English IV Honors - Hialeah Senior High School



English IV Honors Mr. Richey, Mr. Gonzalez 

The Universal Theme of the Journey

Assignment:  Culminating project for year on the Universal Theme of the Journey.

        The following ideas come directly from The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1948) by Joseph Campbell.  Those ideas are paraphrased except for the quotation – they come directly from Campbell’s text.

        Using the following steps, show how the "hero" travels to his (her)* goal.  Note:  not all steps will apply to all heroes nor do the steps always happen in this sequence.

       *(For the purposes of clarity, only the masculine pronoun has been used here.  This in no way discounts the application of the phases to women characters in literature.)

1.  The Call to Action:  What urges the hero to his action?  This step "signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transformed his center of gravity from within the pale of society to a zone unknown."  He is called to exit the safe, known life of society and to enter the risk-filled, dangerous world of the unknown.  (It could be an unknown space or unknown idea or unknown beings, etc.)

2.  Supernatural Aid:  Frequently the hero is assisted.  If he answers the call the first encounter may be "with a protective figure . . . who provides the adventurer with" assistance such as but not limited to advice, amulets, super power, knowledge.  The helper may be an old crone, a fairy godmother, a type of friend with these powers, or a super-human trait.  It is someone who guides the hero "safely through the adventure of the labyrinth."  The figure "represents the benign, protecting power of destiny."  With this aid, "the hero finds all the forces of the unconscious at his side." This aid may seem to come from within the hero himself.

3.  Crossing the Threshold:  When is the quest begun and what shows that it has begun?  Here the hero must confront the custodians which "bound the world in four directions-- standing as the limits of the hero's present sphere or life horizon.  Beyond them is darkness, the unknown, danger.  Just beyond the protection of his society, danger to the member of the tribe."  The hero knows that the dangers must be penetrated if he is to undertake his journey to his inner self and to the dragon obstacles.  The hero must do this because it is only by advancing beyond these bounds "that the individual passes . . . into the new zone of experience."

4.  The Road of Trials: What are the trials that test the hero's resolve to continue the quest?  What does he have to overcome in order to achieve his goal?  (This is the stuff of most movies, cartoons, comics.)  "Once having traversed the threshold, the hero moves in a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms where he must survive a succession of trials."  The hero is tested and proves himself.  Before the trials end, if they ever do, the hero must face the two greatest trials:  leaving or being expelled by his society, and striving unflinchingly to regain its acceptance.  He must be "cut off" and then "discover and assimilate his opposite."  The hero must submit completely to his task.  He must confront his inner truth in order to "find that he and his opposite are not of differing species, but one flesh."

5.  Encounter with the Dragon: What is the hero's "dragon"?  (In that the dragon is part of the hero himself, what part of himself is it necessary for him to conquer in order to continue the quest?)  ". . . [I]f anyone-- in whatever society-- undertakes for himself the perilous journey into the darkness by descending, either intentionally or unintentionally, into the crooked lanes of his own spiritual [fears], he soon finds himself in a landscape of symbolical figures (any one of which may swallow him)."  This is the "purification of the self."  Another way of saying this is that the "dragons" are the obstacles, which must be overcome.  It may be a monster or it may be a fear or a doubt.  Recognize that the "dragon" is that which keeps the hero from his "prize," his success.  There may be many "dragons" on the road of trials.

6.  Slaying the Dragon: What does the hero do to show his resolve to win?  When and under what circumstances is the "dragon" slain?  What does the hero discover of himself in his success?  This phase is usually the most exciting or the most dramatic, and it may very well be the most tragic. 

7.  Claiming the Boon: Does the hero succeed?  What is the reward?  How is it won?  Some heroes reach this point, some don't; some reach only to then die.  The boon may be great renown in battle, or it may be riches of gold and silver, or grand knowledge.  Regardless, it includes some form of self-discovery.  It is what contributes to making the hero more complete or more self-aware.  Ironically, it may mean that the hero detaches himself from the ego or the conditioned concept of self that holds him back from greater knowledge. 

8.  Returning with the Boon: Does the hero return from his conquest with something he "won" or with something he gained?  Is it great riches he can offer to his king or his motherland?  Is the boon a form of knowledge and can it be shared.  In many cases the hero's journey is completed when the "dragon" is slain, and there is no greater boon than success.  But in greater quests the hero returns with something which can be of value to his society or homeland.  If this is the case, what is the value of the boon to the hero's people?

        Some heroes do not complete the entire quest.  You must decide which of these steps apply.  Then, you must interpret how the particular experiences within the work are demonstrated.

        You should be able to follow the journey easily with these steps.  Think of the various terms in each step as they apply to the works.  

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