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As I Lay Dying: A Journey Without a Hero

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying has an ambiguous relation to the hero's journey. Campbell’s traditional model of the journey follows a linear path and centers on a definitive main character, with specific steps delineating the hero’s progress. As I Lay Dying includes very few of these attributes, as it follows a fragmented narrative, impartially displays multiple characters’ perspectives, and fails to adhere to the steps laid out by Campbell. However, the most notable departure from the traditional journey is the lack of a main character—the lack of a hero. There are several arguments to be made about the heroism of various members of the Bundren family, however each character ultimately falls short of the attributes necessary for classification as a hero. The first character with hero potential is Anse. When looking exclusively at behavior, Anse seems like a very unlikely candidate for classification as a hero. He is lazy, unaccountable, apathetic, unnurturing towards his chil...
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Murdock’s Deconstruction of Campbell’s Hero’s Journey

Maureen Murdock’s model of the heroine’s journey was created as an alternative to Campbell’s concept of the hero’s journey—a template designed to address the “psycho-spiritual” experiences of women. Upon completion, Murdock presented the model to Campbell who responded by saying “Women don’t need to make the journey. In the whole mythological journey, the woman is there. All she has to do is realize that she’s the place that people are trying to get to.” Each step of Murdock’s journey addresses this sexist critique, mapping the events of womens’ lives in a way that exemplifies the complexity of their experiences and the necessity of recognizing growth within a patriarchal society. The first three steps of the journey directly address the sentiments expressed in Campbell’s critique of Murdock’s model. “Separation from the feminine” and “identification with the masculine and gathering of allies” both represent internalized self-hatred of feminine identity within a male dominant society. ...
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Cady's Heroine's Journey as seen in Mean Girls

  Our class viewing of Legally Blonde sparked a chain reaction which caused me to watch several new movies from genres that I had previously left unexplored. Starting with Legally Blonde’s sequel, I worked my way through Legally Blonde 2, Clueless, and Mean Girls. Each of these respective films featured strong female protagonists undergoing their own heroines’ journeys. Although all of these films are worthy of an in-depth blog post, I have chosen to focus on the most critically acclaimed of the three: Mean Girls.  Mean Girls follows high school junior Cady Heron, who is enrolling in a public high school (in the Chicago suburbs?) after being homeschooled in Africa for her whole life. Her illusion of the perfect world is displayed in her confidence heading into her first day of public school. Cady self-identifies as a “normal” homeschooled girl—not a stereotypical homeschooled nerd or religious fanatic. This sense of normalcy makes her overly optimistic about her chances of fit...
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Vasudeva: The Father Figure Completing the Initiation Phase

  Vasudeva is first introduced early on in Siddhartha’s journey for enlightenment. Initially, he is only mentioned in passing as an insignificant ferryman. However, in the final stages of Siddhartha’s journey, he is reintroduced as an ambiguous supernatural aid and father figure. While Vasudeva’s exact classification remains up to interpretation, he undoubtedly plays a major role in Siddhartha’s ultimate enlightenment. Siddhartha remains adamant that enlightenment must be obtained through self-exploration and cannot be taught, yet Vasudeva is undoubtedly a teacher in some capacity. Though he does not teach enlightenment itself, he introduces Siddhartha to the wisdom of the river and reveals various frameworks for becoming at peace with oneself.  When Siddhartha first meets Vasudeva, has already abandoned his life as a Samana and is departing from the Buddha’s garden of Jetavana. Vasudeva is mentioned only briefly, and very few of his characteristics are revealed. Even his na...
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