Comparison of Odysseys

When exploring the world of literature, an odyssey is often experienced by a character that ends up affecting him/her either mentally of physically. This school year, books ranged from various genres, but all were involved in some kind of odyssey. An odyssey (often confused by a journey) is much more eventful and Odysseus himself experiences it, including Elie Wiesel from Night and Riva Minska from The Cage. Odysseys are a type of epic goal that Odysseus experiences through his struggles on Calypso’s island, Ogygia along with Elie, who experiences this through his torturous times at concentration camps, and Riva experiences this through her struggle to survive during the Holocaust as well.

To begin, the definition of an odyssey is an expedition to reach a goal, but it is always extremely difficult because of the numerous amounts of obstacles that come in the way to avoid the character from being successful. It generally takes up the entire plot of the play, and ends with showing the character has changed as an individual somehow, from the situations the person was put into. When someone goes on an odyssey, this means they have left everything behind to accomplish one task, and it seems as though everything humanly tries to stop the person from reaching their destination. This definition of an odyssey separates it from other minor journeys because minor journeys typically last for a short period of time, and do not involve as deep of passion.

Firstly, Odysseus embarks on a journey while he is stranded with Calypso on an island. The majority of the story is about Odysseus and his effort to return home after the Trojan War. However, every time Odysseus tries, many obstacles come in the way in order to stop him from doing ...

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...For most of The Cage, and 10 years of the Odyssey, Riva and Odysseus were on their own, making their own choices. The decisions had to be intelligent and mature because there was no one to double-check them. Elie at least had his dad for most of the book, so he had someone to keep him grounded.

In conclusion, the main component of the definition of an odyssey is that the character grows somehow. As an audience, this is seen with Odysseus and his efforts to make it home to Ithaca. It is also seen with Elie Wiesel and the horrible adventures experienced next to his father. Lastly, with Riva and the struggle to survive through the holocaust (which worked) and turned her into the mature woman that she was shown as in the end of the book. Odysseys have been appearing in many stories all across the world of literature, changing the lives of many characters along with it.