Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story is a timeless tale of adventure, imagination, and self-discovery. The story revolves around Bastian Balthazar Bux, an innocent but awkward, socially outcast, and greatly misunderstood pre-teen boy of a widowered father who finds himself metaphorically and literally lost within the pages of a magical book entitled The Neverending Story.
Inside the book, Bastian discovers a terrible affliction has befallen the enchanting land of Fantastica, a mystic world full of rock creatures, purple buffaloes, and wind giants (to name a few). The malevolent force he finds is slowly and sporadically consuming Fantastica and all of its inhabitants. It is called the Nothing, and it threatens to destroy the world of Fantastica forever unless someone is able to find the one who will give the Childlike Empress a new name.
The Childlike Empress, also known as the Golden-Eyed Commander of Wishes, is an aloof, seemingly omnipotent, and mysterious girl that rules Fantastica. She is the fabric which holds Fantastica together, and in essence she is Fantastica. Her desire for a new name (which she claims wills save the world) leads a brave young warrior on an arduous journey to find someone who can give her a new moniker. That warrior’s name is Atreyu.
Atreyu is a strong and persevering hunter turned adventurer whose quest begins upon receipt of a message from the Childlike Empress to locate the giver of her new name. Though he does not fully understand his mission or final destination, Atreyu resolves himself to fulfill the request of the Childlike Empress. Bastian also resolves himself to see Atreyu’s story to the end, but he eventually realizes that Atreyu is not the only one on a mission from the empress an...
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...an is tested by the empress to give her a new name. The examples continue to follow both parts of the novel and both heroes, though all are in disorder according to Propp’s sequence. Regardless, at least twenty-four of Propp’s thirty-one functions are present in Ende’s novel.
CONCLUSION
The myth motifs discussed are but a few of the many to be found in Ende’s novel, though I would argue that the mythological parallels came second to his writing an engaging story. Rather than a cookie-cutter myth comparison, The Neverending Story is a fantastic journey through imagination. Only when examined and pulled apart do the intricate mythological relationships reveal themselves. I still wonder if the foundations of myth lurk in the subconscious minds of story tellers like Michael Ende, or are the relationships found in his and others’ stories entirely coincidental?
In movies, novels, and life, people are named as heroes. The heroes we establish and the heroes we recognize, however, may not meet the criteria for a mythic hero. A mythic hero ventures forth on his journey, and comes forth from the hero’s path to greatness. Joseph Campbell, a mythologist who studied many of the great human myths and religious tales, realized, in studying these myths and tales, that there were certain steps that every hero went through. Campbell called this “The Hero’s Journey”; it is based on Carl Jung's idea that all human beings have an archetype. After Campbell studied a lot of the great myths and realized this pattern, he published his findings in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Ever since then, authors have used “The Hero’s Journey” as an outline to tell their stories. “It is important to note that not all of these individual steps are present in every hero’s tale, nor is it important that they be in this exact order” (Vogler 20). The Hero with a Thousand Faces gives a sense of significance as it looks into the inner mind and soul. The author, Joseph Campbell, performs two extraordinary accomplishments: compelling his readers that myth and dream, those are the most effective and everlasting forces in life and a unification of mythology and psychoanalysis with a gripping narrative. One well-known example of “The Hero’s Journey” from popular culture is the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling. In the novel, Harry Potter, the main character, is the chosen one and “The Hero’s Journey” applies to his life from the moment he is attacked by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as a baby.
The structure of stories, on which Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and Booker’s Seven Basic Plots elaborated, is actually only a portion of the field of study it is under. Comparative mythology not only studies the structure of hero stories, but also origins, themes, and characteristics of myths from various religions and cultures. They study the language, psychology, history, and anthropology in order to identify a common theme or beginning point. Even without delving into religion, many common elements have come to light. For instance, many cultures have tales of people with strange supernatural abilities, others speak of similar creatures that reside in water, air or land, while still others extol the importance of talisman and religious symbols. Despite cultures existing on different ends of the earth and having little contact for much of their existence, they share these common
The narrative begins in the unassuming, yet ardent voice that carries the reader throughout his life story. He makes his plan...
