ipl-logo

The Role Of The Hero's Journey In Literature

606 Words3 Pages
The Hero’s Journey is one of the most used archetypes in literature today. The Hero’s Journey consists of three steps that all heroes must go through to become legendary. Those steps are The Departure, The Initiation, and The Return. It is believed that Joseph Campbell’s “monomyth” is the foundation for many of our favorite hero tales. Some of these amazing stories and movies include Forrest Gump, by Winston Groom, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, and my favorite, The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey, by J.R.R Tolkien. The main character and hero in The Hobbit is Bilbo Baggins. He too goes through the steps of the Hero’s Journey. The first step in the Hero’s Journey is very hard for Bilbo Baggins as he has to choose between staying in the comfort of
Show More
Related
477 Words | 2 Pages

Every year, many books and novels are written and published by various authors and poets. These pieces of literature are a form of entertainment that provide various and numerous stories about a hero’s journey. Many novels today consist of the Monomyth, which is also known as the Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s Journey consists of “Twelve different Parts” that work as a clock and go in Chronological order. Three basic parts of the Hero’s Journey are the Mentor Help, Ordinary World, and Reward.

Read More
2063 Words | 9 Pages

The Monomyth (mythological telling of a heroic journey) is a narrative structure which a work of Fantasy usually takes leading into the three main stages: Departure, Initiation and Return. Within those three main stages there are sub stages, which the heroic character follows more simply like a path. The Monomyth also known as the Hero’s Journey, which was created by Joseph Campbell. This essay explores on how The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien fits or how it may not fit the cliché points of The Hero’s Journey as explored in the paragraphs below: 1. Departure: This is the first stage of the Monomyth, which deals with the hero’s “adventure” prior to the quest/ journey.

Read More
848 Words | 4 Pages

The relationship between the hero 's journey and the foundational myths Part 4 The GSDG Part 5 The relationship between GSDG and the foundational myths The hero 's journey The hero 's journey is a template created and popularized by Joseph Campbell.

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

In J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins started out terrified of adventuring and thought his only superior skills in life were his ability to cook and blow smoke rings. Throughout the adventure his attributes are slowly morphed as they go through Joseph Campbell’s hero pattern. Bilbo is capable to make confident decisions and learns how to be devoted, generous and cares about more than his trivial life under the hill. Bilbo Baggins tried to maintain an everyday average normal hobbit life until adventure found him and put him on Joseph Campbell’s hero pattern. Bilbo goes through phases in Joseph Campbell’s hero pattern such as a refusal to call, when Gandalf and the dwarves greet him at his door, crossing of the first threshold, when Bilbo

Read More
493 Words | 2 Pages

The notion of the hero journey is widely used in multiple stories and movies. The hero’s journey includes these specific steps, Meeting the mentor, test allies, and enemies, and the Call to Adventure. In the realistic fiction novel Ghost Boys, they put the Hero’s Journey into the novel of 12 year old Jerome, who is a ghost because he is shot by a cop. He has to go through a series of events of working with other boys like him and the daughter of the cop that killed him who can see him to eventually put his soul to rest. The Meeting the Mentor is the first part of The Hero’s Journey that applies to the Ghost Boys.

Read More
762 Words | 4 Pages

The Odyssey, one of the world’s most famous stories, has been under debate on whether on whether or not it conforms to be a hero’s journey, a type of pattern theorized to be at the core of many myths. To understand its potential monomyth-hood, the story has be understood, as well as the different phases of a hero’s journey. A hero’s journey, by definition, must include a few characteristics: a phase where the hero leaves their home and decides on a quest, a period marked by a discovered conflict, an all-out struggle, the development of the hero, and the hero bettering the lives of those back at home. In The Odyssey, Odysseus, the protagonist, journeys to his home, in Ithaca, from Troy, where he waged and won a war. Along the way, Odysseus

Read More
712 Words | 3 Pages

Have you noticed that there are many similarities in the plot of popular books and movies? The hero 's journey is an archetype that is commonly used. An archetype is a typical example of a book, a movie and so on. The hero’s journey is a series of steps a character in literature takes to become a hero. The steps in the hero’s journey are Call to Adventure, Assistance, Departure, Trials, Approach, Crisis, Treasure, Result, Return, New Life, and Resolution.

