Monomyth

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This article is about the general monomyth concept of a hero's journey. For the graphical MMORPG Hero's Journey, please see Hero's Journey (game).

The monomyth (often referred to as the Hero's Journey) is a cyclical journey found in myths suggested by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) [link]. As a noted scholar of James Joyce (in 1944 he authored the text, with Henry Morton Robinson, A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake [link]), Campbell borrowed the term, monomyth from Joyce's Finnegan's Wake.

This pattern was adopted by George Lucas in both the original Star Wars trilogy and its prequels, as he was highly influenced by Campbell, particularly The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

Hollywood screenwriter, Christopher Vogler, also used Campbell's theories in the creation of first a memo for Disney and later the book, [[The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers]]. This influenced Disney's The Lion King in 1994 and the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix in the 2000s.

Campbell's account of the monomyth explains its ubiquity through a mixture of Jungian archetypes, unconscious forces of mind from the Freudian conception, and Arnold van Gennep's structuring of rites of passage rituals.

Since the late 1960s, with the introduction of Post-structuralism, theories such as the monomyth (which are dependent upon approaches based in Structuralism) have lost ground in the academy. This pattern of the hero's journey is still influential among artists and intellectuals worldwide, however, which may indicate the continued usefulness and ubiquitous influence of Campbell's works (and thus as evidence for the importance and validity of Freudian and especially Jungian psychological models).

Contents

Structure

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The Manganiello Monomyth is divided into three sections: Departure (sometimes called Separation), Initiation and Return.

This was laid out by Joseph Campbell in the first part of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, "The Adventure of the Hero." His thesis was that all myths follow this structure to at least some extent. To take three examples: the Christ story follows this structure almost exactly, whereas the Odyssey features frequent repetitions of the Initiation section and the Cinderella story follows this structure somewhat more loosely.

Departure deals with the hero venturing forth on his quest; Initiation deals with the hero's various adventures along his or her way; and Return deals with the hero's return home with knowledge and powers he or she has acquired along the way.

Departure (or Separation)

The Call to Adventure

The quest begins with the hero receiving a call to action. Such as a threat to the peace of the community, or the hero in a state of neurotic anguish or simply falls into or blunders into the quest. The quest is often announced to the hero by another character who acts as a "herald".

In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, the hero, begins the story in frustration over being unable to leave home. The heralds are the two droids who carry a message from Princess Leia. In The Matrix, the call comes in the form of Morpheus and his followers who encourage the hero, Neo, to question reality. Morpheus literally calls Neo on a cell phone and Neo's phone at home. In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf acts as the herald who gives Frodo his mission to destroy the One Ring. Aragorn, in a separate hero's journey, is told by Elrond of his true name and lineage as the Heir of Isildur and rightful heir to the throne of Gondor when he is 20 years of age. In Ender's Game, Graff, head of the Battle School informs Ender that he has been chosen to be trained to fight the Formics, an alien race intending to destroy the human race. In the origin story for Spider-Man, Peter Parker's first call to adventure comes when he is first bitten by a radioactive spider and granted superpowers but later on he answers a want ad promising money if he can last three minutes in a ring with a wrestler. At the beginning of Prey, Tommy Tawodi wants to convince his girlfriend to leave the reservation where they live, and soon after he is abducted by aliens. In the Wheel of Time, Rand and his friends are warned by Moraine that the Dark One is hunting them.

Refusal of the Call

In many stories, the hero initially refuses the call to adventure. When this happens, the hero suffers somehow, and eventually chooses the quest.

In The Matrix, Neo refuses to take the window washing scaffold to escape and is captured by the Agents. In Star Wars, Luke is refused adventure by his uncle, a man who seeks to protect Luke from the inevitable dangers of fate. As a result, Luke's family is killed by stormtroopers. In The Lord of The Rings, Frodo is unwilling to set out on an adventure. Because of his delay, he is nearly captured by the Ringwraiths. In Ender's Game, Ender is reluctant to leave the Earth because he knows he will not see his sister Valentine Wiggin for many years. Peter Parker at first uses his powers for personal gain, ignoring his Uncle Ben's advice that "With great power, comes great responsibility." It is only after Uncle Ben is killed by a burglar that Peter takes his uncle's mantra and adopts the mantle of Spider-Man. In Prey, Tommy's girlfriend does not want them to leave the reservation because that is the land of their ancestors.

Supernatural Aid

Along the way, the hero often encounters a helper, usually a wise old man, who gives the hero both psychological and physical weapons.

