Monday 28 May 2018

The Basics About The Heros Journey

By Kevin Jackson


Whether a person is a literary buff or not, plenty of people have heard of this kind of story and might even be familiar with it if they don't think they've heard of it. There are many different genres that the heros journey can be used in, and it has been widely used all the way from ancient myths to modern box office smashes. The elements of these journeys are quite iconic and thus stick with people who see them in movies or read about them in books.

The main thing that happens to heroes who go on journeys like these is that they go from the known to the unknown. That is, they leave their home due to a call to adventure, which they are initially averse to, and are quickly swept up into a world of chaos. After making some kind of life-changing discovery, the hero eventually makes his or her way back home.

Star Wars is a franchise that has been around for decades, and the film that started it all was highly derived from this mythological template. Although George Lucas wasn't necessarily aware that he was doing it, there are plenty of elements of this type of a quest that are quite plainly present in the story. As soon as the film was released, people were talking about the presence of these classic elements in a modern popular movie.

While this is hailed by many as one of the greatest types of journeys for a character to take, it is not without criticism. Some people say that the categories included in this type of template are highly vague, and thus don't really hold much meaning. In order for the hero to have a meaningful experience, the substance and content of the story must be able to back it up.

Outside of stories, this is a literary device that can actually help cure people of their mental problems. There are several therapeutic techniques that have been developed, being modeled after Campbell's interpretation of this myth. This is also used in self-help.

There are some who say that these journeys are geared towards males much more than females. That's why some writers have written their versions of heroine's journeys. These are interesting to read to compare and contrast with Campbell's version.

While it is great to be a hero and save many people, critics of these stories say that it teaches people to rely too heavily on these brave individuals. Without using their own judgment, people can lose their autonomy. There are many great novels with a plot that reflects this school of thought and counters it.

It is unfortunate that this type of story is sometimes overused to the point of it becoming uninteresting to some. When the elements of a story can all be predicted before they happen, this does not make for a very exciting story. Big Hollywood movies are often guilty of this because of the pressure to get their movie to do well in the box office.




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