently making meeting the Captain Caden’s call to adventure in both hero’s journey because without this moment there would be no mission to reach the trench, and Dr. Poirot would never need to save Caden from