In Star Wars, Luke encounters the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi who presents Luke with a lightsaber and teaches him the Force. In The Lord of the Rings Frodo and Sam Gamgee receive help early in their journey from several figures, notably Tom Bombadil, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf. In the James Bond series of movies, the character of Q, acting as a Shaman, gives Agent 007 gadgets, tools, and cautionary advice, and the character of M acts in the role of Mentor, offering 007 guidance. Hannibal Lecter, in The Silence of the Lambs gives Agent Starling many psychological weapons. In Ender's Game, Mazer Rackham the hero of the second buggers' invasion returns from a light speed journey that kept him alive in order to train Ender. In Prey, Tommy meets a premature end (from which he is then resurrected) and meets again with his grandfather in the spirit world, who teaches him to use the power of spirit walk. In The Wheel of Time, Moiraine plays the role of a mentor to Rand, though her and Rand often struggle to be in charge, and Rand doesn't trust her

The Crossing of the First Threshold

The hero eventually must cross into a dark underworld, where he will face evil and darkness, and thereby find true enlightenment. Before this can occur, however, the hero must cross the threshold between his home world and the new world of adventure. Often this involves facing off against and quelling a "threshold guardian".

In Star Wars, the threshold is Mos Eisley, a spaceport that acts as a doorway between Luke's home planet and the wider universe; Luke must avoid capture by the threshold guardians, the imperial stormtroopers. In The Matrix, Neo takes the "red pill". In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo finally accepts his mission in Rivendell and crosses the threshold once he leaves there. Also in Rivendell, Aragorn meets Boromir who tells of the plight that Gondor is now in while at the same time confronting those present for not aiding Gondor; Aragorn sees that he must now save Gondor and claim the kingship. In The Odyssey, Odysseus must pass the island of the Sirens. In The Silence of the Lambs, Agent Starling must enter not only Lecter's hospital, guarded by the semen-flinging guardian, but also the second threshold of the sealed storage facility Lecter directs her to. In Prey, this is a literal threshold: a wall of fire through which Tommy must pass to pick up his spirit bow. In The Wheel of Time, The heroes must elude the Draghar and escape across the Taren River that isolates their community.

The Belly of the Whale

Having defeated the threshold guardian, the hero finds himself in a place of darkness where he begins his true adventure, perhaps discovering his true purpose. This 'belly of the whale' may be an ambiguous place of dream-like forms. The name for this stage of the monomyth is based upon the story of Jonah.

In Star Wars, it is the Death Star, in which Luke is engulfed and in which he learns how to be a hero. In The Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship passes through the abandoned mines of Moria. In The Matrix, Neo finds himself waking up in a bio-electric cell where he is one of the humans being harvested by the machines. In The Silence of the Lambs, Starling finds the serial killer Buffalo Bill's first victim within the dark, womblike storage facility. In Prey, Tommy ventures through a semi-organic Dyson sphere, with corridors resembling intestines, to save his girlfriend. In The Wheel of Time, the company must make their way through the cursed ruins of Shadar Logoth

Initiation

The Road of Trials

Once in the other world, the hero is repeatedly challenged with mental and physical obstacles that must be overcome. Often these take the form of a test, by which the hero improves his skills and proves his worth.

In [[Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back|The Empire Strikes Back]], Luke undergoes his training with Yoda. Aragorn, after the loss of Gandalf in Moria, must now take the position of leader of the Fellowship, and struggles to lead them as well as Gandalf wanted to. In The Silence of the Lambs, Starling must deal with sexism and her own fear while investigating Buffalo Bill. In The Matrix, Neo must deal with "the difference between knowing the path and walking the path" while rescuing Morpheus from the Agents.

The Meeting with the Goddess

After overcoming the Road of Trials, the hero often encounters a goddess-like woman: beautiful, queenlike, or motherly. The hero faces the goddess and in doing so, faces his anima. By uniting with the goddess, he becomes a whole person, reconciling his feminine nature with his masculine nature. This can also be a negative encounter when the goddess is replaced by The Temptress (see next section). Campbell cites the lure of the woman, leading the hero astray (the hero is assumed to be male). Other cultural mythologists broaden this to include all temptation, and sometimes lump this stage in with the Road of Trials.

Examples: In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo takes Trinity as a lover. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo meets Galadriel, who shows him the future. Aragorn also meets Galadriel, who counsels him on his future actions. In Shrek, Shrek tells Fiona he loves her. In The Silence of the Lambs, Buffalo Bill kidnaps a senator's daughter and the female senator initially appears as a benevolent, matriarchal force. In Garden State, the actress Natalie Portman plays an epileptic young woman named Sam who helps the hero, Large, feel and live again.

