An analysis of the heroes journey in the wizard of oz

That Is The Question

Old enough to have watched the initial airing of the original Star Trek series. Your patronage allows us to do what we love. In The Hero of a Thousand FacesJoseph Campbell demonstrated that many of the most popular stories, even over thousands of years and across cultures, shared a specific formula.

What archetypes really do is tell us the role a character plays in the story. During the journey, the hero will leave the world they are familiar with and enter a new one.

This new world will be so different that whatever skills the hero used previously will no longer be sufficient. Together, the hero and the audience will master the rules of the new world, and save the day.

J is the heroic tour guide in Men in Black.

A cop at the top of his beat, he is suddenly taken behind the masquerade of everyday life. Waiting for him is a world where aliens are hiding among everyday people, and a galaxy can be as small as a marble.

Mentor The hero has to learn how to survive in the new world incredibly fast, so the mentor appears to give them a fighting chance.

This mentor will describe how the new world operates, and instruct the hero in using any innate abilities they possess. The mentor will also gift the hero with equipment, because a level one hero never has any decent weapons or armor. Then, before the Wicked Witch of the West can claim the ruby slippers, Glinda gifts them to the hero instead.

Often, the mentor will perform another important task — getting the plot moving. Glinda tells Dorothy to seek the Wizard, and shows her the yellow brick road.

Once the hero is on the right path and has what they need to survive, the mentor disappears. Heroes must fight without their help. Ally The hero will have some great challenges ahead; too great for one person to face them alone.

The Wizard of Oz - Hero's Journey Lesson Plan

Plus, the journey could get a little dull without another character to interact with. He starts the story as a gardener, joining the group almost by accident.

But not all allies start that way. They can be more like Han Solo, disagreeable at first, then friendly once the hero earns their respect.

The 12 Stages of The Hero's Journey

Either way, the loyalty and admiration allies have for the hero tells the audience that they are worthy of the trials ahead. They are the catalyst that sets the whole adventure in motion. While they often bring news of a threat in a distant land, they can also simply show a dissatisfied hero a tempting glimpse of a new life.

The great boar demon that appears at the beginning of Princess Mononoke is a herald bearing the scars of a faraway war. Ashitaka defeats him, but not without receiving a mark that sends him into banishment.

This gets the hero moving and foreshadows the challenges he will face. Heralds that do not fill another role will appear only briefly. Trickster The trickster adds fun and humor to the story. When times are gloomy or emotionally tense, the trickster gives the audience a welcome break.

Often, the trickster has another job: A good trickster offers an outside perspective and opens up important questions. Dobby from Harry Potter is an ideal trickster. He means well, but his efforts to help Harry Potter do more harm than good.The Wizard of Oz () is a solid example of The Hero's Journey at play.

Dorothy (Judy Garland) is whisked away from the comforts of Kansas by a tornado that transports her to the magical land of Oz. Sep 05,  · The Hero’s Journey in Star Wars and Wizard of Oz Posted on September 5, by idealisticnotes Although I prefer to watch original and relatively unknown films, I do believe that conventional mainstream films offer the best sources of analysis.

Get all the details on The Wizard of Oz: Analysis. Description, analysis, and more, so you can understand the ins and outs of The Wizard of Oz.

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The Wizard of Oz Film and Book Background The Wizard of Oz is a book by L. Frank Baum written in and adapted into a musical fantasy in It starred a young Judy Garland, and was notable because of its use of special effects, color, unusual characters, and a fantasy storyline made into a .

- The wizard awards Dorothy with her own elixir, and tells her that she can grant herself the self acceptance to get home.

Crossing of the return Threshold - The wizard prepares a hot air balloon to take Dorothy back to Kansas. If you are like me and would like to see how this journey is played out in a woman’s life, you need only turn to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz or Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love to see that.