Two heros that couldn’t be any more different, actually have more in common than one would think. Odysseus, the god-like war hero and son of the great Laertes and Christopher Boone, an autistic teenager trying to solve a murder mystery, go on separate adventures that follow the same common structure. Odysseus’ journey in the Odyssey is the absolute perfect archetype for the monomyth structure. However, Christopher’s journey in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is also a very good example. Each of the steps of the monomyth are clearly identifiable in both of the stories.
The departure of the hero’s journey takes place during the status quo stage, the call to adventure stage, and the supernatural aid stage. Both of the characters …show more content…
During this section, the hero goes through the following stages: crossing the threshold, road of trials, temptation, mentor, allies and enemies, the belly of the whale, and last but not least, the apotheosis. When Christopher crossed the threshold between his ordinary life and his journey ahead of him, was when he began to interview his neighbors, this is when his investigating really began. Odysseus crossed the threshold from his ordinary world during a wild storm, a freak hurricane. The crossing the threshold stage is very different between the two stories. Odysseus was in a life threatening situation while Christopher was not. One of the trials that Odysseus had to face was being captured by a cyclops. One of Christopher’s trials was Christopher and his father getting in a very heated fight after his father had discovered that Christopher had been writing the murder mystery novel after he had repeatedly been told to stay out of other people’s business, “But father didn’t let go, and he was shouting and I hit him again. And then I didn’t know what I was doing anymore,” (Haddon 83).Obviously, Odysseus’ road of trials is a bit more fairytale-like than Christopher’s. Odysseus’ first temptations was the goddess Circe. Odysseus didn’t fall under her spell and she then offered to let him stay there as well as other luxuries. Christopher’s temptation to go off of his path of adventure was when his neighbor Mrs.Shears, the owner of Wellington, was attempting to convince Christopher to give up on solving the mystery of Wellington’s death. One of the main differences between Christopher’s temptation and Odysseus’ temptation is that, Odysseus would be, in a way, gaining something, while Christopher would only be losing something. Christopher’s mentor was his mother and the mentor to Odysseus was Athena. Christopher ran away from his father, and went to his mother who helped him and who had his best interest in
The departure of the hero’s journey takes place during the status quo stage, the call to adventure stage, and the supernatural aid stage. Both of the characters …show more content…
During this section, the hero goes through the following stages: crossing the threshold, road of trials, temptation, mentor, allies and enemies, the belly of the whale, and last but not least, the apotheosis. When Christopher crossed the threshold between his ordinary life and his journey ahead of him, was when he began to interview his neighbors, this is when his investigating really began. Odysseus crossed the threshold from his ordinary world during a wild storm, a freak hurricane. The crossing the threshold stage is very different between the two stories. Odysseus was in a life threatening situation while Christopher was not. One of the trials that Odysseus had to face was being captured by a cyclops. One of Christopher’s trials was Christopher and his father getting in a very heated fight after his father had discovered that Christopher had been writing the murder mystery novel after he had repeatedly been told to stay out of other people’s business, “But father didn’t let go, and he was shouting and I hit him again. And then I didn’t know what I was doing anymore,” (Haddon 83).Obviously, Odysseus’ road of trials is a bit more fairytale-like than Christopher’s. Odysseus’ first temptations was the goddess Circe. Odysseus didn’t fall under her spell and she then offered to let him stay there as well as other luxuries. Christopher’s temptation to go off of his path of adventure was when his neighbor Mrs.Shears, the owner of Wellington, was attempting to convince Christopher to give up on solving the mystery of Wellington’s death. One of the main differences between Christopher’s temptation and Odysseus’ temptation is that, Odysseus would be, in a way, gaining something, while Christopher would only be losing something. Christopher’s mentor was his mother and the mentor to Odysseus was Athena. Christopher ran away from his father, and went to his mother who helped him and who had his best interest in