TAKING THE HERO'S JOURNEY

"If you go looking for Adventure, you usually find as much of it as you can manage.  And it often happens that when you think it is ahead, it comes on you unexpectedly from behind."

- Gildor the Elf , J.R.R. Tolkien, early draft of The Lord of the Rings.

Everyone takes the Hero's Journey to some degree.  Most of the time we aren't aware of it.  On this page, you can consciously move through the stages of the Hero's Journey by clicking on the stages.

Throughout this section, while describing the particular stage, I will try to enhance the experience with example quotes and scene descriptions from popular stories.  Most of the examples may stem from the film medium, since it is a popular, easily accessible, medium and often lends itself to quick analysis.

If you like things presented in a linear fashion, start at "The Keys" and work through the subsequent links.  Or you may want to start along the diagram near "The Call to Adventure" and follow the diagram along The Hero's Journey.  Be advised not every story touches every link, so if you have a particular story in mind and that particular link does not seem to apply, try the next one and see if that one does.  Also if you click on the sword at the bottom of each link to take you to the next station. Although stages may repeat on the diagram they will not repeat if you use the sword. (This sword will skip "The Keys" however and go directly to "The Call to Adventure".)