(I) The Hero’s Journey

The Hero’s Journey

Hello, and welcome to the hero’s journey. There are 12 important steps in this journey, and over the next 3 weeks we’ll go over them. The steps vary from setting, to character, to encounter and they outline the most important events our hero will face. Here are the first four!

The Ordinary World

This stage allows us to know the Hero and identify with them before the journey begins. This stage identifies the hero’s drives, urges, and problems, while also showing unique flaws and characteristics that make the hero three-dimensional.

Examples of this are; Santiago’s life as a shepherd in The Alchemist, Winterfell before the slaying of Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, Harry’s life before Hogwarts in Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, Ashitaka before acquiring his curse in Princess Mononoke, etc, etc, the list goes on.

The Call To Adventure

The Call To Adventure disrupts the ordinary world by presenting a challenge or quest that must be undertaken. The call establishes the stakes involved if the challenge is rejected. Often delivered by a Herald. Many times the hero must choose between two conflicting calls.

Examples of this are; when Santiago visited the Gypsy and she told him the meaning of his dreams, the various irrefusable calls of the Stark children, the owl mail from Hogwarts is an example of a call that is refused and the more it is refused, the more irrefutable it becomes, Ashitaka’s banishment from his village, etc, etc, the list goes on.

Refusal Of The Call

This was covered largely in the example section of the previous section. The call is often, but not always, refused. As the number of times it is refused increases, the stakes of the call also increase to where the hero has no sway in the decision anymore.

Examples above.

Meeting The Mentor

The hero meets a mentor to gain confidence, insight, advice, and training or magical aid. This is done in order to gain confidence and capability before facing the threshold of the adventure.

Examples of this are; The Crystal merchant for Santiago, The various events and trainings of the Stark Children (we will hone in on Bran’s story from here on out.), Hagrid for Harry, The travelling monk for Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke, etc, etc, the list goes on.

Synopsis

These are the first four steps!

- The Ordinary World
- The Call To Adventure
- Refusal Of The Call
- Meeting The Mentor


Next week we’ll be moving from the normal world into the special world and this is where a lot of the magic of a story happens.

I hope you’ve enjoyed!

I’ll leave you with a few photos from my week.
Thanks for reading.


Stay warm.
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(II) The Hero’s Journey

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