Thinking About the Hero

     All of these stories have two things in common. They all follow the hero's journey as illustrated by Joseph Campbell when he first cam up with the theory, and they all have a male protagonist. The hero lives in his ordinary life with a semblance of comfort, and problems arise or peak. The hero then is drawn into the unknown through an inciting incident, beginning his trials. The trials slowly grow until reaching a climactic point of conflict. From thereafter the problem is resolved and the hero returns to society or a place of comfort with newfound knowledge, acquisitions or skills (or an amalgamation of multiple).

    This formula is followed in Beowulf, The Odyssey, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, and many, many more. It is the formula that can be rinsed and repeated with nobody having any problem with it, particularly because it is so flexible. Can anyone say that the stories listed are the same as each other? Of course not.

    The reason that the heroes shown are all male is only because of societal restrictions. It has been the common stereotype for thousands of years that men have to be at the forefront, and that only they can be the ones who save the helpless. The definition of a hero is someone who puts their own well being on the line for the well being of others, and women have recently been accepted into that role by a more and more progressive society. We have seen women step up to leader roles in modern day novels, particularly in YA books. It is also done in movies, but I have found that Hollywood usually places women in roles of leadership in a very hamfisted manner, treating the viewers as idiots who need the idea of female empowerment shoved down their throats, harming the overall stories.

    Heroes serve as models for the ultimate human being, which is sort of an amalgamation of every constant heroic quality shown in stories throughout civilization. The hero stands above others simply because they sacrifice their own wants and needs for the world's through a set of values. Heroes don't have to be capable or successful, they only have to be heroic. That means we must rule out values such as intelligence, leadership, strength, beauty, from the definition of the hero. The character is all that matters, which many people tend to forget once hooked by a person's charisma. And how do the hero's set of values match up with how good their character is? That is dependent on there being an inherent good, which all humans recognize to some extent.

    So why do we need heroes? Well, we as a civilization need heroes because they show us the best way to be human. The best way to act as a selfless member of the community who knows an inherent moral purpose beyond the animal. Do heroes need to be religious? No, of course not, but that inherent moral purpose accepted by the hero doing the right thing is sort of an acceptance of a higher power as well. That would be another conversation, however.