Is anyone else as sick and tired of “The Hero’s Journey” as I am? I know there’s a lot of people who feel all writers have a moral duty to conform all works of fantasy (and often, science fiction) into this hidebound template.
Well, if you’re one of those people, you’re not going to like this: I’m so sick of the Hero’s Journey, I just toss it in the trash can. Don’t let hidebound literati fool you into thinking that the HJ is somehow “timeless”, or that Australophitecene storytellers were already biologically hard-wired to regale and teach each other with spectacular HJ tales.
The HJ, at least as Americans know it, sprang from the theories of Professor Joseph John Campbell. THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES, published in 1949, is his most well-known work (and the catalyst to making the HJ so well-known in the United States). In 2002, Campbell was credited by George Lucas with influencing his Star Wars saga.
And the “myth of the monomyth” was off and running!
My disdain for the Hero’s Journey is not some random whim; it’s very deliberate. While archetypes may sometimes serve legitimate purposes, they can lead to thin characterization when relied upon too heavily — and in such a case, it’s best for the writer to just ditch the archetypes and write a good story. While I haven’t taken any surveys, I think a lot of modern, intelligent readers aren’t interested in characters reduced to one-dimensional archetypes.
All too often, the expectation of an HJ in tales of fantasy (or sci-fi) is rooted in the belief that its value is proven by some sort of universal relevance. Surely something so deeply embedded in all facets of human literature is the “monomyth” – the Great Story that shares a timeless “wisdom of the ages” — and touches the very heart of what it means to be human!
There’s a problem, though; it doesn’t.
I remember once, as a child, aspiring to write a sort of Tolkienesque “fanfic” — before there was “fanfic”. It was going to be a story about Gandalf’s boyhood. I had put a lot of thought into trying to tackle the project of bringing to life a person of great intelligence, perseverance and accomplishment who was surely working and sacrificing, effectively earning (at least partially) the monumental power and wisdom that the adult Gandalf would one day have.
Later in my adolescence, I was crushed to find out that Gandalf was just plain lucky! Apparently, fate had simply chosen him to be an immortal superbeing. . . which is sort of a cheap, one-stop shop for a “Hero’s Journey”. Actually, Gandalf’s life story wasn’t much of a “journey” at all . . . and given his virtual immortality, he sure wasn’t putting himself at much risk! Where’s the heroism in Gandalf’s apparent “sacrifice” of falling into that chasm with the Balrog when it was certain all along he couldn’t possibly die!
Sadly, Gandalf was just the vanguard of a weak procession of cardboard “Marty Stus” that kept showing up to suck away all the enjoyment and thrill from so many otherwise promising stories. And yet, fans of the “Hero’s Journey” concept continually try to jury-rig Gandalf, Dumbledore, Yoda, Merlin, Papa Smurf, and many more into the role of “wise old man” providing the hero with timely advice.
I know that sometimes, the point of stories about “wisdom” is to actually show that wisdom is its own reward. But I don’t remember Gandalf ever actually studying, or even teaching the rest of the Fellowship very much.
I suppose you could argue that the point of such “wise old men” is for them to stand as proof that the best heroes still respect and honor wisdom and intellect (even if the heroes themselves aren’t always exactly geniuses), because access to wisdom and intellect is essential to so many worthy goals. “Wise old men” also reinforce the lesson that the skill most needed in a leader is . . . well, leadership; helping and inspiring others, to also learn and grow. Because for better or worse, human beings can generally accomplish a lot more in groups than they can on their own.
FLORIS KLOOT
Floris Koot’s article (Medium.com, 05/01/16, A New Hero’s Journey) bills itself as “a critical post about the biggest cliché story of all time and suggestions for new story lines toward a more united earth.” And, well, he has a point.
Kloot says it’s time to let go of the HJ, because at this point it’s probably already shown us all it has to teach us. He points out, rightly, that the Hero’s Journey will be of depressingly little use to readers stuck in the global problems of the 21st century’s global perspective: such as avoiding war, fostering freedom and prosperity, and keeping our planet habitable in the face of our burgeoning population.
We need to stop turning every story we hear, or like, into a version of the Hero’s Journey. And we need that in a big, big way.
CAROLYN WEST
(CITE: More Than a Hero’s Journey / Carolyn West, contributor; Huffington Post, 06/20/16 — upd. 12/06/17).
Might there be other paths to maturity through literature, other than this cumbersome “Hero’s Journey”?
Carolyn West was perceptive enough to catch the heart of America’s problem with the HJ: its ubiquity in top-budget films has tricked American filmmakers into thinking that stories failing to kowtow to the HJ must fail, as stories, in some essential way.
West provides a lot of valuable examples of more varied — and better! — traditions from a wide range of cultures: White Buffalo Woman, the Spider Grandmother, Saint Bridget of ancient (pre-Roman) Britain; trickster gods like Coyote and Anansi; Aesop’s Fables; and the Jataka stories of Gautama Buddha. (She goes into more detail than I do here; it’s well worth reading it.) Many Westerners have difficulty accepting that the Hero’s Journey is only one of many literary traditions that originated throughout the world . . . and it’s not even one of the better ones!
But how can that be, when we see it so often in America’s movie blockbusters? Stories of Marvel superheros, ninja turtles, Jedi Knights, the Matrix, and Gandalf the Grey? Surely these movies all did so well at the box office because they followed the wisdom of The Hero’s Journey, right?
Actually the CONVERSE is true: the stories referred to above made money, and everyone has been assuming ever since that the insertion of the HJ was the core reason for their financial successes. And since so many decision-makers in the film industry make that assumption now, they frequently insert HJ stories into film, assuming this will guarantee high profits, regardless of how poorly the movie is conceived or filmed. The belief that the Hero’s Journey “can’t lose” encourages greater investment in the upcoming film’s overall budget (i.e. actors’ salaries, special effects, score, etc.) in the hope that it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
BUT . . . CAN IT REALLY BE THAT SIMPLE??
Yes, it can.
At the end of her article, West brings up the humble folk tale of Stone Soup. Three hungry, exhausted soldiers entering a hamlet ravaged by a recent war are regarded with suspicion and fear. One weary, weatherbeaten soldier who has seen enough cruelty and rage for one lifetime, reaches deep inside himself to find what remnants he can of the human instincts of humility, curiosity and generosity — to learn how to trust and be trusted again; to replace carnage with community, and to make soup from a stone.
I’ll take that sort of wisdom over Luke Skywalker’s self-righteous whining any day.
Let’s put the Hero’s Journey in the dumpster.
Boca de Lobo 
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