The Hero With A Thousand Faces Analysis

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 the most important of these three steps is the first; “a separation from the world.” It is often said that the first step is always the hardest, and I believe that this saying fits in perfectly with Campbell’s heroic journeys, making the first step the most critical. This is not to say that the others are not important, people start things without finishing them all the time, but finding the courage to start something new isn’t always the easiest task. In chapter one Campbell goes into depth on the “departure” from …show more content…
While one may think that “Crossing the First Threshold” is a simple task it is important to think about all the parts that proceed that task. Campbell defines “The Call to Adventure,” as “destiny [summoning] the hero and [transferring] his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of society to a zone of unknown” (58). Simply stated this means that one must first let go of their individual identity and be willing to enter a world that may be unfamiliar and uncomfortable. From personal experience, I know that it isn’t easy to be open minded about things that to my culture are unfamiliar, ethnocentrism is an unavoidable trait so, one can only imagine it how difficult it would be to let go of everything you thought you knew about yourself to start over in a brand new place. Another factor of this is whether or not the hero accepts the