Joseph Campbell was an American professor of
mythology. His writing and interviews with PBS anchor Bill Moyers are deeply
moving. I was recently introduced to Campbell’s work and my approach to writing
or outlining a novel has profoundly changed.
Interesting fact, George Lucas was the
first Hollywood filmmaker to credit Campbell's influence. Lucas stated
following the release of the first Star Wars film in 1977 that its story
was shaped, in part, by ideas described in The Hero with a
Thousand Faces and other works of Campbell's. The linkage
between Star Wars and Campbell was further reinforced when later
reprints of Campbell's book used the image of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker on
the cover. Lucas discusses this influence at great length in the authorized
biography of Joseph Campbell, A Fire in the Mind.
Intellectuals
are saying: In the long run, the most influential book of the 20th Century may
turn out to be Joseph Campbell's THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES.
It's
certainly true that the book is having a major impact on writing and
story-telling, but above all on movie-making. Aware or not, filmmakers like
John Boorman, George Miller, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Francis
Coppola owe their successes to the ageless pattern that Joseph Campbell
identifies in the book.
The
ideas in the book are an excellent set of analytical tools. With them you can
compose a story to meet any situation, a story that will be dramatic,
entertaining, and psychologically true. With them you can always determine
what's wrong with a story that's floundering, and you can find a better
solution to almost any story problem by examining the pattern laid out in the
book.
This
is the outline to telling a universally appealing story; the hero myth.
Stories
built on the model of THE HERO OF A THOUSAND FACES have an appeal that can be
felt by everyone, because they spring from a universal source in the collective
unconscious, and because they reflect universal concerns. They deal with
universal questions like "Why was I born?" "What happens when I
die?" "How can I overcome my life problems and be happy?"
The stages of the HERO are:
1) THE HERO IS INTRODUCED
IN HIS ORDINARY WORLD.
Most stories take place in a
special world, a world that is new and alien to its hero. If you're going to
tell a story about a fish out of his customary element, you first have to
create a contrast by showing him in his mundane, ordinary world. In WITNESS you
see both the Amish boy and the policeman in their ordinary worlds before they
are thrust into alien worlds -- the farm boy into the city, and the city cop
into the unfamiliar countryside. In STAR WARS you see Luke Skywalker bored to
death as a farm boy before he takes on the universe.
2) THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.
The hero is presented with a
problem, challenge, or adventure. Maybe the land is dying, as in the Arthur
stories about the search for the Holy Grail. In STAR WARS again, it's Princess
Leia's holographic message to Obi Wan Kenobi, who asks Luke to join in the
quest. In detective stories, it's the hero accepting a new case. In romantic
comedies it could be the first sight of that special -- but annoying someone
the hero or heroine will be pursuing/sparring with the remainder of the story.
3) THE HERO IS RELUCTANT AT FIRST.
Often at this point, the
hero balks at the threshold of adventure. After all, he or she is facing the
greatest of all fears -- fear of the unknown. At this point Luke refuses Obi
Wan's call to adventure, and returns to his aunt and uncle's farmhouse, only to
find they have been barbequed by the Emperor's storm troopers. Suddenly Luke is
no longer reluctant, and is eager to undertake the adventure. He is motivated.
4) THE HERO IS ENCOURAGED
BY THE WISE OLD MAN OR WOMAN.
By this time many stories
will have introduced a Merlin-like character who is the hero's mentor. In JAWS
it's the crusty Robert Shaw character who knows all about sharks; in the
mythology of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, it's Lou Grant. The mentor gives advice
and sometimes magical weapons. This is Obi Wan Kenobi giving Luke Skywalker his
father's light sabre.
The mentor can only go so
far with the hero. Eventually the hero must face the unknown by himself.
Sometimes the wise old man is required to give the hero a swift kick in the
pants to get the adventure going.
5) THE HERO PASSES THE
FIRST THRESHOLD.
