The Hero's Journey Gender

To be able to talk about heroes, gender, and Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, there needs to be a separation between the journey to become a hero and the plot of the story. Although an entire story can be solely based on “The Hero’s Journey,” it’s not limited to the journey. How events play out and character development among other things are apart from what Campbell describes. The journey he describes stays the same regardless of the gender of the protagonist. Gender can only affect the plot itself depending on type of world that is built. The Hunger Games, The Wizard of Earthsea, and The Hero and the Crown almost, if not perfectly, fit into Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. With the exception of The Hero and the Crown, Katniss and Ged both start “in the ordinary world.” We get to know Katniss and District 12, and Ged as a child in this hometown. The Hero and the Crown starts mid-story, but soon

Aerin finds her Luthe, Katniss has Haymitch, and Ged has Ogion. McKinley plays a bit with Luthe by making him a mentor figure and a love interest, but none of that effects the Campbell’s format. Aerin still goes through the “1st threshold,” then get some help from cat and dog like animals checking the “test/helpers” slot, and goes through the rest of the journey checklist. Each one of them completes the list by ending up being a hero, but Katniss story doesn’t end with being a hero and neither does Aerin or Ged. The story closes off and if the hero is a guy, he would most likely have a typical happy ending that involves getting a girl. Although Ged doesn’t have a romantic relationship with anyone, Yallow kind of played the girl who waited at home for hero to come back. Female protagonist seem to have more complicated endings or follow the male’s happy ending like how Aerin came back home and married Tor like a good wife. Heroes like Katniss tend to not be able to be with the