Mother Teresa In The Power Of Myth By Joseph Campbell

After she saw India’s poor and had an epiphany, Mother Teresa heroically devoted her life to serving the needy. As she opened many clinics and shelters, Mother Teresa demonstrated that she had the capacity to serve. She possessed a moral objective and brought “solar light” into the world. According to Joseph Campbell, these characteristics would contribute to her achieving the status of a hero. In his book, The Power of Myth, Campbell states that a hero must undergo a transformation of consciousness. In 1946, Mother Teresa claimed to have received a “call within a call” to help those suffering in poverty. Joan Clucas explained that Mother Teresa was instructed “...to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail

She revealed, to the world, how much the destitute suffered. The international community, and even Mother Teresa, was shocked upon seeing the living conditions of the poor. She wrote, “Today, I learned a good lesson… I thought how much they must ache in body and soul, looking for a home, food and health,” (Spink, 241) Mother Teresa’s work inspired others to help the needy, because she truly loved and assisted them (“Mother Teresa of Calcutta”). She devoted more than 45 years of her life to those who are stricken with poverty, dying, or unwanted around the world. Many believed her never-ending love of the poor brought “light” into the world.

Joseph Campbell’s criteria for a hero can be a useful way to understand what the idealization of one is. Mother Teresa embodied many of these characteristics. She underwent an epiphany and gave her life to “something bigger.” In addition, she had a moral objective and a capacity to serve, achieved monumental goals, and brought “solar light” into the world. In these aspects, Mother Teresa is a heroine. But in the eyes of the poor, she was a beacon of hope and a helping