Woman as Temptress, or Temptation From the True Path

In some Hero's Quests, the hero will encounter the goddess, but before he can unite with her, he must prove his worthiness by overcoming the temptation of the Woman as Temptress.

There is some debate as to whether this is truly a universal feature of myths, or a specific example of a broader category of "temptation away from the true path". Although most of Campbell's book uses examples from many cultures, his chapter on "Woman As the Temptress" draws examples exclusively from Judeo-Christian mythology.[link] Some examples of temptations which do not cast woman as the villain are Satan tempting Christ (and similarly, various saints), and the seductive 'Dark Side' in the Star Wars series.

Some examples which do involve women in the role of temptress: The Matrix Reloaded, Persephone attempts to seduce Neo. In The Odyssey, the temptress is the nymph Calypso. Interestingly, in Star Wars, there is tension between Luke and Han Solo over their love for Princess Leia -- this is resolved in Episode VI, Return of the Jedi when Luke finds out that Leia is actually his sister. Luke is also tempted by the dark side itself, as demonstrated by his vision in the cave on Dagobah. In this way, George Lucas broke away from the Campbellian model and put the Woman as Temptress into the Road of Trials category. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is tempted to give the Ring to Galadriel and forsake his mission. An interesting twist here is that Frodo also tempts Galadriel into becoming a "Lady of the Ring". In The Silence of the Lambs, Starling's offer of a reduced sentence for Hannibal Lecter, supposedly authorized by the senator, is revealed as a trick. In the recent miniseries of Hercules (2005), he falls in love with the nymph Deianeira.

Interesting twists on this theme can be found in love stories, love-based dramas, and romantic comedies. For example, in the movie Almost Famous, the character of William Miller must give in to the temptation of the band groupies to prove to Penny Lane that he is worldly enough to love her.

Atonement with the Father

The hero may encounter a father-like figure of patriarchal authority. "Father" and "son" are often pitted against each other for mastery of the universe. To understand the father, and ultimately himself, the hero must reconcile with this ultimate authority figure.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke confronts Darth Vader and learns that he is his father; in [[Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi|Return of the Jedi]], he is reconciled with the reformed Vader. In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo meets The Architect, a program who identifies himself as the father of the Matrix. In The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn must face the legacy of his ancestor Isildur, by rising above the darkness where he failed. Aragorn directly faces this legacy most clearly when he decides to ride the Paths of the Dead and gain the allegiance of the Army of the Dead, a feat which only the true Heir of Isildur can perform. In The Silence of the Lambs, Starling comes to terms with the death of her father through Hannibal Lecter.

Apotheosis

The Hero's Ego is disintegrated in a breakthrough expansion of consciousness. Quite frequently his idea of reality is changed, he may find himself able to do new things or able to see a larger point of view, allowing him to sacrifice self.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke sacrifices himself rather than turn to the dark side. In The Matrix, Neo decides to face off against Agent Smith resulting in his eventual initiation as The One. In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo destroys several Sentinels in the real world using only his mind. In The Matrix Revolutions, Neo realises that machine life is as valid as human life and decides to give his own life in order to reconcile the worlds of both man and machine. Aragorn gains command of the immortal Army of the Dead, making his forces undefeatable. In The Silence of the Lambs after atonement, Starling gains knowledge from Lecter and must challenge Buffalo Bill on her own. In While You Were Sleeping, Sandra Bullock gives up her dream of the perfect man (Peter Gallagher), and also gives up the real perfect man that she's met (Bill Pullman), and the perfect family she could have had with one of them, the perfect life, everything that she ever wanted.

The Ultimate Boon

Having reconciled with the father and achieved personal enlightenment, the hero's psychological forces are again balanced. His new found knowledge, or boon, also has potential to benefit society.

In the Christ story, Jesus surrenders himself to the Romans, setting in motion his ultimate fate of crucifixion. In The Lord of the Rings, all of the hobbits gain wisdom and experience during their journey which allows them to easily set things right in the Shire on their return. By calling upon his heritage as the Heir of Isildur to take command of the Army of the Dead, Aragorn is now more in tune with his true nature and purpose as rightful heir to the throne of Gondor than ever before. In The Silence of the Lambs Starling graduates into an agent, her psychological forces balanced despite Lecter's escape.

Return

Refusal of the Return

Having found bliss and enlightenment in the underworld, the hero may not want to return with the boon.

