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Unpacking the Hero's Journey in the Confusing Novel of As I Lay Dying

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William Faulkner's writing style in As I Lay Dying,  utilizing nonlinear plotting, italicized wordage showing interior monologue, and changing perspectives, takes an unconventional route from traditional narrative arrangements, making it a difficult read for most who encounter it. Often, the numerous characters who speak from their point of view do not use punctuation when going on tangents and start talking in seemingly absurd ways when displaying their inward thoughts. Typically, in the hero's journey, the male protagonist is in an unfortunate situation and initially rejects his mission. However,  the Supernatural Aid convinces the hero to embark on his adventure. Through several ebbs and flows, he reaches his Ultimate Boon and makes his heroic return to his everyday life. These 17 stages of the heroic journey, due to many narrators, are more inconvenient to decipher for the readers. Despite these complexities, Faulkner's ways can still follow the hero's journey templ...
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Victoria Lynn Schmidt's Heroine's Journey in Quicksand

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After critically analyzing Victoria Lynn Schmidt's model of the heroine's journey, it feels right to apply my findings and see how Schmidt's version plays out in  Quicksand.  In my most recent blog, I stated with Schmidt, "The female protagonist experiences numerous positive and negative emotions throughout their story, shaping them to become stronger and face their struggles directly,"  Quicksand  is certainly no exception. To start, the protagonist, Helga Crane, teaches at Naxos, where she experiences the first stage of Illusion of the Perfect World. Helga, at a young age, is already engaged to James Vayle and being a mixed individual, feels she has a community with there being other blacks residing in Naxos. These elements have encouraged Helga to teach here for two years, but unfortunately, this fulfillment would soon end. One day, the school is having Mass, and the priest begins his sermon. In the sermon, the priest spews numerous racial ideals, and none of t...
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Deep Diving into Victoria Lynn Schmidt's Heroine Journey

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Victoria Lynn Schmidt's heroine's journey diagram is an alternative way to analyze protagonists in films, as opposed to Joseph Campbell's masculine-focused model, while still keeping similar traits. With Schmidt, the female protagonist experiences numerous positive and negative emotions throughout their story, shaping them to become stronger and face their struggles directly. Schmidt starts the heroine's journey with the Illusion of the Perfect World. This initial stage is described as  " the heroine's initial state, where she lives in a world she believes is safe and protective, shielded from pain and uncertainty, relying on coping strategies that she believes will work." The illusion blinds the protagonist and has her content with her current situation. However, this thinking all changes after the heroine undergoes the Betrayal phase where she realizes the world is not as perfect as she once thought and is now losing hope. In the Betrayal stage the first...
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The Hero's Journey in A New Hope

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 A scene in A New Hope  that shows the film as a hero's journey narrative is when Luke Skywalker is in a local tavern in Tatooine. At first, Luke rejects the call to adventure but after his uncle and aunt are killed by the Empire, he agrees to accompany former Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. For the adventure, Kenobi and Luke need an adequate ship to make the trip to Alderaan. They enter the tavern, looking for Han Solo and Chewbacca for the transaction, regarding the Millenium Falcon. However, before they can discuss, Luke is approached aggressively by a goon. Before the thug could react, Obi-Wan comes to his aid and immediately eliminates the individual with his lightsaber. Joseph Campbell's monomyth encourages us to look at this scene as the Crossing of the First Threshold stage in the hero's journey. The crossing of the first threshold is described as "The point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of their world, and...
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