Malala's Journey Analysis

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Malala’s Journey In Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell breaks down the journey of a hero. A journey that per Campbell happens to every one of us, that once complete leaves us with a self-actualization of our life and the moments and decisions that either helped or hindered us at one point in our lifetime. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the various examples of each stage are detailed as part of the journey. Campbell uses religious figures and contemporary tales such as Alice in Wonderland to provide us with the definition of the stages. Campbell’s book also provides what the purpose of each stage is as well as brief description. Malala Yousafzai is a prime example of the hero’s journey. Her autobiography I …show more content…

She is no longer able to continue her fight against the sexist ideals of her religion and the Taliban which began when she was a young child. Her fight for the education of young women came in many forms, the simplest being going to school. She took on the challenge of going against the Taliban by giving speeches demanding the equal treatment and easily accessible education of girls. In the belly of the whale, Malala is forced to fight by making a full recovery from her gunshot wound to the face. She now knows that if any change is going to happen she needs to make it through the ordeal alive. Death was not an option, she needed to take a stand against the Taliban and survive. As Campbell mentions the stages of the journey of the hero do not necessarily happen in sequential order, and some may not even happen at all. Plenty are the journeys that did not follow the steps or skipped …show more content…

Crossing the Return Threshold: Being born again, “return is described as a coming back out of that yonder zone” (Campbell, 188). For Malala, this is a very crucial and important stage in her journey. Campbell writes the purpose of this stage is to convey to the community the wisdom gained from Apotheosis. For Malala, this stage gave her the determination to continue speaking out against the Taliban and the desire to silence all women and to take away their rights. Malala strongly believed in her rights, the right to speak up, to go to school and be heard. Malala gave her first speech in September 2008 in Peshawar, Pakistan. Much to the Taliban's surprise. A speech named "How dare the Taliban take my basic right to education”. Not only had she survived the assassination attempt but she made a full recovery and continued her crusade to speak up for many women that are under the Taliban regime. Malala like many in the journey took her fight for justice to the world. She at the age of 16 gives a speech at the United Nations. She also wrote her autobiography relating her journey so far. From a small town in Pakistan to gaining the attention of the world, no doubt Malala has been a hero to many. Her community has no doubt benefited from her strength and courage. One of Malala’s quotes serves as a one-sentence inspiration, “One child, one teacher, one

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