Topic > The practical role played by the structure of the hero's journey in the narrative

When the ancestors first connected the dreams they had last night with their daily lives and created the first myths, later using them in religious rituals or simply as bedtime stories for their children, they would not have expected that such stories would had a strong impact. vitality, and have even become one of the golden narrative structures of Hollywood works today. Without a doubt it deserves to be preserved. From Propp and Campbell to Vogler, they've gradually made the hero's journey clear and easy to use. Campbell (2001) believed that those who created myths in ancient times were equivalent to artists today because the mission of artists is to express the environment and the world in a mythical way (p. 107). Writers who created masterpieces would surely be included in the range of artists. However, how to tell an attractive story is a question that every storyteller thinks about. It is not only a concern of the literary and film industry, but also a proposal that needs to be discussed in all fields of media. Stories provide interaction, attract the audience and carry the message that the organizer wants to convey. There is no doubt that no storyteller will ignore structure in the creation process. In the film industry, story structure is the core and key to creating a screenplay. Much of the success or failure of a screenplay depends on the structure of the story. Although not directly reflected on paper, a great film must have an extraordinary narrative structure (Vogler and McKenna, 2011, p. iii). Campbell proposed that the collective unconscious (Jong, 1966, p. 14) gives a natural psychological identity with stories about myths and stories created by mythological structure. And the American Film Institute convened 1,500 experts to vote on the 100 classic films that best represent American film culture. It has been found that over 95% of films have a distinct narrative pattern of the “hero's journey” (Contemporary Cinema, 2018). In this article I will use a variety of literature to find out what is important to writers and their works, what should be given high value in the storytelling process, how the monomyth meets these requirements and thus justifies the fact that the journey of the hero is a very creative writing tool. Three specific aspects of the expression expressed with the monomyth will be proposed: completing a high-quality representation of the characters of the story, the setting of the plot and defining the theme. At the same time, this ancient structure of creation based on countless myths and legends also allows the author to think about the very act of writing. It also lists doubts about this structure, which will be interpreted. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, the monomyth can help creators create more detailed and vivid characters. Egri (1972), talking about writing skills, mentions that Henrik Ibsen demanded to have a complete understanding of the characters in his writing work. The differences between the characters should be significant. '...in the characteristics, not in the course of the treatment' (Egri, p. 33). The difference comes from the layered details of the character's background. Field (2005) suggested constructing a character biography as an exercise (p. 49). Egri (1972) divided three dimensions of character creation, which are physiology, sociology, and psychology (p. 33). The physiological difference is the most obvious, such as the appearance and tone of speech. The second is his social situation. For example, family life, religionand education. The two dimensions interact and produce physiology, linked to ambitions, quirks and attitudes. Each component is non-fictional, which is refined by the authors based on the environment in which the character finds himself and the things he experiences. The structure of the hero's journey begins with character design. It is necessary to set the protagonist's conditions in all aspects of the ordinary world and find clues that can motivate him to answer the call of adventure. Furthermore, the hero's journey requires writers to consider how to make the audience close and realistic towards the characters, especially heroes, such as having the common characteristic of human beings or not being perfect. “A character who has a unique combination of contradictory impulses, such as trust and suspicion or hope and despair, seems more realistic and human than one who displays only one character trait. ' (Vogler, 2007, p. 31). There are eight prototypes basic in the heroic journey, which are practical to help writers understand the functions and characteristics of each archetype so that they can create more focused characters "If you grasp the function of the archetype that a particular character is expressing, it can help determine whether the character is pulling his or her weight in the story" (Vogler, 2007, p. 24). But not all archetypes have to exist. Different archetypes can also be merged into a single character. A person who initially has a certain identity can be transformed into another role as the plots develop, for example, in Harry Potter, Rubeus Hagrid as the herald announced the change and brought Harry to the wizarding world, but he was also Harry's partner. In The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal serves as both a shapeshifter, a shadow, and a mentor. In Avatar, Colonel Max initially served as Jack's mentor and later became his enemy. 'Your characters can't be black and white, they can be light gray to dark grey' (Egri, 1972, p. 117). And there are many categories of heroes. With the structure of the monomyth, writers can have more complete and flexible choices when creating characters. Furthermore, successful works require that the characters are always motivated. 'it is not enough, in the study of a man, to know whether: he is rude, polite, religious, atheist, moral, degenerate. You have to know why" (Egri, 1972, p. 33). «A key character doesn't simply have to want something. He must want it so badly that he destroys or is destroyed in the effort to achieve his goal” (Egri, 1972, p. 106). He is the type of hero shaped by the Monomyth. This structure naturally motivates the completion of the character's biography. Lost heroes experienced in childhood or the frustration they faced in society led them to wish: to leave for a special world. Debut writers often ignore the importance of motivation, which causes the role to change suddenly and is illogical. If a person became an alien, which violated his will, he would not immediately take the opposite side of humanity and decide to fight or dominate the earth. It is not in line with human psychology. The other benefit of the Monomyth for storytellers is that it helps understand “character arc.” This term often appears in the Hollywood drama manual, “A character is constantly changing” (Egri, 1972, p. 46). Character arc is your role's process of overcoming his or her flaw (Chitlik, 2015, p. 98). The hero's journey could play a role in writing plays when the writer doesn't know how to make the character feel life and grow. Because it is obvious that the structure describes the hero's growth experience. It focuses both on growthpsychological than physical, meaning the monomyth guides writers to provide a clear end goal and add obstacles to the hero. Each time the problem is solved and the choice is made, parts of the character arc are made. Finally, the hero can abstract the meaning of the journey and find the value of life. The hero's journey can be used to describe not only a character's complete life but also a storm in a short period. The process from Harry's entry into Hogwarts to the destruction of Voldemort, or the story of the Triwizard Tournament, could both be seen as a journey. Furthermore, if we choose to compress the time of the journey or design the reward or elixir as a gamble for this adventure, then the dramatic tension of the character arc will be stronger. Writers can gain more writing methods as they continue to learn from the monomyth. During the construction of plots, the hero's journey has the applied arrangement of plots and conflicts, which corresponds to the psychological expectations of the audience. They seek a sense of character identity in sensibility and control the structure of stories in rationality through plot transitions and climaxes. The characters drive the plot and are so complex that the plot will change with unknowns. In the monomyth the protagonist will initially refuse the call from the special world due to his fear. Furthermore, he will fail and die in the middle of the journey due to immature thoughts, poor choices, or other factors. “Plot is the writer's choice of events and their planning over time” (McKee, 1997, p. 43). Hartman and Zimberoff (2009) summarized the five major steps of the hero's journey (p. 7). Conflicts can be seen everywhere in these five steps. On the surface, conflicts represent the obstacles the protagonist encounters on the way. The creators follow the hero's journey full circle, using guardians, enemies, shadows, and other prototypes to place obstacles. In the deepest phase, a story that, in line with the audience's psychological expectations, must have both external and internal conflicts (McKee,1997, p. 48). Ballon (2014) divided conflict into three types: people with themselves, people with nature, and people with others (p. 50). People overcome their shortcomings during the journey. For example, in The Silence of the Lambs, Starling overcomes his childhood nightmare by capturing "Buffalo Bill". And science fiction tends to explore the life and death of the smallest humans. Like people's resistance to unknown forces in alien invasions. The most common situation is the fight between the protagonist and the villain, whether it is the big devil in action films or the love rival in romantic comedy. Furthermore, the hero's journey inspires the authors and helps them define the main topic in the film as well. general narrative core. Egri (1972) noted the "premise" in narrative works, it can be used as a key word for the entire production and as an emotional goal to convey to the audience. A common example of the premise is the "glory of the victor", but specifically it can be the victory of winning the game, the joy of the success of revenge, the satisfaction of love, and the comfort of learning something new (p. 2) . McKee (1997) argues that two concepts support the creative process, one is the premise and the other is the controlling idea (p. 115). Since the hero's journey is a structure that has a well-defined goal, it requires the writer to constantly return to the original theme of the story during the creation process, avoiding deviations. McKee (1997) described that “theme” is not a very clear word. Like poverty, war and love, they are not the themes. They are just words related to thebackground or genre (p. 114). This shows that it would be better for the writer to explain the topic in one or two sentences. Therefore, when using the structure of the hero's journey to determine the theme, it can be clearer because it relates to what the hero needs to achieve. “The more you can shape your work around a clear idea, the more meanings the audience will discover in your film as they take your idea and follow its implications into every aspect of their lives.” Just like some typical monomyth ideas, if the writer combines too many ideas in one piece, it "says nothing." '(p.115). The monomyth plays a valuable role in the creation of great narratives and the world of fairy tales. Joseph Campbell (2008) has provided an abundant case of mythological archetypes to summarize the foundation of the monomyth. In the long history, with the flow of different countries and regions, different periods of myths and legends have their own setting, including geography, politics, art, religious beliefs, and the details of the hero's journey will change accordingly. So if writers want to reasonably render every aspect of the grand narrative that happened, they must understand and learn from the myriad of myths and legends behind the hero's journey. But the author should consider his logic realistic and cannot make unreasonable concessions to the plot and characters. One example compared ancient mythology between Greece and China. The first is a typical marine civilization, open, enterprising. The quality of boldness in risk-taking and unbridled romanticism is in the Greek's blood. In contrast, ancient Chinese culture originates in the Yellow River Basin, which is about agriculture, struggle with nature, and the tendency to unexposed and unobtrusive, silent and tenacious, subtle and conservative lifestyle. The god of ancient China is a model of the morality that people pursue (Birrell,1999). There is the political influence of the feudal system of ancient China for thousands of years. It was a kind of restraint for people, which was to better control their mind and manage state affairs. In Greece, the national character of the ocean and the democracy of its city-state formed a concept of freedom and equality. They approve of human values ​​and show in myths that even their gods have human weaknesses. The gods of Mount Olympus are addicted to pleasure, they dare to love and hate. They may be jealous, angry, selfish, arrogant and all the defects of human nature are also reflected in them. Thus, as Karl Marx (2008), referring to the characteristics of the times, believes that Greek myth and epic develop the most perfect product of human childhood, have a permanent appeal. Vogler (2007) noted that critics suspected that the hero's journey was too formulaic and will lead to a repetition of the stale plot. He pointed out that there are some professional writers who instinctively reject all theories of drama, oppose principles and support freedom of creation. «But this too is a principle, and those who say they reject principles and theories cannot avoid subscribing to some of them: avoiding formulas, distrusting order and model, resisting logic and tradition» (p. xvii). Indifference to the classical model has two drawbacks: the novice writer does not understand the conditions and criteria of the success story, and he cannot rely on empiricism to avoid making mistakes. While the consequence of rejecting the classical format for professional writers is that they may only have a limited audience. “No film can work without understanding audience reactions and expectations” (McKee, 1997, p. 8). “Because most people can't relate to totally unconventional art” (Vogler, 2007, p. xvii). In other words,,.