Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Summary of The Hero's Journey
Summary of The Hero's Journey
Essay journey of a hero
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Introduction – The Hero`s Journey “is a pattern of narrative identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development. It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization.” (INTRODUCTION 1).
These - In the story life of Pi written by Yann Martel. Martel suggest that there are elements of the Hero`s Journey in the book.
Supporting evidence – Martel suggest that there are elements of the Hero`s journey in this book when Pi gets the call of the wild, through the tests and trials Pi faces on the journey to survive, and his return to human civilization.
…show more content…
Proof - “We sold our zoo, lock, stock and barrel” (97)”
Comment – Due to Pi`s zoo not making enough money for his family. Pi`s family decided to move to Canada to start a new better life. As a result of this, it causes Pi to begin his hero`s quest as this is an example of the call of the wild because his ordinary life has now been shaken up.
Point two – Another point that suggests that there are elements of the hero`s Journey in this book due to the call of the wild, is when Pi got thrown into lifeboat.
Proof – “I thought they were helping me. I was so full of trust in them that I felt grateful as they carried me in the air. Only when they threw me overboard did I begin to have doubts” (115-116).
Comment – This is a prime example of the call of the wild. This is based on the facts that Pi`s life has now been shaken up really badly. He has lost his parents and most of his animals, and now is faced with the daunting task of beginning to survive on his own.
End Statement – In the end, Martel suggests that the call of the wild is a factor that proves that there elements of the Hero`s Journey in this
…show more content…
Proof – “I was overwhelmed by the generosity of those who rescued me “(317).
Comment – Here, this shows that Pi has been rescued and has now return back to human civilization with the knowledge of survival, and the events that took place during his 227 days at sea too.
End Statement – As the result of the Hero coming back home with more knowledge then he had before, is the last reason why Martel suggest that there are elements of the Hero`s journey in this book.
Restate these - In the story life of Pi written by Yann Martel. Martel suggest that there are elements of the Hero`s Journey in the book.
Restate Supporting evidence – Martel suggest that there are elements of the Hero`s journey in this book when Pi gets the call of the wild, through the tests and trials Pi faces on the journey to survive, and his return to human civilization.
Conclusion – In the end, this book Life of Pi exhibited many stages that are involved with the Hero`s journey element, leaving its readers to speculate if it really contains the Hero`s journey element at
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. Joseph Campbell calls the initial phase of a hero’s development the “Call to Adventure.” The call is the in... ...
In this world that we live on there are a plethora of cultures and people but one thing that brings all these cultures together is a certain story base, the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey has been around for the longest time and many commonly known stories that we know today are based off of the hero’s journey.
The Hero’s Journey is a pattern or type of novel that applies to many adventure stories.
Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” shows all three of the main elements of a hero’s journey: the departure, initiation and the return, helping the story to greatly resemble Joseph Campbell’s structure of a hero’s journey. Through the trials Pi has to face, he proves himself to be a true hero. He proves himself, not just while trapped on the lifeboat with Richard Parker, but also before the sinking of the Tsimtsum. His achievement to fulfill the heroic characteristics of Campbell’s model are evident as he goes though the three stages.
Yann Martel’s book “The Life of Pi” I believe represents a hero on his journey for survival. The book “Life of Pi” involves Pi starting from being in a small town in India, only to soon be thrown into an unexpected journey he must survive. Pi is thrown into a situation without deserving it, which makes you want to see Pi survive hence his story being a Hero’s Journey type of story. I will go into more detail about Pi’s story, and why I believe that his story is a Hero’s Journey type of story.
The Hero’s Journey is an ancient archetype that we find throughout our modern life and also, in the world of literature.Whether metaphorical or real, the journey that a character goes on shows not only the incredible transformation of the hero but it also gives them their life meaning. It is the ultimate human experience and it reflects on every aspect of life. Take Logan, also known as Wolverine, from the X-Men movie as an example. His adventure starts with “The Call,” which is the first step of the Hero’s Journey. This step happens due to the realization of imbalance and injustice that the character has in their life. Logan steps into the first stage of the pattern but is hesitant to start his adventure because he does not know what and
“You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” Adapting to a new situation or experience like violent crashing waves can be difficult. Nevertheless, a person needs to learn how to surf in order to outlast the pounding waves. In a similar fashion, individuals need to learn how to adapt to a challenging situation in order to survive. This idea of the significance of adapting to new situations is often explored in literature. In the novel, Life of Pi, Yann Martel makes powerful use of character development to suggest that individuals may be able to adapt to situations in life through a sense of determination, or through denying reality and using their imagination instead.