He fully enters the special
world of his story for the first time. This is the moment at which the story
takes off and the adventure gets going. The balloon goes up, the romance
begins, the plane or spaceship blasts off, the wagon train gets rolling.
Dorothy sets out on the Yellow Brick Road. The hero is now committed to his
journey... and there's no turning back.
6) THE HERO ENCOUNTERS
TESTS AND HELPERS.
The hero is forced to make
allies and enemies in the special world, and to pass certain tests and
challenges that are part of his training. In STAR WARS, the cantina is the
setting for the forging of an important alliance with Han Solo, and the start
of an important enmity with Jabba The Hut. In CASABLANCA, Rick's Cafe is the
setting for the "alliances and enmities" phase, and in many westerns
it's the saloon where these relationships are established.
The tests and challenges
phase is represented in STAR WARS by the scene of Obi Wan teaching Luke about
the Force, as Luke is made to learn by fighting blindfolded. The early laser
battles with the Imperial Fighters are another test which Luke passes
successfully.
7) THE HERO REACHES THE
INNERMOST CAVE
The hero comes at last to a
dangerous place, often deep underground, where the object of his quest is
hidden. In the Arthurian stories the Chapel Perilous is the dangerous chamber
where the seeker finds the Grail. In many myths the hero has to descend into
hell to retrieve a loved one, or into a cave to fight a dragon and gain a
treasure. It's Theseus going into the Labyrinth to face the Minotaur. In STAR
WARS it's Luke and company being sucked into the Death Star where they will
rescue Princess Leia. Sometimes
it's the hero entering the headquarters of his nemesis; and sometimes
it's just the hero going into his or her own dream world to confront his or
hers worst fears... and overcome them.
8) THE HERO ENDURES THE
SUPREME ORDEAL.
This is the moment at which
the hero touches bottom. He faces the possibility of death, brought to the
brink in a fight with a mythical beast. For us, the audience standing outside
the cave waiting for the victor to emerge, it's a black moment. In STAR WARS,
it's the harrowing moment in the bowels of the Death Star, where Luke, Leia and
company are trapped in the giant trash-masher. Luke is pulled under by the
tentacle monster that lives in the sewage, and is held down so long the
audience begins to wonder if he's dead. E.T. momentarily appears to die on the
operating table.
This is a critical moment in
any story, an ordeal in which the hero appears to die and is born again. It's a
major source of the magic of the hero myth. What happens is that the audience
has been led to identify with the hero. We are encouraged to experience the
brink-of- -death feeling with the hero. We are temporarily depressed, and then
we are revived by the hero's return from death.
This is the magic of any
well-designed amusement park thrill ride. Space Mountain or The Great White
Knuckler make the passengers feel like they're going to die, and there's a
great thrill that comes from surviving a moment like that. This is also the
trick of rites of passage and rites of initiation into fraternities and secret
societies. The initiate is forced to taste death and experience resurrection.
You're never more alive than when you think you're going to die.
9) THE HERO SIEZES THE
SWORD.
Having survived death,
beaten the dragon, slain the Minotaur, the hero now takes possession of the
treasure he's come seeking. Sometimes it's a special weapon like a magic sword,
or it may be a token like the Grail or some elixir which can heal the wounded
land. Sometimes the "sword" is knowledge and experience that leads to
greater understanding and a reconciliation with hostile forces.
The hero may settle a
conflict with his father or with his shadowy nemesis. In RETURN OF THE JEDI,
Luke is reconciled with both, as he discovers that the dying Darth Vader is his
father, and not such a bad guy after all.
The hero may also be
reconciled with a woman. Often she is the treasure he's come to win or rescue,
and there is often a love scene or sacred marriage at this point. Women in
these stories (or men if the hero is female) tend to be SHAPE-SHIFTERS. They
appear to change in form or age, reflecting the confusing and constantly
changing aspects of the opposite sex as seen from the hero's point of view. The
hero's supreme ordeal may grant him a better understanding of women, leading to
a reconciliation with the opposite sex.
