Sheena Starks

Have you ever wondered why certain stories tug at your heart in one way or another? Well, God has placed in our hearts a longing for a hero and someone to look up to. He also created us to have a life filled with adventures and trials so that we can grow in Him and learn to always rely on HIm. What captures our attention in most movies, plays, or books is our ability to relate to the main character's journey. These journeys, along with our own lives, are intertwined with thrilling adventures and distressing sorrows. Every story line that has a call to adventure, different tribulations, and an ultimate destination is better known as a hero's journey. The hero's journey is not only used to map books and stories but also our lives.

In a brief synopsis, the hero's journey has a pattern just like life. It has a beginning, middle, and end. It can be broken down into eighteen stages and three major acts. There is the call to adventure, which is found in the first of three acts. It is where the journey begins and sets the stage for the story. In Ever After, the call to adventure is when Henry finds out he is going to have an arranged marriage to a princess. That laid out the beginning of the story and how the rest of the story will develop. Another example would be the story of King Arthur and how he effortlessly pulled the sword from the solid anvil. The way that became his call to adventure was that it lead to him being crowned King shortly thereafter. In the same way, that is what happened in the movie, Jaws. An old fisherman found out that an enormous great white shark was stalking it's prey in the waters off the coast of a beach town, and headed out to kill the beast. The hero's journey is not only found in these three examples but also in our personal lives as well.

Often times in my life, I have experienced what is like being apart of a hero's journey. One time that stands out is the engagement, which eventually led up to the wedding, of my brother and his fiance. I would say that the hero's journey fits into my brother's life more than it does mine since he was experiencing the call to adventure, the ultimate boon, and the marriage road of trials, challenges definitely and joys. In his case the call to adventure was indeed the engagement. This was an exciting time for him and all of his family. The ultimate boon would most definitely be the wedding. It was the closing of all their hard work and finally their goal had been accomplished. Although the experience impacted my brother's life more than mine, it can still be analyzed using the method of the hero's journey. This journey can also be applied to different world-views, one being a Biblical world-view.

The Bible can be mapped out in the form of the hero's journey. Every individual possess certain beliefs and has a set of values in which they live their life. Personally, I believe that everyone desires to have a hero to look up to and admire. For a Christian, out hero, and savior, is Jesus Christ. The hero's journey is mapped out several times in the Bible as well as in our lives. An example from the Bible is the story of Jonah and his spiritual journey. His call to adventure was an assignment given to him by God to preach the Gospel to the the deceived people of Ninivah. Jonah disobeyed God and he essentially refused God's call on his life. Jonah is not the only one who has had experiences like that. Everyone will go through trials and tribulations. As I said before, Christ is our hero and savior. No matter what journey we face, Christ remains faithful in helping his children in need and guiding their steps in life.

In summary, when mapping books and stories, the hero's journey is a helpful tool to see the story line more clearly and is also useful for our lives. Understanding how the hero's journey works can be beneficial for a person's own life. For instance, it can help you study the Word of God by allowing you to examine the Bible from an entirely different perspective. The three acts that the eighteen stages of the hero's journey is divided into, provides a person with an organized, systematic way of analyzing their own life. Everyone's journey will be different but the outline used to inspect a book, story, or your own personal life is the same. When realizing your own call to adventure and every stage that follows, you can see the events in our lives do not take place by chance, but have purpose and meaning. This meaning can only be discovered by someone who is looking for a deeper understanding of life, someone who is unsatisfied with the common belief that we are who we are, never changing and controlled by our surroundings. The hero's journey gives this type of person the ability to rise above the misconception that life is a game of chance.