The Hero With a Thousand Faces Literary Elements

Mythology, Theoretical book, Archetype.

The book has been written in 1949 but the setting of the book is universal. The protagonist of the book does not belong a specific place and he stands for all human beings. The book has been written in the context of the journey of all individuals.

The narrator of the book is Joseph Campbell and it has been written about all human beings and their journeys. According to the narrator's point of view, all humans pass through the same phases in their lives. However, the trials may vary from one individual to another but the journey is same.

Pensive, Uplifting, Solemn, Optimistic, Intuitive, Mystic.https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-language-and-composition/exam/past-exam-questions

The protagonist of the book is a general human being and the antagonists are the circumstances which he face during his journey from ignorance to awareness.

The major conflict in the book is between humans and the quests and challenges that they face during their journey.

The climax in the story comes, when the hero faces a dragon, darkness or some disastrous circumstances during his journey.

When the hero leaves his home, sets on a journey and moves out of his comfort zone, it foreshadows that he would face some crucial circumstances. There would be some enemies who try to stop the hero in his journey of self-awareness.

The understatement in the story is that all the human beings pass through difficult tests and trials and no one can save himself from these trials. Although the tests may vary from individual to individual i.e. some people face dangerous animals, some would face darkness but at the end of their journey all human beings change. Their journeys do not allow them to remain same.

There are allusions to dragons, darkness, comfort zone, lover, helper, enemies, trials, ignorance, self-awareness, home, hero ,defeat, self-fulfillment, kings, myths and archetypes employed by the author.

The images of a hero are prevalent in the book. The hero has been depicted as a general human being, who moves away from his home and is helped by a helper or is motivated by a lover to move forward. The author has also portrayed the hero as facing the challenges of his life. The book also includes the images of chaos, battle, defeat, victory, dragons, dark worlds, beloved and hometown.

The paradox in the story is that human beings think that they are the only sufferers but according to the author all human beings suffer in one way or the other. Another paradox in the story is that it is through sufferings that a man becomes the best version of himself. The test and trials do not crush a man instead they elevate the status of a man. Although the journey of a hero is individualistic and he faces all the grim circumstances alone but the paradox is that he needs the motivation from others in order to spur. Another example of paradox in the book is that although the journey of a hero is considered as an upward journey but the paradox is that it is a downward journey. The hero learns to sacrifice and to become humble through his journey. Although the journey elevates his spirit but it makes him down to earth,.

There is a parallelism between the journey and self-awareness of a man. As the hero continues his journey, he comes closer to his actual self.

An example of metonymy is the protagonist of the book, who stands for all human beings and represent their journeys. An example of synecdoche is 'Dragon', who shows the cruelty of circumstances that a man face during his journey.

The journey of a human being and the test and trials that he encounter have been personified in the book.