Joseph Campbell's Matrix: The Matrix Of The Monomyth

The Matrix of The Monomyth The amount of hero stories and films created is nearly infinite. A simple meaning of hero provided by Merriam-Webster is “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities.” Additionally, a hero is thought to be a relatable, influential, and versatile character as they can be presented in a plethora of ways. The physical attributes, motivation, type of situations faced, and number of heroes in a story may change from one book or movie to another. However, the main plot of each hero story almost always includes a variation of the tried-and-true elements of the monomyth created by Joseph Campbell. The monomyth is a series of categories and subcategories that serve as plot points a hero typically goes

In this world the hero encounters “a blunder” that “reveals an unsuspected world” and could “amount to an opening of destiny” (Campbell, 46). This is the hero’s call to adventure. The Matrix proposes at least two calls to adventure. The first call was presented to Neo via a computer message stating, “Follow the white rabbit.” He accepts the call and meets Trinity, a woman who ensures him that his belief in the matrix is true. Later Neo receives a phone call from Morpheus who presents two ways to deal with the agents who are after him —either onto the “scaffold or into their custody.” This is a second call to adventure for

The events in the return portion of the hero’s journey are not clean cut, but rather jumbled together in The Matrix. The return typically begins with a refusal of return by the hero, but Neo does not execute such events. The second subcategory of the return is the hero’s magic flight. The magic flight takes place when the hero returns to the world “with some elixir for the restoration of society” (Campbell, 182). Neo attains the elixir, which is complete knowledge of the matrix. He returns to the matrix to educate people of their situation. He offers “a world without rules and control, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible.” Then he literally jumps to fly up from the ground and the movie ends. The third step in the return of the hero’s journey is a rescue from without. In many cases a hero will need to be brought back from the secondary world by “assistance from without” (Campbell, 192). Neo receives assistance in two different ways. Tank is on the phone helping Neo navigate his way to the nearest landline so he could return. Trinity also plays a large role by emotionally helping Neo return. She whispers to him that The Oracle said she would fall in love with the one and then confesses her love for Neo. This gives Neo the strength to resurrect himself in the matrix and continue fighting the