Joseph Campbell maps the hero's journey By The Conversation, adapted by Newsela staff on 03.24.17 Word Count 640 Level 770L

TOP IMAGE: Luke Skywalker takes the hero's journey in the "Star Wars" films. Director George Lucas was influenced by Joseph Campbell's work. Photo: Getty Images. SECOND IMAGE: Campbell in 1973. He published several books on mythology. Photo: AP Images. THIRD IMAGE: An illustration of Campbell's famous hero's journey story structure. LAST IMAGE: Campbell's book, "The Power of Myth," based on the PBS series of the same name that was filmed on Skywalker Ranch, which is owned by "Star Wars" creator Lucas. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

When you tell a story, do you plan it out first so that it will sound good? Do you carefully plot what you will say, in a certain order? Or does the story seem to tell itself, as if you naturally knew how to tell it?

This is what Joseph Campbell was interested in. Campbell was an American writer who studied people and myths. As a child, he was inspired by Native American culture. He spent his life comparing myths and religions from around the world to understand people and why they love stories.

Campbell published many books about his findings. They include "The Mythic Image" (1974) and "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" (1949).

The Call To Adventure

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Campbell's writing was influenced by many writers, artists and psychologists. Among them were James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. His work was considered important in a number of different fields.

In particular, his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" has inspired many filmmakers.

In this book, Campbell studies hundreds of fairy tales, folktales and legends. He finds a common pattern in all of these stories. Campbell calls this pattern the "monomyth." The monomyth is the path a story usually takes, no matter what society the story comes from. It is also known as the "hero's journey."

The hero's journey is a way to understand what happens to the main character in a story. The journey has three stages, which are separation, initiation and return. It usually includes a symbolic death and rebirth of the character. The religious idea of "cleansing" is also important because it shows the character transforming from old to new.

Campbell summarizes the monomythic character journey like this:

A hero leaves the regular world to enter a region of magic and wonder. There he faces fabulous forces and wins a victory. The hero comes back from this adventure with the power to help his fellow man.

Within this structure, Campbell says there 17 story stages. They include the Call to Adventure; the Road of Trials; Magic Flight; and Return.

During the journey, the character faces physical and emotional battles. These struggles help the hero better understand life and his place in the world.

A New Hope For Film

Hollywood filmmaker George Lucas said Campbell's theories influenced his movies. Philosopher John Shelton Lawrence wrote that Lucas admired Campbell. Lucas felt that movies weren't as mythic as they were when he was young, Lawrence wrote.

Screenwriter Keith Cunningham wrote that Campbell's work inspired the first blockbuster movies. These were movies with exciting plots based on the hero's journey.

In 1983, Lucas invited Campbell to California to watch his "Star Wars" trilogy. They discussed the mythical structure of the movies. Their conversation led to the PBS television series, "The Power of Myth" (1988).

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. In the series, Campbell talks with journalist Bill Moyers. He tells Moyers that humans look for meaning in stories that will help them move forward in life. For Campbell, the ancient stories of the past are still important today.

This series was eventually published as a book of the same name.

Continues To Inspire

In the early 1990s, writer Christopher Vogler studied Campbell's work. At the time, Vogler was working in Hollywood reading screenplays. He saw similarities between the hero's journey and the screenplays he was reading.

Vogler wrote a book about how Campbell's work was connected to Hollywood movies. The book is called "The Writer's Journey."

Joseph Campbell died more than 25 years ago, but his work is still studied today.

The next time you tell a story, think about how you're telling it and why. And if you haven't read Campbell's work, try it and see if you think his ideas were right.

There's a good chance that your story is some kind of hero's journey.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Quiz

1 Which sentence from the article would be MOST important to include in a summary of the stages of the hero's journey?

(A) In particular, his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" has inspired many filmmakers.

(B) The monomyth is the path a story usually takes, no matter what society the story comes from.

(C) The hero comes back from this adventure with the power to help his fellow man.

(D) There's a good chance that your story is some kind of hero's journey.

2 Which two of the following are MAIN ideas of the article?

1. Myths and stories throughout history have followed a pattern called the hero's journey. 2. It can be hard to write a blockbuster movie with an exciting plot. 3. Christopher Vogler studied Campbell's work and Hollywood screenplays. 4. Many movie writers have based their stories on the ideas outlined by Joseph Campbell.

(A) 1 and 3

(B) 1 and 4

(C) 2 and 3

(D) 2 and 4

3 Look at the image at the top of the article.

Based on the article and the caption below the image, what do we know about this image?

(A) It shows a creature that is common in the hero's journey.

(B) It is from a movie inspired by Joseph Campbell's ideas.

(C) It shows a movie that inspired Joseph Campbell to write his book.

(D) It is from a television show where George Lucas discussed myths.

4 Look at the diagram labeled "The Hero's Journey."

Use the diagram and the section "The Call To Adventure" to select the TRUE statement.

(A) The hero in every journey follows a different path with different individual steps.

(B) The hero often fails to complete the journey because no one is there to help.

(C) The hero completes a transformation before crossing the threshold in the journey.

(D) The hero often goes through a symbolic death and rebirth after facing many challenges.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.