Comparing The Hero's Journey In Everything Is Illuminated And A Christmas Carol

Christopher Vogler’s text, The Writer’s Journey, explains that there are many stages found within a work of writing. The reader’s job is to utilize these stages within the character’s journey. Typically, the first character introduced to the reader at the beginning of the journey is the hero. The reader wants to know who to cheer for and who to follow throughout the storyline. Sometimes an author creates a main character that becomes the villain of his own journey. Vogler’s theory is demonstrated in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The fears of a hero come alive within the supreme ordeal of a journey. The supreme ordeal is something that suddenly occurs, which the character never

These works not only portray this stage but also introduce villains that are the heroes of their own journeys. The characters that address this stage within these works are; Grandfather in Everything is Illuminated and Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. The audience sees both of these characters throughout their stories as heroes that need to go through their journeys. Grandfather and Scrooge have very negative attitudes that portray them as the villains of these novels. The authors, Foer and Dickens, surround these characters with a sense of mystery and suspense keeping the reader wondering who the real villains

Grandfather tells his grandson that the Nazis came to Trachimbrod, gathered a group of townspeople, and began asking who within the group was a Jew. He discusses how this was a long and drawn out process, and how he knew the last of the Jews was his friend Herschel. Grandfather explained how he had no choice in the matter when it came to giving up his friend to the Nazis, “I am so afraid of dying, and I said he is a Jew who is a Jew the General asked and Herschel embraced my hand with much strength and he was my friend he was my best friend.” (Foer 250) Grandfather carries the weight of guilt on his shoulders along with feelings of resentment for his decision to “murder” Herschel. He walks around with so much anger and sorrow within him that at the end of the story he kills himself. Even though as a reader, some would not categorize Grandfather as a villain, his inner turmoil was a villain found within. Grandfather created a battle inside himself based upon every decision he made in his past. The reader may see him as a hero who began his own journey to find Augustine but discovered much more throughout his