Annotated Bibliography
Vogler (p.175 – 193)
Rajeev Rupani
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey (Mythic Structure for Writers). 3rd ed. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. 175-193.
Summary:
The reading involved discussing two stages in the hero’s journey that were a result of the Ordeal’s aftermath: Reward and The Road Back. Vogler describes the Reward as the ‘consequences of surviving death’, weather it be good or bad. The typical campfire scene, relating to the celebration, can be used to review the Ordeal, distributing the rewards or just reflect over the near-death experience. However, it can also be an ideal time for a bonding or lovemaking scene (‘sacred marriage’) for the hero’s romantic journey. The main idea here, as suggested by Vogler, is taking possession of the reward or ‘seizing the sword’, where the hero takes possession of the object that was being sought. This hero does not always have the reward handed to him but might have to take it by force and in this case, the motif is called ‘elixir theft’. Vogler defines this elixir as a ‘medium or vehicle for medicine’ and describes how the hero is often required to steal this from the Shadow, as it is of great value. Another common factor of the reward is the initiation where the hero is recognized by society as ‘special and different’ because they now posses abilities such as new perceptions (new powers), better sense of deception, clairvoyance and even maybe self-realization of who they are. Furthermore, the hero themselves can realize their true potential through an epiphany-like event. Vogler ends this chapter by discussing the distortions that the hero might go through at this stage such as inflation of the ego, tainting by death or evil, intoxication by power and denial of grief.
During the Road Back stage the hero faces an important choice of ‘whether to remain in the Special World or begin the journey home to the Ordinary World. Vogler emphasizes that most heroes take the road back to their homelands and then discusses the psychological aspect behind the hero’s resolve to ‘implement the lessons learnt in the Special World’. Vogler then moves on to describe the motivation that helps the heroes re-dedicate themselves to the adventure that lies ahead: ‘another moment of crisis’. The Road Back could involve retaliation from previous unfinished opponents, some chase scenes with pursuits from opponents and admirers and a possible magic flight (to escape from chasers). However, as Vogler discusses, the villain character can escape at this stage to return as a dangerous threat to the hero’s adventure. This can be one of the many ‘setbacks’ that the hero can encounter and Vogler returns to the Delayed Crisis approach discussed previously, to end the chapter.
Reaction:
I thoroughly enjoyed the reading because I was able to relate many of these concepts to the events that I had either read in novels or seen in movies. I completely agreed with the aspects of both the stages that Vogler discussed in the reading. For example, the character of Frodo Baggins in the Lord of The Rings Trilogy goes through these two stages where he tries to discover himself again but has to return to the Special World (where he belongs). Similarly, many concepts of the reading connected to my memoir project as well. All in all, I felt that the two stages were clearly explained and represented the after-effects of the hero’s ordeal.
Questions:
1. Have you seen in examples of the elixir theft motif in any stories or novels? Why does the hero usually resort to stealing the elixir and for whom?
2. Do we reach a point of self-realization in our lives or do we have multiple events that cause this?
3. What were the aspects of your Road Back in your memoir project? How do they relate to Vogler's theory?
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