Very good paper — you have obviously thought a lot about your subject. Your opening paragraph does not include a clear thesis — your conclusion is better. You need to have someone proofread your work — “heroin” is a drug, not a female hero. Lydia Fish
Word Count: 1,160
Joseph John Campbell, an American mythology professor, writer, and lecturer, is famous for his work in comparative mythology. This area of mythology involves comparing the myths of many cultures in order to find similar characteristics and themes. In an interview with Bill Moyers during the PBS series The Power of Myth, Campbell enlightens the audience through a discussion about his concept that there are fundamental elements of myths; he called this the monomyth. Many of the ideas expressed in this documentary by Campbell about mythological patterns in history, such as those regarding the hero/heroin, his/her sequential journey, companion(s) and other standard motifs, can be recognized in The Lord of the Rings.
According to Campbell, most every myth has its hero/heroin, usually one of the main characters, who devotes his/her life to a cause that is bigger then themselves. The moral objective is generally to save the people who are in danger. The typical hero in mythology goes through a sequence of actions throughout his journey. The hero is preemptively given a task. The task can either be thrust upon the hero, in which circumstance he comes to accept it as his burden to bear, or the hero can intentionally take on the task as his own. Sometimes the hero can be lured to the task unknowingly by another creature that transforms. The story of Frodo and the ring no doubt follows the guidelines that Campbell gives us for how the character receives their task. The first task that presents itself to our hero Frodo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring is when he inherits Sauron’s ring from his Uncle Bilbo. Frodo is suddenly thrown into a dangerous conflict with the servants of Sauron. The task is to keep the ring safe and deliver it to Rivendell; Gandalf makes it clear that he is the only one who can do this. Frodo even resists the responsibility at first by attempting to give the ring to Gandalf. Frodo could have let his journey end in Rivendell, but he seems to realize an obligation to complete the broader task when, in the midst of a chaotic argument, he volunteers to be the ring bearer at the Council of Elrond. The last and longest task for Frodo is to travel to Mount Doom and destroy the ring. When the little hobbit stands and says, “I will go. I will take the ring to Mordor,” he has submitted to the task that, if completed, saves the people of Middle Earth. Frodo was living in the Shire, which had been isolated from the cares of Middle Earth, before he sets out on his journey. The reader is therefore constantly aware of how much bigger the task is than Frodo.
Once the hero is aware of his task, he will start progressing through the sequence of actions that Campbell has found common in the world of myth; departure is the first. According to Campbell, the hero usually sets out with companions. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo first sets out with his gardener Sam. They pick up Mary, Pippin, and Aragorn along the way to Rivendell and then set out with nine companions that form the fellowship. Campbell also points out that there is often the use of the old man who oversees the hero and advises him in his task; Gandalf no doubt fills this role of giving psychological commitment to Frodo in his journey.
At the heart of the hero’s journey is the action of fulfillment. Within this stage, the hero confronts temptation. Throughout the grueling journey that Frodo takes he is tempted by the ring, time and time again, to put on it on and allow the eye of Sauron to see him. Sometimes he succumbs to the control of the ring, but each time is brought back through his own consciousness, by the help of Sam, or even in the end when Gollum interferes with the destroying of the ring. During the hero’s journey, they sacrifice their needs in order to fulfill the ultimate task. Frodo and his companions face the blistering cold in the Snowy Mountains, the threats of the enemy, starvation and weary travel throughout the quest of the ring. A standard motif in the myth according to Campbell is the “belly of the whale.” The character is submerged into a dark pit and has to face the threat of a terrifying creature. The “whale” of The Lord of the Rings is the Bolrog or Shelob.
Campbell says that the hero will be ready for the “revolution and landscape” at the end of his journey. Frodo and Sam reach this place of rest and peaceful state of mind near the end of their task. Frodo and Sam, before climbing to the top of Mount Doom, realize that they don’t have enough food or strength for the journey home; this fits Campbell’s idea that near the end the hero(s) find a state of mind where they are “not compelled by desire or fear.” Frodo and Sam both think about the Shire and accept that they might not make it home. The question of who the real hero was arises at the end of The Return of the King. Sam was really given the task with Frodo from the beginning. Many readers form the opinion that Sam is the possible hero of the trilogy because Sam is a constant source of encouragement for Frodo in the last days in Mordor, the one who saves the ring from landing in the clutches of the Orcs outside of Shelob’s Lair and who carries Frodo and the ring up the last stretch of the slope of Mount Doom. