Vogler Annotation (p.143-173)

Analytical and Persuasive Writing
Annotated Bibliography
Vogler (p.143 – 173)
Rajeev Rupani

Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey (Mythic Structure for Writers). 3rd ed. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. 143-173.

Summary:

In this reading, Vogler discusses two very important stages in the hero’s journey: Approach to the Inmost Cave and the Ordeal. Vogler describes this stage of the hero’s journey as a time to make ‘final preparations for the central ordeal of the adventure’. The main function of this stage is to prepare the hero or the team to begin the ordeal and to be well prepared to do so. However for a journey that involves romance, this can be a time for bonding or courtship to take place between the hero and their lover. Given these two functions, Vogler then moves on to discussing different styles of approaching this ‘inmost cave’. In this context, the inmost cave is the entrance to the chamber of the final ordeal. The hero can have a ‘bold’ approach if they are confident enough and can also go in guns blazing if self-sacrifice, on behalf of the team, is needed. Vogler then moves on to discussing an example of where an ‘ignorant’ approach can put the hero and the team’s lives at stake. Vogler then utilizes Dorothy’s story of approaching the Emerald City, as a guide to further developing the functions of this stage. Therefore, rest of the chapter provides a list of do’s and don’ts for the hero such as: avoiding seduction by illusions, applying past experiences to present problems, being prepared to the fullest extent, being aware of danger through humility, providing credentials when necessary and so on. Once Vogler has presented this guide to approaching the inmost cave, he discusses the change of archetype masks when this stage is reached. The role of the hero is shown to be relative to the situation at this point: for example, the lion is ‘required’ to lead the team and rescue Dorothy even though he is a coward. Vogler finishes the chapter with setting up the final unavoidable ‘life-and-death’ situation that the hero(es) must face: better known as the Ordeal stage.

The Ordeal consists of the hero (or the team) ‘facing the greatest challenge and the most fearsome opponent yet’. Vogler states the cardinal secret of this vital stage as being the death and rebirth of the hero, given that most audiences would enjoy this ‘main test of being a hero’. However, the rebirth does not mean that the hero comes back unchanged: change is always involved given the near-death experience of the hero. Following this, Vogler defines the Ordeal as the ‘crisis’ (not ‘climax’) point in the journey, where every situation and aspect is at its worst state against the hero. He then discusses the importance of a central crisis, compared to a delayed crisis and how the latter approach allows for ‘a slow buildup to a big moment’. Vogler then discusses the various aspects of the Ordeal stage and its relations to the death-and-rebirth cycle, such as: the importance of a witness to the hero’s sacrifice, the importance of a brush with death, the elasticity of emotion within the audience (its reaction), the relative association of the audience with the hero and so on.

Vogler also spends a good portion of the chapter, towards the end, analyzing the source and role of the ‘villain’ character. The villain character is derived from the Shadow archetype and represents the negative projection of the hero in a human form. Vogler emphasizes that the death of the villain cannot be ‘too easy’ for the hero and should represent some form of reality. Vogler then identifies the villain as a hero of his or her own story and stresses the importance of walking through the story in ‘the Shadow’s skin’. Vogler then discusses the importance behind the hero cheating death and how this can often be related to the ‘power of love’. He then describes that the Ordeal can also be related to a ‘crisis of the heart’ and the sacred marriage of balancing the hero’s ‘inner forces’. The femme-fatale villain archetype is briefly discussed and Vogler ends the chapter with the different ‘fears’ that a hero might face during the Ordeal: standing up to a parent and conquering one’s own ego. The main purpose of this stage is to allow the hero to face death, be reborn and come back a changed and better individual.

Reaction:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading these two chapters because I could associate a lot of stories and movies to each aspect of the stages presented by Vogler. For the Approach to Inmost Cave, I felt that the do’s and don’t guide presented by Vogler, for the hero, applied to my personal college experience as well. For me, the Ordeal is the real world that I am about to face upon graduation and the Inmost Cave (or college), is the path of ‘final preparation’ that I have to follow. For example, the advice of not being ‘seduced’ by illusions can refer to the diversions that I often faced as a student at Eckerd. Another example could be relating the ‘being prepared’ advice, to showing up to class without reading or completing a Vogler annotation and then being asked to lead the discussion that particular day. A final example could be seen where the usage of past experiences to present situations, can be related to knowing a meaning of a vocabulary word on the GRE because you have read it in a novel previously. I also felt that this particular stage could be related to a warm-up game for the hero, before the final opponent is faced. The ‘dramatic complications’ discussed by Vogler, can also be related to turning point moments in a memoir. I agreed with every aspect of Vogler’s discussion on this stage and the example of Dorothy’s journey, into the Emerald City, played a significant part in this understanding.

I felt that the Ordeal stage revolved around the death and rebirth concept, which to me was not entirely new because of the Hindu belief of re-incarnation. However, I also think that this cycle might be a emotionally or personality-related one, rather than an actual physical change. The hero comes back a ‘changed’ individual and that is where I think the rebirth is emphasized. I also noticed a hint of religious analogy with Vogler’s discussion of this cycle. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ can be easily compared to this cycle, which led me to think that this event could have been the source of this discussion. Also, who better to portray the first hero to undergo death-and-rebirth than a martyr like Christ? Even though Vogler gave a very good difference between the crisis and the climax of a storyline, I believe that audiences often have it confused because the movies nowadays portray a very fine line between them. The mainstream cinema nowadays is geared towards a delayed crisis or a climax, such as the final confrontation between the hero and the villain. I did not agree with Vogler entirely on the usage of rebirth after the hero’s death. If used excessively this can create a cliché experience for the audience, where they can predict and be indifferent because they know that the hero is not ‘really’ dead. I believe that this is the reason for unorthodox movie endings prevailing in our cinema nowadays. For example, we expected Batman to save the love of his life but instead he chooses to save Harvey Dent for the ‘greater good’ of Gotham city.

I was also really impressed by Vogler’s description of the audience-identification with the heroes, which is a crucial tool for any writer. The demonization of the villain can also be seen as the combination of the dark desired and deeds that we chose not to follow, in order to become better human beings. However, this does not mean that the villain is not a unique character in itself. I would think that a good writer would portray the villain as ‘the hero’s Shadow in human form’ but also give them their unique personality flair (ex. Joker in Dark Knight). The two stages discussed above allow the audience to relate personally to the hero, now that ‘they’ have faced death together, as a team, and have survived to continue their journey onwards.

Questions:

1)How could you apply Vogler’s guide to a hero’s journey, through the inmost cave, to your own personal experience?
2)How would you describe your shadow, physically or mentally, using Vogler’s demonization analysis?
3)What would you use as an example to differentiate between a crisis point in the story and the climax? Why do you think they are often confused or interchanged?