The Hero’s Journey Isn’t About Slaying Dragons – It’s About Becoming Yourself
By Sydney Kowalski
We all love to immerse ourselves in the worlds that movies and shows provide, but why do we enjoy them so much? What about these stories makes us captured? I think one fundamental idea is that movies and shows such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and animes such as Attack on Titian or Vinland Saga all explore something deeply human, the process of growth.
What is the Hero’s Journey?
This pattern of growth in stories isn’t random. Joseph Campbell, a literary professor, analyzed this growth in stories and believed that many of the greatest stories followed a similar structure. In his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell explored myths and stories from different cultures and noticed that many followed a common narrative pattern. He called this pattern the Hero’s Journey, also known as the monomyth, suggesting that stories across human history and cultures often share the same fundamental structure. The Hero’s Journey consists of 12 stages that outline the transformative journey a protagonist undergoes.
The Ordinary World: This is where the audience is introduced to the protagonist’s normal life.
The Call to Adventure: A specific issue, problem, or challenge is presented to the protagonist.
Refusal of the Call: The protagonist hesitates to undertake the mission or task presented to them out of fear of the unknown.
Meeting the Mentor: The protagonist then meets a mentor who helps them learn and gain confidence to forge ahead on their journey.
Crossing the First Threshold: This is where the protagonist finally commits to the task they must undertake and enters the “special world.”
Tests, Allies, Enemies: The protagonist then faces challenges along the way, makes friends, and also encounters enemies.
Approach to the Inmost Cave: The protagonist prepares to confront their biggest challenge.
The Ordeal: This is when the protagonist faces their greatest fear or a huge obstacle.
Reward: The protagonist then survives the ordeal and takes the object or knowledge that they sought out in the beginning.
The Road Back: The protagonist begins their journey back home, often still encountering challenges and obstacles.
Resurrection: This is the big boss fight, where the protagonist battles, wins, and is then transformed afterward.
Return with the Elixir: The protagonist then returns to their home/ordinary life with the reward or lesson learned.
What pulls us into the Hero’s Journey?
So, knowing the stages of the Hero’s Journey, why are we captivated as an audience by hero stories? One possible explanation, besides that hero stories are entertaining, is that they show human psychological growth. We all take on tasks, challenges, or goals in our lives, just like a protagonist, and we go on a journey to complete them.
In a way, I believe that the hero’s journey just outlines the fundamental psychological way of how stories were told to connect with humans. Before psychology became a formal field of study, humans still experienced fear, loss, uncertainty, courage, love, and personal growth. They didn’t have psychological theories or research studies to explain these experiences, so they shared them through stories passed down by oral tradition and later through books. In a way, I think myths and stories hold something fundamentally human. We often see parts of ourselves in the characters and the journeys they go through. Even though the stories are fictional, the emotions, struggles, and growth often feel very real to us. Myths and stories were often used to teach lessons, pass down wisdom, and help people navigate life. For example, the story of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, reminds us of the dangers of pride and excess. In this way, myths weren’t simply entertaining stories. They helped people understand themselves, connect with one another, and pass along values generation to generation.
The tasks, challenges, or goals in our lives aren’t as fantastical as the ones of a hero, but we still go through them and grow.
For example, think about a teenager applying to college. At first they’re simply living their ordinary everyday high school life (The Ordinary World).
Then they come to realize that it’s about time to start thinking about college and where they want their future to take them (The Call to Adventure).
And like many heroes, they might hesitate and wonder whether they’re ready, if they’re smart enough, or if they even should apply to colleges at all (Refusal of the Call).
Maybe their school holds a college fair, maybe a teacher encourages them, or maybe they meet someone who talks about an amazing program at a certain university and inspires them to apply (Meeting the Mentor).
Then, they start studying for the SAT, researching schools, and committing themselves to the long application process (Crossing the First Threshold).
Along the way, they face challenges, such as receiving a lower practice SAT score than they hoped for, while also leaning on friends who are going through the same experience and encouraging one another (Tests, Allies, and Enemies).
Eventually, they take the SAT and submit their applications (Approach to the Inmost Cave).
Then comes one of the hardest parts, awaiting to hear back from colleges and facing the uncertainty of whether they got in or not (The Ordeal).
After months of hard work, they receive an acceptance letter from one of the top three colleges they were hoping for, and all their hard work starts to feel worth it (The Reward).
They share the exciting news with their family and friends and begin preparing for this new chapter in their life (The Road Back).
They go through their first year of college, and it comes with new challenges and responsibilities, but they learn more about themselves academically and personally (Resurrection).
When they return home after that first year, they come back with new experiences, new knowledge, and a different perspective on life than what they had when they first left (Return with the Elixir).
This is just one example, but the Hero’s Journey can be applied to almost anything we hope to accomplish. Whether it’s beginning a new career, becoming a parent, moving to a city, or starting therapy, there are always obstacles to overcome, lessons to learn, and opportunities to grow along the way.
How does this apply to us?
If the Hero’s Journey can be found in so many different aspects of our lives, why does it matter? Personally, I think it matters because it reminds us that growth is rarely comfortable. Whenever we try something new or go through a big life change, we usually have to leave behind something familiar (Ordinary World), and that’s scary. We don’t know what’s going to happen next, and I think that’s something everyone can relate to. Just like the heroes in our favorite stories, we don’t always know how things will turn out. But those experiences often become the moments where we learn the most about ourselves.
Therapy can also become one of those journeys. Deciding to even begin therapy can often feel scary and intimidating (Refusal of Call). Therapy can feel really uncomfortable sometimes because it asks us to be vulnerable, and sometimes we have to talk about things we’ve avoided for years or notice patterns/narratives we’ve never really thought about before or noticed. That isn’t always easy, but I think that’s also where a lot of growth happens. One of my favorite parts of the Hero’s Journey is that the mentor never completes the journey for the hero. Instead, the mentor offers guidance, encouragement, and wisdom, but the hero is the one who must take each step forward. In many ways, in my opinion, therapy works very similarly. A therapist can’t live someone else’s life or make decisions for them, but they can walk beside them, support, ask thoughtful questions, and help recognize strengths that they may not have even noticed in themselves.
I guess that’s why I think the Hero’s Journey has continued to resonate for so many years for us humans. It isn’t because most of us will ever fight dragons or save kingdoms. It’s because, in one way or another, we all know what it’s like to face uncertainty, struggle through challenges, and come out changed by the experience. Life is made up of countless journeys, some exciting, some difficult, and some completely unexpected. Knowing that even our hardest journeys have the potential to shape who we become brings me a sense of peace.
“Life is not about the destination; it’s about the journey.”
References
Campbell, J. (2008). The hero with a thousand faces (3rd ed.). New World Library.
Friel, G. (n.d.). The Hero’s Journey. Gerald Friel. https://www.gerardfriel.com/the-heros-journey/
The Pursuit of Wonder. (2024, March 29). The hero’s journey: Why every story is the same [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8nMhb9Z7ko