Frye, Northrop. "The Koine of Myth: Myth as a Universally Intelligible Language." Northrop Frye Myth and Metaphor: Selected Essays, 1974-1988. Ed. Robert D. Denham. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990. 3-17.
At first glance, it seems that the abhorrent destiny of the main character is at the mercy of mischievous and cruel gods.
One of the most useful in advancing this story is the typical, powerful character. Whether it be supernatural or cunning this character always comes out on top in the situation and holds the most control over others and their actions. The “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” , “Leda and the Swan”, and “Harrison Bergeron” all utilize an archetypical powerful character to create tension from how each character uses their power.
All stories consist of a few common structural elements found universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams, and movies. They are known collectively as The Hero’s Journey. Understanding these elements and their use in modern writing is the object of our quest. Used wisely, these ancient tools of the storytellers craft still have tremendous power to heal our people and make the world a better place (xxvii).
This is an odd little book, but a very important one nonetheless. The story it tells is something like an extended parablethe style is plain, the characters are nearly stick figures, the story itself is contrived. And yet ... and yet, the story is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking because the historical trend it describes is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking.
During our infancy mostly of us (I hope) heard about the fairy tales that help us to imagine unrealistic ways of actions. Fairy tales also help us to think more broadly to solve a problem. We are used to read, listen, or see those compositions that are always written and censored many traumatic aspects to avoid bad interpretations. The majority of the stories are simplified to target lower ages, however, fairly tales can be scary. Sometimes, we do not notice the horror behind those stories. But to a great extent of stories, the fairy tales can be scary. The Shining is one of those fairly tales, where the father tries to kill his family. It is a fairy tale that is misinterpreted; however, the film itself depicts to be a fairy tale.
The writer acquaints the reader with the idea of myth. While recognizing that researchers contrast enormously on the exact definition, Oswalt demands that this should not discourage the single person from looking for a decent meaning of the saying. While trying to help characterize the saying, he records four essential qualities of a myth. These qualities conclude that people have practically zero natural worth, they are relatively absence of enthusiasm toward history, they are fascinated with magic and the occult, and they refuse to acknowledge obligation regarding individual
For centuries, authors have been writing stories about man's journey of self-discovery. Spanning almost three-thousand years, the Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer's Odyssey, and Dante's Inferno are three stories where a journey of self-discovery is central to the plot. The main characters, Gilgamesh, Telemachus, and Dante, respectively, find themselves making a journey that ultimately changes them for the better. The journeys may not be exactly the same, but they do share a common chain of events. Character deficiencies and external events force these three characters to embark on a journey that may be physical, metaphorical, or both. As their journeys progress, each man is forced to overcome certain obstacles and hardships. At the end of the journey, each man has been changed, both mentally and spiritually. These timeless tales relate a message that readers throughout the ages can understand and relate to.
Stylistically, the book is arranged in rotating chapters. Every fourth chapter is devoted to each individual character and their continuation alo...
The film tells the disconcerting story of a young girl who finds a magical realm. Ofelia was a young girl caught up in the fantasies of her fairy-tale books. The film, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, presents the reader with the journey that Ofelia took in attempting to complete the three tasks given to her by the faun, which she discovered when wandering through a labyrinth.
Further, the context in which the myth was written must be taken into account when reading the story. Bronislaw Malinowski in his essay “The Role of Myth in Life” says that “The text, of course, is extremely important, but without the context it remains lifeless” (Malinowski 201). The context that needs to be addressed when reading the myth are the cultural and sociological components that surround a mythological text. This context, consisting of the understanding of the culture in which the myth exte...
From the beginning of time, mythology has appeared to be one key method of understanding life’s confusions and battles. Within these myths lies a hero. From myth to myth and story to story, heroes experience what may be called a struggle or a journey, which lays down their plot line. Bearing tremendous strength, talent, and significant admiration, a hero holds what is precious to their audience, heroism. Over time however, no matter the hero, the hero’s role remains indistinguishable and identical to the position of every other hero.