Joseph Story

Joseph Campbell, a mythologist, writer and lecturer, discovers common patterns of hero myths and stories that are told from around the world which are still relevant today. Campbell acknowledges the main steps to a mythic hero’s journey, such as the call to adventure, refusal of the call, crossing of the first threshold, and the belly of the whale. The film Divergent reveals these steps of a hero’s journey. Divergent is essentially about the government controlling society by dividing them into…

Although disguised as a story of animals living in a farm, this story actually reflects the political situation in Russia, starting from the era of Tsar Nicholas, right through to the era of Joseph Stalin. Author clearly uses a series of metaphorical events and characters to portray how after a revolution fuelled by oppressed public, dictatorship and totals emerge due to the leaders acting in their own interests, therefore defeating the most fundamental purpose of socialism. The story begins…

"The Founding Brothers", written by Joseph J. Ellis, can be described as a nonfiction that summarizes the events in the revolutionary generation and its great leaders, by incorporating them into six individual stories. The six stories in “The Founding Brothers”, talked about six completely different topics, which were all centralized around Ellis thesis in “The Founding Brothers”. Ellis’ main purpose in writing “The Founding Brothers” was to illustrate, the connections between the political…

Throughout history we have seen many different hero stories and how the hero of the story changes. Joseph Campbell's “The Hero’s Journey” describes all the steps of the hero’s journey, from being an ordinary person, to the call for adventure, to the tests all the way to where the protagonist has changed hopefully for the best and has returned home. These stages are important for combination myths, like what Linda Seger talked about in her article “Creating the Myth”. In her article she talks…

There are many stories from the gospel of Luke that surprised me. One of the stories that stood out to me most was the story of Joseph and Mary. It is crazy to think how much trust Mary had for God’s plan. She was willing to do what he wanted her to do with little hesitation. One reason it stood out to me was because it should how faithful someone can be even at a young age. Often times, I find myself justifying my poor decisions on my age, such as not attending church regularly. Yet, Mary was…

Joseph Concrad’s Hard of Darkness Heart of Darkness follows one man's nightmarish journey into the interior of Africa Aboard a British ship called the Nellie, three men listen to a dude named Marlow recount his journey into Africa as an agent for the Company, a Belgian ivory trading firm. Along the way, he witnesses brutality and hate between colonizers and the native African people, becomes entangled in a power struggle within the Company, and finally learns the truth about the mysterious Kurtz…

Without a doubt, Achebe would challenge such a sentimental depiction of his characters and the people they represent. In fact many Western essayists who wrote on expansionism (counting Joseph Conrad) were against colonialism, however, were sentimental in their depiction of “respectable savages” — primitive and carnal, yet uncorrupted and pure. Achebe sees this thought as an unsatisfactory contention and also a myth. The Igbos were not…

Joseph Campbell, in his book chapter “The Self as Hero,” argues how all heroes go through similar, if not the same, stages on the way to complete their journey. He supports his claim by citing evidence from classic literary tales like “The Princess and the Frog” and “When the Two Came to their Father” and appealing to pathos and logos. Campbell’s purpose is to educate readers on how most hero stories follow the same path and can influence and be influenced by the public, who can learn from the…

In the novella, The Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, Marlow recounts his tale of his adventures into the deepest part of the African continent. As a citizen of London, Marlow views Africa as a dark place as it differs from Europe physically and socially. Throughout Marlow’s tale in search of Mr. Kurtz, the author exemplifies the differences between a civilized society that is Europe and the savagery in the deepest parts of Africa. The continents of Europe and Africa are complete opposites.…

vulnerability. Dancing nimbly through the murky clouds of confusion obscuring war, Heller strikes out at insanity, grappling adroitly with his slippery objective before taking him down to the sweat-soaked mat. In a maneuver of grotesque dexterity, Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22, articulates the public’s growing concern toward foreign entanglement in the era subsequent to World War Two, facing off not only against the inoperable chaos that is war, but also against the unruly opponent of…