Read More
403 Words | 2 Pages

The hero’s journey is an adventure that every protagonist takes. As a story goes on the main character takes a journey; a journey into a different world as himself and comes out a different person. Odysseus takes a journey of temptation and hardship; bringing him to realize that even though he may be a king, he is not the greatest. The Odyssey demonstrates the Hero’s journey accurately.

Read More
654 Words | 3 Pages

The Heroes Journey, identified by American scholar Joseph Campbell, is a pattern of narrative that describes the typical adventure of the main hero, whether that be a fiction or nonfiction hero. The first step is the call to adventure, where something shakes up the hero’s current situation and the hero starts experiencing change. Consequently, this theory is also applied to the fictional hero Odysseus in The Odyssey and the real-life hero Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist. In The Odyssey, Odysseus embarks on a 10-year voyage from Troy to Ithaca and encounters many monsters along the way including a gigantic Cyclops described as “…a brute so huge, he seemed no man at all…” (9 89-90).

Read More
689 Words | 3 Pages

Many know about the idea of the "monomyth," or the hero's journey as an outline for many of our modern books, movies, t.v. series, etc. Joseph Campbell's definition for the hero's journey is, "the quintessential (or best example) of an archetypal myth. " The Disney film Hercules is one of the best examples of Joseph Campbell's monomyth. For instance step one of the hero's journey outline is the Ordinary world. Hercules was born the son to Zeus and Hero.

Read More
94 Words | 1 Pages

The Hobbit, a fantasy novel written by author J.R.R. Tolkien, follows the story of a regular Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who goes on an incredible journey in search of wealth and, unbeknownst to him, his own self-worth. This adventure that Bilbo goes on happens to perfectly portray the stages of “A Hero’s Journey”, which, discovered by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, is the theory that all heroes, ranging from those in Greek mythology to those in today’s TV shows, encounter he same basic, universal stages throughout their journeys.

Read More
1064 Words | 5 Pages

When creating a story, many great minds will use a pattern to enthrall readers and shape them into a hero. Established by Joseph Campbell, The Hero 's Journey is the iconic template many utilize to plan their imaginative tale. The Hero’s Journey is the cycle in which the protagonist ventures into an unknown world where he or she will go through a series of adventures and learn moral lessons. Heroes in ancient myths such as Homer 's epic poem, The Odyssey follows this formula since the protagonist, Odysseus, faces hardships throughout different regions that ultimately change his once arrogant character. Throughout Homer 's monomyth, Odysseus undergoes challenges that teach him the importance of humility.

Read More
907 Words | 4 Pages

According to Oxford Dictionaries, pentacle is a talisman or a magical object, in a shape of a disc and usually inscribed with a pentagram. The origins of this word date back to 16th century, when Latin word pentaculum was used. It is based on greek word penta, which means five. Pentacle is usually made from parchment, paper or metal, although other materials can also be used.

Read More
1612 Words | 7 Pages

In Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, he writes about the many different stages of the hero’s journey. He claims that the hero’s journey, or the monomyth, has existed as a guideline for authors and storytellers for centuries. The authors of these stories may have consciously utilized the monomyth, or the stories may be so commonly used that it became the natural way of telling a story about a hero. The monomyth is organized into three different phases: the initiation, separation, and return. Within these phases are the different encounters the hero has.

Read More
1131 Words | 5 Pages

Campbell writes about the concept that countless myths all share a basic structure, called the monomyth. In this, the hero of the story undergoes a number of steps in his journey, labelled Departure, Initiation and Return (cf. Ahmed, 2012, 4): (1) In the Departure stage, the hero enters a strange world of often supernatural powers and events, after being called to it in the normal world he’s lived in (cf. Colbert, 2008, 208).

Read More

More about The Role Of The Hero's Journey In Literature

Related Topics

Open Document