The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Liam MacDonald Joseph Campbell The Hero of a Thousand Faces The Hero of a Thousand Faces was one of the most influential book of the 20th century and I have never met someone who has disliked it after reading it. It's true that the book has a huge impact on writing and story-telling, and can be seen used making movies. Famous Directors like George Miller, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Francis Coppola owe their successes to the powerful pattern that Joseph Campbell identifies in the book. The ideas in the book I think can be used as a set of tools when making my own stories. With them you can compose a story to meet any situation, a story that will be dramatic, entertaining, and psychologically true. I will go over some of my favorite chapters and what I got from them. Myths and initiation are tied to each other to help people cross thresh holds when trying it make a…

In Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” Campbell describes how myths are stories that can reveal information about oneself and the world around them through heroic journeys. These “journeys” or heroic “quests,” be they physical or mental, are what one must go through in order to reach deeper knowledge. According to Campbell, the three central parts of a journey are, “a separation from the world, a penetration to some source of power, and a life-enhancing return” (35). I believe…

Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces portrays the hero as a character destined for greatness. But that raises the question of aren’t we all heroes in a sense? He acknowledges that the potential of a hero resides in every soul but fails to mention that everyone on earth is destined for greatness. Everyone is a hero in their own right and their own myth, their life, and each person makes choices that either aid or hinder their personal heroic quest, whether they are aware they are on…

Hero with a Thousand Faces was written by Joseph Campbell explaining the hero's quest. In 1988 there was a movie directed by Ron Howard called Willow. In this movie Willow goes through three sections from Joseph Campbell's Hero's Quest. The three sections are the departure, the initiation, and the return. Willow experiences the departure at the beginning of the movie. Willow's call to adventure is when the baby floated down river and washed up on the river bed. The baby's nurse pushed Elora…

Overcoming obstacles in one’s life is never an easy task, yet they must be confronted by oneself to continue on in life. When one must confront extremely difficult obstacles this task seems impossible. A person who chooses to take on these arduous tasks in their own life is brave. When one chooses to face them on behalf of their community, for the benefit of many, they deserve to be allauded and honored as the heroes that they are. They are a special breed of humanity, one such person is Malala…

If we focused on the definition from Webster’s dictionary Frank Lloyd Wright famous architect does fall into the mold of a hero. He left in his wake fine qualities of art, and teachings and stories to be told. Instead of focusing on that definition, though this paper is going to focus on Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces and how he outlines the hero’s quest chart and the hero’s journey. Frank Lloyd Wright has built his life on lies and stories that he wanted people to…

Often in a hero's journey or quest, they face a challenge that is insurmountable even for the hero to accomplish. At this point in a story, the hero can either quit and return home or receive help from what seems to be an unassuming passerby who may accompany the hero for a portion of the journey. This passerby or companion is described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With A Thousand Faces as a supernatural aid, a figure who protects the hero throughout his trials, typically through gifts of…

Often-times the reader looks at a hero and notices that this protagonist is not very different from many other heroes: they all, if not most, start off by going on a journey, have a certain task to accomplish, or an evil figure to defeat. However, when the reader looks at each individual hero, the differences become apparent. For example, the reader will notice the way the hero reacts to the challenge, how he/she will accomplish it, and how they learn from their mistakes. The reader then…

realize is that it 's a actually a memory of her past. Surpassing her illness of short term memory loss, thus starting her “Heroes Journey”. A “Heroes Journey” is a seventeen stage itinerary divided into three segments listed in order; Departure, Initiation and Return. The stages consist of what the hero in the story will do in their journey according to Joseph Campbell’s book, Hero with a Thousand Faces. The first of the seventeen steps is called “The Call to Adventure” according to Campbell it…

mythological researcher, wrote a famous book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, where he discovered many common patterns running through hero myths and stories from around the world. Years of research lead Campbell to discover the Hero’s Journey Archetype. Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, clearly demonstrates the Archetypal Journey by taking the hero through a well known series of steps. Ayn Rand began by introducing the character[Equality] and as the reader progresses through the story he or she…