What Is A Hero's Journey Essay

How The Hero 's Journey Will Change Your Life I went years without knowing that the hero 's journey is involved in most of my life. We read it in books, see it in movies and can even apply it in our own lives! Some examples of this journey would be a high school graduation, getting a indian name, or even Ariel 's journey to human land in The Little Mermaid. In these big events otherwise known as the hero 's journey we experience a,"process of separation, initiation,and return...each stage must be completed successfully if the initiate is to become a hero"(Harris and Thompson 50). This process has been around for years and will be around for years to come but have you noticed it? Mattie Ross a young girl from Arkansas goes on a hero

She undergoes this very long and dangerous journey because,"the initiate had someting taken from her, her family, or her society. Her quest is to reclaim it"(Harris and Thompson 50). That is to say in True Grit, Mattie is determined to reclaim her father 's horse, his gold, and his honor. Her quest begins in the late 1870 's when she proclaims," I was just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaneyshot my father...and robbed him of his life...plus two california gold pieces"(Portis 11). To clarify, her father had gotten killed by a gritless character and now she must do something about it. The next step in the separation is the "threshold". Otherwise known as the,"jmping off point...the interface between the known and the unknown...a different world of dangers and challenges"(Haris and Thompson 50). Mattie Ross 's jumping off point is when she leaves Fort Smith and crosses the river into the Indian Territory on her horse Little Blackie. She declares,"About fifty yards below the ferry slip the river narrowed and I aimed for the place, going like blazes across the sandbar. I popped Blackie all the way with my hat"(Portis 105). In this instance, she goes from a place she 's gotten to know to a different and dangerous environment without help or