In Ender's Game Ender and Valentine choose to leave the Earth forever by opting to go on a starship to colonize the conquered Bugger worlds.

The Magic Flight

A mad dash is made by the hero to return with the prize.

In The Matrix Revolutions, Neo takes a ship to the Machine City. In The Lord of the Rings Frodo and Sam are rescued from the slopes of Mt. Doom by Gandalf and the Eagles (which is also a "Rescue from Without"). Aragorn, after exiting the Paths of the Dead with his new invincible Shadow Army, must now make a mad dash across Gondor in a race against time to liberate the coast from an invasion of Corsairs, then lead the Southern army of Gondor north to save Minas Tirith from destruction, all in only six days.

In many fairy tales and folktales, it is literally a magic flight, with the hero or heroine transforming objects to stop the pursuit (The Master Maid, The Water Nixie) or transforming himself and any companions to hide themselves (Farmer Weathersky or Foundling-Bird).

Rescue from Without

The hero may need to be rescued from without by humanity.

In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is ultimately unable to destroy the Ring without Gollum's unwilling help.

The Crossing of the Return Threshold

Before the hero can return to the real world, he must confront another threshold guardian. The first threshold was a symbolic death; this is now a symbolic rebirth.

In The Matrix Revolutions, Neo again confronts Smith. In Return of the Jedi, Luke again confronts Darth Vader. In The Lord of the Rings, the final threshold for the hobbits re-entering the Shire is guarded by Saruman and his Ruffians. For Aragorn, this means making a final confrontation with Sauron's forces in a suicidal attack on his massive army at the Black Gate.

Master of Two Worlds

Once the final threshold is crossed, the hero is now free to move back and forth between the two worlds at will. He has mastered the conflicting psychological forces of the mind.

In Return of the Jedi, Luke becomes a Jedi. In the Christ story, Jesus is resurrected. In The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor and Arnor, and has defeated Mordor (later re-destributing its conquered lands to the former slaves that tilled the fields in its southern regions). Aragorn then marries Arwen, daughter of his father-figure Elrond, uniting the worlds of Elf and Man. Finally, Aragorn finds a new sapling of the White Tree of Gondor, and Gandalf informs him that he is leaving Middle-earth now that Sauron is defeated: Gandalf now officially "passes the torch" of responsibility for protecting Middle-earth and its peoples from himself on to Aragon and his descendants.

Freedom to Live

With the journey now complete, the hero has found true freedom, and can turn his efforts to helping or teaching humanity.

In The Lord of the Rings, the hobbits become prominent citizens of the Shire with the wisdom they have gained. Aragorn reigns as King for many decades and ushers in a new age of peace and the rebuilding of Middle-earth. He then starts a family with Arwen, his Queen.

Criticism

Many myths and stories do not follow monomyth pattern. Supposed general nature of monomyth may have come from overlooking non-monomythic stories or deeming them a priori less interesting.

American novelist Kurt Vonnegut satirized Campbell's views on the monomyth as being excessively complicated by offering his interpretation, called the 'In The Hole' theory; loosely defined as "The hero gets into trouble. The hero gets out of trouble.'

American philosopher John Shelton Lawrence and American religious scholar Robert Jewett have discussed an "American Monomyth" in many of their books, The American Monomyth, The Myth of the American Superhero, and Captain American and the Crusade of Zealous Nationalism.

The theory may "beg the question", and one may look in a story for the elements, and subsequently discover them, although the conclusion rests on the premise that the elements would be found. The scope for interpretation on each stage may allow any story to fit it if analysis is undertaken, making any insights from the theory useless.

Similarly, works written after the popularisation of Campbell's theory may have been deliberately structured to conform to it; this cannot be taken as supporting the theory that the elements of the monomyth arise unconsciously and inevitably. The most famous example of a story consciously written as a monomyth is the Star Wars series.

Common use of monomyth was blamed for lack of originality and cliches in popular culture, especially big-budget Hollywood films [4].

References

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949.
--with Henry Morton Robinson. A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake, 1944.
Joyce, James. Finnegan's Wake, 1939.
Vogler, Christopher. [[The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers]]. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998.

Books based upon interviews with Campbell

The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. Edited and with an Introduction by Phil Cousineau. Forward by Stuart L. Brown, Executive Editor. New York: Harper and Row, 1990.
The Power of Myth (with Bill Moyers and Betty Sue Flowers, ed.), 1988

DVD/Discography

Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth (1988)
The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell (1987)

External links

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