Monsters, battles, gods, and heroes. These ideas are usually only found in fictional stories, but Campbells 12 steps of the hero’s journey can be applied to real life heroes and the conflicts they overcome. Joseph Campbell's idea of the hero’s journey is an archetype that transcends all works of fiction and can even be applied to real life. It tells the story of a protagonist going on an adventure, during which they encounter many tests, allies and overcome great challenges. It is most often found in literature but due to it being so universal, it can be seen in almost anything, even in the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton is best known for being on the ten dollar bill, establishing the first national bank, and being one …show more content…
The first step of Campbell’s Hero’s Journey is when the protagonist is introduced in his ordinary world. A main component of the Hero’s Journey, as described in Justin Vogler’s article, is that the hero is placed into a strange world that they do not understand, so as to contrast this “you first have to create a contrast by showing him in his mundane, ordinary world” (Vogler). Hamilton’s ordinary world begins after years of death and despair. His father left him, and only a few years later his mother died when he was at the age of 12. After working hard as a manager of a book store, and writing non-stop, he was sent to a preparatory school. He then made it into Kings College in New York, and after graduating, he “rapidly became involved in America's burgeoning war with Britain” (Freeman). This was Hamilton’s ordinary world. Constantly writing against powerful political figures and doing whatever he can to fight for his nation. This wasn’t enough for him though. Despite doing all he could, he still wanted to do more. This draws a clear parallel to the Hero’s Journey. Hamilton is trapped in a mundane world where he wishes that he could do more. Even though he has many things in his life that occupy him, he is still stuck in that Ordinary World that Campbell’s archetype …show more content…
The next step in the journey is the Supreme Ordeal, described as “the moment at which the hero touches bottom”(Vogler). It is the lowest and most suspenseful part of the story. In Hamilton’s case, it is when his best friend who he’s known his whole life challenges him to a duel. Burr challenged him after not getting Hamilton’s support in the election. This truly is when Hamilton touches the bottom. He experienced the death of his son, and now he has to fight his first friend. The connection between literature and life grows stronger as Hamilton’s life reaches the next step of the Hero’s Journey. The next step is when the hero seizes the sword, or finds what he had been looking for on his journey. Hamilton finds what he’s been looking for during the duel between him and Burr. Hamilton is shot and killed by Burr, but not before “Hamilton decided the duel was morally wrong and deliberately fired into the air”(History.com Staff). While it may seem like Hamilton’s journey was cut of short and he never claimed his reward, this is exactly what he was looking for. Throughout Hamilton’s life, he has faced death, war, and many other hardships. Through all of this, Hamilton always did what was right. After his mother died, he kept working to make a better life for himself. After being Washington’s right-hand-man, he knew he was no use on the sidelines, so
He accuses Jefferson of being “off getting high with the French” while “we — (being Hamilton and other true Americans, in this case directly associating him with George Washington, who was with Hamilton in the situation referred to here, the siege at Yorktown) — almost died in a trench.” In a final contrast to Hamilton himself, he describes Jefferson as “hesitant” and “reticent.” Hamilton, neither of those things, finishes with the mature “Damn, you’re in worse shape than the national debt is in / Sittin’ there useless as two shits / Hey, turn around, bend over, I’ll show you where my shoe fits.” By that point, the Congress is so involved that they don’t wait for a pause to laugh and they even provide a chanted accompaniment to the last lines before erupting into chaos. It takes George Washington to calm everyone down, and though Jefferson taunts that Hamilton doesn’t “have the votes,” Hamilton walks away from the battle the clear
This is where Hamilton dies, but actually both of the participants were casualties because Hamilton died, but was honored by the people and the government. However, Burr lost everything such as his reputation, and his position. Major mistakes that come from Burr and Hamilton was when Burr betrayed Jefferson when he was running his second term by switching political parties Jefferson's enemy Federalists which made Hamilton to say that he's despicable. Burr is too ambitious and desperate when it comes to politics like Jefferson. Hamilton in other hand was an arrogant. He insults Burr periodically, which made Burr to lose his position and reputation by publicly. In conclusion, by starting with a violent clash between Hamilton and Burr, establishes that the stakes for which these men had learned to debate one another. The end of this chapter did end in violent death, but the reader now understands that the author views these relationships as fiery and passionate although they were flawed by destroying their friendship, lives, and careers by insulting, killing, debating, and betraying one another, but they all failed to achieve their full aspirations due to their flawed
Everyone has heard the name Alexander Hamilton, but few are familiar with his views and actions regarding the survival of the young American republic. He could be recognized for anything from serving our fledgling country by fighting in the New York militia; to serving his community as a lawyer and as a national tax agent; to beginning his political career as a representative for New York at the National Congress. Though most would agree his most important contribution to our struggling republic was to spearhead the project which formed the doctrine helping to establish the foundation in which modern democracy is based, the Articles of Confederation.
