In Joseph Campbell’s A Hero With A Thousand Faces, he establishes a universal system in which to prove that every hero story is the same story...The Monomyth. Campbell’s seventeen-step method can compare any work from any period. The seventeen steps are broken down into three different sections to organize the different parts of a hero’s journey.
As we soon shall see, whether present in the vast, almost oceanic images of the Orient, in the vigorous narratives of the Greeks, or in the majestic legends of the Bible, the adventure of the hero normally follows the pattern of the nuclear unit above described: a separation from the world, a penetration to some source of power, and a life-enhancing return. (Campbell 33).
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This cycle helps show the life development and the coming-of-age aspect of heroes alike. The monomyth is a universal system that is seen everywhere today in literature and films. Stories that are completely different from each other will still follow the same monomythic steps. For example in Spiderman, Peter gets bit by a radioactive spider as his call to adventure, but then something completely different like Lord of the Rings, Frodo’s call to adventure is when Gandalf tells him he must destroy the One Ring. It does not matter the subject of the story, but only if a hero follows this path. Harry Potter’s famous refusal of the call where he proclaims that he is not a wizard because he is just Harry, is just as much a refusal as Simba retreating to the desert because he is scared in The Lion King. Every hero and every story will have helpers and guides like Obi-Wan training Luke to be a Jedi or Morpheus advising Neo to take the red pill or the blue pill in The Matrix. Perhaps one of the most important steps along a hero’s journey, the road of trials, can be very different, but they still follow the same monomythic structure. For example, Shrek saves Princess Fiona in the tower and fights off the dragon, compared to, Marlin and Dory dealing with Bruce, the shark, or the scared Anglerfish. In every story, the hero’s main goal is to reach their ultimate boon. This is the prize they get for completing their journey. Indiana Jones is perhaps the most notable franchise in terms of retrieving prizes. In Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade, Indiana picks up the holy grail and not only obtains that but also the healing powers it holds, which he uses to save his dad by healing his bullet wound. Many times a hero’s ultimate boon is fighting to save the world or themselves. Captain America fought for his life by beating Red Skull, saving the world from his Nazi ideals, as his ultimate boon. What all these examples show is just how different a story can be, but in the end, they all do follow the same structure.
The thought that monomyth connects all hero stories is very true. The way that The Odyssey can be compared to The Hunger Games all because of Campbell’s system. Whether authors intend to follow the monomyth or not, they do. The monomyth is timeless, it can compare any work from any period and connect it to a monomyth in some way. The Hero With A Thousand Faces is one of the most influential novels of all time because it inspired thousands of other stories to follow the monomyth steps, authors and directors alike.
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