In some stories, this may result in a sort of suffering or punishment for the hero.

At this stage in the journey, he hesitates to accept the challenge. It will completely remove the hero from all things familiar and comfortable. The task seems daunting, and the outcome is unknown. Scared to leave the comfort of everything he knows, the hero second-guesses accepting the call to action. Frodo accepts the adventure in order to save his loved ones, his community, and ultimately, the world as they know it. Gandalf asks Frodo to take the Ring and destroy it, in order to save all of Middle-Earth. Exampleįrodo Baggins, the hero in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is called to action by the wizard Gandalf. It is a disruption to his ordinary world, a challenge that must be accepted. The call to action is something the hero cannot refuse no matter how much he’d like to. Itl is an interruption to the hero’s daily life-a threat to his livelihood, his loved ones, or his community. The call to adventure, also known as the call to action, can take many forms. What Are the Stages and Steps of the Hero’s Journey? Departure or Separation Stage 1. Fairytales and folklore alike are meant to be simple, lesson-teaching narratives for children and listeners to easily follow and comprehend-and the hero’s journey template makes it easy for them to do so.

The Hero’s Journey in Fairytales and Folkloreīecause it is an archetypal plot with universally approachable themes, the hero’s journey is prominently used in fairytales and folklore, such as Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella. Lastly, the Return is the hero’s trip back to their regular world and a content ending. The Initiation stage is when the hero crosses the point of no return and overcomes transformative challenges. During the Departure, the hero is introduced, as they are presented with and prepare for their journey. American professor of comparative mythology and literary critic Joseph Campbell, best known for his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which deconstructs the hero’s journey, or the monomyth, and compares it to different religions, spent much of his career breaking down the archetypal hero’s journey.Ĭampbell devised an equation of sorts, a step-by-step guide delineating each of the characteristic parts, which allows us to identify elements of the hero’s journey in the world around us.Īccording to Campbell, there are three main stages, which consist of several steps: the Departure (or Separation), the Initiation, and the Return. This hero’s journey archetype has been studied in great detail for its complexities and simultaneous relatability to human life. Joseph Campbell and The Hero With a Thousand Faces Some of the most common archetypes include death/rebirth plots, the journey home, the search for family, and-you guessed it!-the hero’s journey. These recurring features reflect universal, primitive, and elemental patterns, which are meant to evoke profound responses from the audience.

Whether it is Simba’s journey back to Pride Rock in The Lion King, or Harry’s quest to defeat Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, literary critics and readers alike can pinpoint certain elements of these stories and trace them back to ancient precedents. It is their process of embarking on an adventure, facing a challenge, and overcoming it to become a better person-usually improving the greater good along the way too.Įverything from Disney classics to literary classics follows an archetype-or a set of narrative designs, motifs, character types, images, or elements that every story inherently follows. The hero’s journey, simply put, is a character’s evolution. What Are the Stages and Steps of the Hero’s Journey?.

Ordinary world definition