Hamilton cared truly about America and worked diligently to make it a better place financially. Burr on the other hand, seems to me like an opportunist who rose to power but did not seem to care about anything but that power. I believe Hamilton was right when he spoke of Burr as a man who did not care about one thing or another, except profit. Burr saw politics as a game and Hamilton saw it as leading a nation and cared who did it and how it was done. I believe the duel itself also illustrates that Hamilton had more honor in his life. All the way up to the point of the gunfight, Hamilton tried to diffuse the flames, albeit without truly apologizing because of his own stubbornness. I believe his anger at how Burr was with politics made it too difficult for Hamilton to apologize to a man who did not seem to care about anything but profit and having a good
To fully appreciate the significance of the plot one must fully understand the heroic journey. Joseph Campbell identified the stages of the heroic journey and explains how the movie adheres meticulously to these steps. For example, the first stage of the hero’s journey is the ordinary world (Campbell). At the beginning, the structure dictates that the author should portray the protagonist in their ordinary world, surrounded by ordinary things and doing ordinary tasks so that the author might introduce the reasons that the hero needs the journey in order to develop his or her character or improve his or her life (Vogler 35). The point of this portrayal is to show the audience what the protagonist’s life is currently like and to show what areas of his or her life are conflicted or incomplete. When the call to adventure occurs, the protagonist is swept away into another world, one that is full of adventure, danger, and opportunities to learn what needs to be learned. T...
Of the many figures in American History, Alexander Hamilton has proven himself one of the most versatile and influential. His policies and ideals have helped the United States blossom into a prosperous world power. Through his power as secretary of Treasury and his convincing intellectual efforts, he was able to dominate the nations early political environment. Hamilton’s patriotic endeavors have proven themselves to be durable and in the best interests of the United States.
All the presidents in the past have played an important part in shaping our country the way it is today. Either for better or for worse. James Madison is one of the presidents which made a difference for the better and probably did some of the best actions for our country. He did his job with pride for The United States of America and he did his job humbly with efficiency. That is why I look up to this American Hero.
...der Hamilton shaped the New World and the way in which policies were managed. Today’s United States government mirrors more the ideas of Alexander Hamilton, but it seems the majority of her people prefer the vision of Thomas Jefferson; the idealistic dream of true freedom and of the ability to shape one’s own destiny. Would it be the other way around if the current state of government was turned? For sure, if one vision had prevailed wholly over the other, the outcome would be substantial in modern society; Hamilton’s vision would have created another England and Jefferson’s – who knows?
Alexander Hamilton was a bastard son, orphan, immigrant, political scientist, soldier, and the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America who transformed not only the country’s banking system but also left a rich legacy that changed America forever. A forgotten founding father, he wrote his way out of poverty at fourteen and later became George Washington’s aide-de-camp and a respected soldier before becoming apart of the first cabinet of the United States. Hamilton not only had a notorious political career, but also personal life, which captivated Americans and heavily influenced his career. Alexander Hamilton’s early life, revolutionary years, years in public service and the cabinet as well as his scandal and devastating
Hamilton was President Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet in 1789-1795. The first task that Hamilton took care of for President Washington, was the problem of public credit. Since the government had taken on so much debt during the Revolution they deeded a plan to pay it all off. When proposing this idea the vow to pay them back was not taken very seriously. Toward the end of the 1780s, the state IOU's, or money borrowed to finance the Revolution, were seen as nearly valueless. Hamilton then issued a bold proposal that the federal government should pay off all the state’s debts at face value. To raise money for this, Hamilton offered to issue new securities bonds. The people who bought these would pay a huge profit.
This book may be aimed towards the audience of adults, but I hope that soon teenagers will soon become interested in History. I have alway been a huge fan of American History, but I do not like to read. This book though I do want to read, because of the amazing explanations of “The Duel.” Ever since this broadway show Hamilton by Lin Manuel Miranda I have wanted to learn more about the life of Alexander Hamilton,. Whenever I find a book that describes Hamilton’s life I want to read it, and i'm glad I read Founding Brothers. Within this book Ellis uses many quotes from Hamilton and Burr which is personally one of my favorite parts. The quotes of Hamilton is one of my favorite parts of the book because of Hamilton's amazing skills with a paper and pen. Another element of the book I enjoyed is the still problematic conclusion of Hamilton's death. In “The Duel” there were two shots fired, one by Hamilton and one by Burr. There are two hypothesis’ shared in the book on who shot first. This is important to me because the author was not biased and did not only include one option, I feel like in doing this they gave the reader a choice of which conclusion they want. Joseph J. Ellis did not only stay unbiased he also included some fun and interesting little tidbits throughout the story. When I say this I mean when he described the connection between the weapons used in “The Duel.”
It is evident, that Hamilton was backed into a duel that he did not want to fight. He did so only after copious demands made by Burr, but not with the intent of ever harming Burr. It was a reluctant move on his part, which in due course led to his untimely demise. To his last hour Hamilton was indeed a man of honor, and nothing short of a gentleman.
The play Hamilton tells of Hamilton’s prolific writing achievements, his written thoughts about the duel with Aaron Burr, and
Hamilton found a job as a merchant’s apprentice with the help of his aunts. By the time he was fifteen, his employers paid attention to his honesty and intelligence and they were impressed. Therefore, they collaborated with his aunts to send him for a formal schooling in New York. First, he attended Francis Barber's Preparatory School in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Hamilton always displayed an unusual capacity for impressing older, influential men: so he gained his social footing in Elizabethtown with the surpassing spe...
Joseph Campbell defines a hero as “someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself ” (Moyers 1). The Hero’s Journey consists of three major parts: the separation, the initiation and the return. Throughout a character’s journey, they must complete a physical or spiritual deed. A physical deed involves performing a daunting and courageous act that preserves the well-being of another person. A spiritual deed calls for action that improves another individual’s state of mind. While fulfilling their journey, a hero must undergo a psychological change that involves experiencing a transformation from immaturity into independence and sophistication.Campbell states that these events are what ultimately guides a hero into completing