Joesph Campbells Hero Journey
A quick note to any who read this; this essay was based on a response, that said I had to ask a question and "possibly" come up with an answer
In Joseph Conrad's 1906 classic, Heart of Darkness, the main character of Marlow, partakes of a quest into the deepest part of the jungle, losing much of what he holds dear while gaining a glimpse of the deeper recesses of his own conscious. With an overly simple, yet deeply philosophical plot line, Conrad gives Marlow's journey, what seems to be many of the basic attributes of what Joseph Campbell calls the "Hero's Journey." My question is this - Is Conrad's writing following the criteria of the "Hero's Journey," or does Heart of Darkness have a ...
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with their own subcategories, should pertain to almost all hero quests in ancient writing. But, does it pertain to modern literature, particularly Heart of Darkness?
The first stage of the Hero Journey is the Departure and consists of 5 steps; The Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Supernatural Aid, The Crossing of the First Threshold and the Belly of the Whale. The first step, The Call of the Adventure, is the point in the hero's life in which a notice is given that something is to change. Campbell says that "This first stage of the mythological journey signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown" (58). The "zone unknown" can have many facets, but in Heart of Darkness, for Marlow, our story's supposed hero, this is represented by "a place of darkness," or Africa. His call to adventure is the "snake" of the Nile, with its tail "lost in the depths of the of the land." ...
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our hero actually steps into the realm of the unknown, where the rules and the limits are not known. This is the hero's first step to becoming a hero because, as Campbell says, "The usual person is more than content, he is even proud, to remain within the indicated bounds, and popular beliefs give him every reason to fear so much as the first step into the unexplored" (78). For Marlow, its occurs when he steps into the main office of the trading company. He compares it to a conspiracy and says, "there was something ominous in the atmosphere" (Conrad 8).
The last part of the Departure, The Belly of the Whale, represents the final separation from the previous world, and the true ...
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"Joesph Campbells Hero Journey." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 30 Jul. 2006. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Joesph-Campbells-Hero-Journey/49932>
"Joesph Campbells Hero Journey." Essayworld.com. July 30, 2006. Accessed April 24, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Joesph-Campbells-Hero-Journey/49932.
"Joesph Campbells Hero Journey." Essayworld.com. July 30, 2006. Accessed April 24, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Joesph-Campbells-Hero-Journey/49932.
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