10) THE ROAD BACK.
The hero's not out of the
woods yet. Some of the best chase scenes come at this point, as the hero is
pursued by the vengeful forces from whom he has stolen the elixir or the
treasure. This is the chase as
Luke and friends escape from the Death Star, with Princess Leia and
the plans that will bring down Darth Vader.
If the hero has not yet
managed to reconcile with his father or the gods, they may come raging after
him at this point. This is the moonlight bicycle flight of Elliott and E.T. as
they escape from "Keys" (Peter Coyote), a force representing
governmental authority. By the end of the movie, Keys and Elliott have been
reconciled, and it even looks like Keys will end up as Elliott's father. (The
script not the final cut, guys).
11) RESURRECTION.
The hero emerges from the
special world, transformed by his experience. There is often a replay here of
the mock death-and-rebirth of stage 8, as the hero once again faces death and
survives. Each ordeal wins him new command over the Force. He is transformed
into a new being by his experience.
12) RETURN WITH THE
ELIXIR.
The hero comes back to his
ordinary world, but his adventure would be meaningless unless he brought back
the elixir, treasure, or some lesson from the special world. Sometimes it's
just knowledge or experience, but unless he comes back with the elixir or some
boon to mankind, he's doomed to repeat the adventure until he does. Many
comedies use this ending, as a foolish character refuses to learn his lesson
and embarks on the same folly that got him in trouble in the first place.
Sometimes the boon is treasure won on the quest, or love, or just the knowledge
that the special world exists and can be survived. Sometimes it's just coming
home with a good story to tell.
THE SHORT FORM OF THE
HERO STORY:
The hero is introduced in
his ordinary world, where he receives the call to adventure. He is reluctant at
first but is encouraged by the wise old man or woman to cross the first
threshold, where he encounters tests and helpers. He reaches the innermost
cave, where he endures the supreme ordeal. He seizes the sword or the treasure
and is pursued on the road back to his world. He is resurrected and transformed
by his experience. He returns to his ordinary world with a treasure, boon, or
elixir to benefit his world.
As with any formula, there
are pitfalls to be avoided. Following the guidelines of myth too rigidly can
lead to a stiff, unnatural structure, and there is danger of being too obvious.
The HERO MYTH is a skeleton
that should be masked with the details of the individual story, and the
structure should not call attention to itself. The order of the hero's stages
as given here is only one of many variations. The stages can be deleted, added
to, and drastically reshuffled without losing their power.
The values of the myth are
what's important. The images of the basic version -- young heroes seeking magic
swords from old wizards, fighting evil dragons in deep caves, etc., -- are just
symbols, and can be changed infinitely to suit the story at hand.
The myth is easily translated to contemporary dramas, comedies,
romances, or action-adventures by substituting modern equivalents for the
symbolic figures and props of the hero story. The Wise Old Man may be a real
shaman or Wizard, but he can also be any kind of mentor or teacher, doctor or
therapist, crusty but benign boss, tough but fair top sergeant, parent,
grandfather, etc. Modern heroes may not be going into caves and labyrinths to
fight their mythical beasts, but they do enter an innermost cave by going into
space, to the bottom of the sea, into their own minds, or into the depths of a
modern city.
The myth can be used to tell
the simplest comic book story or the most sophisticated drama. It grows and
matures as new experiments are tried within its basic framework. Changing the
sex and ages of the basic characters only makes it more interesting, and allows
ever more complex webs of understanding to be spun among them. The basic
characters can be combined, or divided into several figures to show different
aspects of the same idea. The myth is infinitely flexible, capable of endless
variation without sacrificing any of its magic.
And it will outlive us all.
Taken from
http://www.skepticfiles.org/atheist2/hero.htm.
Adapted from coverage by
Chris Vogler
Norm Applegate author of:
