THE STEPS OF THE HERO’S
JOURNEY
By Joseph Campbell
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FIRST ACTION
OR ORDINARY WORLD
• The hero’s first action usually illustrates his or her characteristic attitude and
the future problems or solutions that will result.
• The author strives to establish a strong bond of sympathy or common interest.
• He or she does that by creating a way for the reader to identify with the
hero's goals, drives, desires, and needs, which are usually universal. Most
heroes are on a journey of completion of one kind or another.
• Many authors show the hero unable to perform a simple task in the ordinary
world. By the end of the story, he or she has learned, changed, and can
accomplish the task with ease.
• The ordinary world also provides backstory embedded in the action. The
reader must work a little to figure it all out, like getting pieces of a puzzle one
or two at a time. This, too, engages the reader.
CALL TO ADVENTURE
• In the second part of the hero's journey, the hero is presented with a
problem or challenge.
• The problem or challenge has to be significant enough to force a hero to
move beyond the boundaries of his or her Ordinary World
• For readers to be involved and to care about the hero, they need to know
early on exactly what the stakes are, and the higher the better
• What price will the hero pay if he or she accepts the challenge, or doesn't?
• The Call to Adventure can come in the form of a message, letter, phone
call, dream, temptation, last straw, or loss of something precious.
• It is usually delivered by a herald.
REFUSAL OF THE CALL
• Almost always, the hero initially pulls back from the call. He or she is being
asked to face the greatest of all fears, the terrible unknown.
• This hesitation signals the reader that the adventure is risky, the stakes are
high, and the hero could lose fortune or life.
• There is charm and satisfaction in seeing the hero overcome this reluctance.
The firmer the refusal, the more the reader enjoys seeing it worn down.
• The hero’s doubt also serves to warn the reader that he may not succeed on
this adventure, which always makes the journey more interesting.
• Often a threshold guardian cautions the hero not to go.
MEETING WITH THE MENTOR
• Who Is the Mentor?
• The mentor is the wise old man or woman every hero meets fairly early in the
most satisfying stories. The role is one of the most recognizable symbols in
literature.
• The mentor represents the bond between parent and child, teacher and
student, doctor and patient, god and man. The function of the mentor is to
prepare the hero to face the unknown, to accept the adventure.
• The mentor gives the hero the supplies, knowledge, and confidence required to
overcome his or her fear and face the adventure
• Keep in mind that the mentor doesn't have to be a living person.
• The job can be accomplished by a map, an experience from a previous
adventure, or the memory of someone who has died.
• Meeting with the mentor reflects the reality that we all have to learn life’s lessons
from someone or something.
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD
• This is the turning point between Act One and Act Two, the crossing from the
ordinary world into the special world. The hero is wholeheartedly committed
and there is no turning back.
• Crossing the first threshold is often the result of some external force that
changes the course or intensity of the story: someone is kidnapped or
murdered, a storm hits, the hero is out of options or pushed over the brink.
• Internal events might also signal the crossing of a threshold: the hero’s soul is
at stake and he makes a decision to risk everything to change his life.
• Heroes are very likely to encounter threshold guardians at this point. The
hero’s task is to figure out some way around these guardians.
• Many writers illustrate this crossing with physical elements such as doors,
gates, bridges, canyons, oceans, or rivers.
TESTS, ALLIES, ENEMIES
• The two worlds have a different feel, a different rhythm, different priorities
and values, different rules.
• The most important function of this stage in the story is the testing of the hero
to prepare her for the ordeals that lie ahead.
• One test is how quickly the hero adjusts to the new rules.
• The special world is usually dominated by a villain or shadow who has set
traps for intruders. The hero forms a team or a relationship with a sidekick.
She also discovers enemies and rivals.
• This is a "getting to know you" phase. The reader learns about the characters
involved; the hero accumulates power, learns the ropes, and prepares for
the next phase.
APPROACH TO THE INMOST CAVE
• The hero has adjusted to the special world and goes on to seek its heart, the
inmost cave She passes into an intermediate zone with new threshold
guardians and tests. She approaches the place where the object of the
quest is hidden and where she will encounter supreme wonder and terror.
• She is torn apart by challenges, which allow her to put herself back together
in a more effective form for the ordeal to come.
• She discovers she must step into the minds of those who stand in her way. If
she can understand them, getting past them or absorbing them becomes
much easier.
• The approach encompasses all the final preparations for the ordeal. It brings
the hero to the stronghold of the opposition, where she needs to use every
lesson she has learned.
• The reader’s assumptions about the characters are turned upside down as
they see each person exhibit surprising new qualities that emerge under the
pressure of approach.
THE ORDEAL
• The Hero engages in a central life-or-death crisis, during which he
faces his greatest fear, confronts this most difficult challenge, and
experiences “death”.
• The Ordeal is the central, essential, and magical Stage of any Journey.
• Only through “death” can the Hero be reborn, experiencing a resurrection
that grants greater powers or insight to see the Journey to the end.
• The Hero may directly taste death, or witness the death of an Ally or Mentor
or, even worse, directly cause that death.
• The Ordeal may pit Hero against Shadow or Villain, and the Hero’s failure
heightens the stakes and questions the Journey’s success
• The Hero may have the power to defeat a Villain in the Ordeal, only to have
to face greater forces in the Journey’s second half.
THE REWARD(SEIZE THE SWORD)
• Our hero has cheated death during the ordeal in the inmost cave and has seized
the sword! The much sought-after prize is hers.
• The prize can be an actual object, like a holy grail, or it can mean the knowledge
and experience that lead to greater understanding and reconciliation.
• Seizing the sword may be a moment of clarity for the hero when he sees through a
deception.
• After having cheated death, he may find he has special powers of clairvoyance or
intuition, experience profound self-realization, or have an epiphany, a moment of
divine recognition.
• The action pauses and the hero and her gang celebrate. The reader is given a
break and is allowed to become more acquainted with the characters while life is
relaxed.
• Those who have not survived death can take the elixir but it will not make a
difference. The true, all-healing elixir is the achievement of inner change.
THE ROAD BACK
• With the hero armed with the reward, we move into Act Three.
• Here, the hero decides whether to stay in the special world or go back to
the ordinary world.
• The energy of the story is revved back up. The hero's passion for the
adventure is renewed.
• However, all is not necessarily well. If the hero has not resolved the issue with
the conquered villain, the shadow, it comes back with a vengeance.
• The hero runs for her life, fearing the magic is gone.
• The psychological meaning of such counterattacks is that neuroses, flaws,
habits, desires, or addictions we have challenged may retreat for a time, but
can rebound in a last-ditch defense or a desperate attack before being
vanquished forever.
ROAD BACK CONTINUED
• This stage is when expendable friends come in handy, often killed by the
avenging force.
• Transformation is an important aspect of chases and escapes, he writes. The
hero attempts to stall the opposition in any way possible.
• A twist on the road back may be a sudden catastrophic reversal of the
hero’s good fortune. For a moment, after great risk, effort, and sacrifice, it
looks like all is lost.
• Every story needs a moment to acknowledge the hero’s resolve to finish, to
return home with the elixir despite the trials that remain.
• This is when the hero finds that old familiar ways are ineffective. He gathers
up what he has learned, stolen, or been granted and sets a new goal.
THE RESURRECTION
• For a story to feel complete, the reader needs to experience an additional
moment of death and rebirth, subtly different from the ordeal.
• This is the story’s climax, the last dangerous meeting with death. The hero
must be cleansed from the journey before returning to the ordinary world.
• During the resurrection, death and darkness are encountered one more time
before being conquered for good. Danger is usually on the broadest scale
of the entire story and the threat is to the entire world, not just the hero. The
stakes are at their very highest.
• The hero may go through a climax of mental change that creates a physical
climax, followed by a spiritual or emotional climax as the hero’s behavior
and feelings change.
RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR
• Once the hero's transformation is complete, he or she returns to the ordinary world
with the elixir, a great treasure or a new understanding to share. This can be love,
wisdom, freedom, or knowledge,
• Returning with the elixir means the hero can now implement change in his daily life
and use the lessons of the adventure to heal his wounds.
• The return is where the writer resolves subplots and all questions raised in the story.
The author may raise new questions, but all old issues must be addressed.
• Each character should come away with some variety of elixir or learning.
• The return must finish the story so that it satisfies or provokes your reader as intended.
A good return unties the plot threads with a certain degree of surprise, a taste of
unexpected or sudden revelation.
• The return is also the place for poetic justice. The villain’s sentence should directly
relate to his sins and the hero’s reward be proportionate to the sacrifice offered.