“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us; the uncanny discovery that the seeker is the mystery which the seeker seeks to know. The hero journey is a symbol that binds, in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas, and the spiritual quest of the ancients with the modern search for identity always the one, shape-shifting yet marvelously constant story that we find.” (Phil Cousineau) The Hero's Journey has been engaged in stories for an immemorial amount of time. These stories target typical connections that help us relate to ourselves as well as the “real world”.
Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, is a fictional novel written in 2001 that explores the primacy of survival by employing symbolism, foreshadowing and motifs. This story follows the life of the protagonist, Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel, as he embarks on his journey as a castaway. After boarding the Tsimtsum which carries Pi and his family along with a menagerie of animals, an abysmal storm capsizes the ship leaving Pi as the only survivor, though he is not alone. The great Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, also survives the shipwreck and during the 227 days that Pi and Richard Parker are stranded at sea together, the two must learn to coexist and trust one another for survival. Through Pi and Richard Parker’s struggles to remain alive, Martel explores the primal idea of survival by employing literary techniques.
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.
Joseph Campbell is well known for writing The Hero with a Thousand Faces outlining the stages of a hero’s journey. Ever since then, the hero’s journey became famous as it is used in many works of literature (Bancks). A literature work that represents the hero’s journey is Lord of the Flies. In Lord of the Flies, the protagonist Ralph presents himself a brave hero that undergoes the hero’s journey to return home. Ralph is on a plane which landed on an isolated island after a plane accident where the pilot is unconscious and most likely dead. Along with the other children who boarded the plane, they must survive and find a way to get home. According to Campbell, the three main phases of a hero’s journey is departure, initiation and return, separated into many stages (Siegelman). The departure stage is where the hero exits his comfort zone and enters into the world of the unknown. The initiation phase is where the hero is tested to prove his character and the return is when the hero returns home with a boon for the benefit of his people (Ubelhor). Lord of the Flies qualifies to be an example of the hero’s journey because the protagonist Ralph goes through the “departure, initiation and return” process of the hero expedition in order to show that he is a hero through his courage, intelligence and leadership.
Thesis: Pi’s journey is characterized better in the movie because it gets rid of excess information to get the story line along, has major effects to visually represent the story, and finishes with a definite conclusion.
On its surface, Martel’s Life of Pi proceeds as a far-fetched yet not completely unbelievable tale about a young Indian boy named Pi who survives after two hundred twenty-seven days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. It is an uplifting and entertaining story, with a few themes about companionship and survival sprinkled throughout. The ending, however, reveals a second story – a more realistic and dark account replacing the animals from the beginning with crude human counterparts. Suddenly, Life of Pi becomes more than an inspiring tale and transforms into a point to be made about rationality, faith, and how storytelling correlates the two. The point of the book is not for the reader to decide which story he or she thinks is true, but rather what story he or she thinks is the better story. In real life, this applies in a very similar way to common belief systems and religion. Whether or not God is real or a religion is true is not exactly the point, but rather whether someone chooses to believe so because it adds meaning and fulfillment to his or her life. Life of Pi is relevant to life in its demonstration of storytelling as a means of experiencing life through “the better story.”
This alternate ending plays a key role in understanding how to view the novel through Freudian lenses. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis clarifies many troubling issues raised in the novel Life of Pi. Martel’s novel is about the journey of a young man being forced to test his limits in order to survive the unthinkable predicament of being lost at sea alongside an adult Bengal tiger. Life of Pi starts out by introducing an anonymous author on a quest to find his next big story and goes to a man by the name of Piscine Molitor Patel who supposedly has a story worth hearing. Patel begins his story talking about his childhood and the main events that shaped him such as his family’s zoo, the constant curiosity in religion he sought as a young boy and also how he got his nickname Pi.
Thesis 2: Imagination allowed Pi to survive by keeping him sane, protecting him and lastly to acquire the traits of telling a beautiful story.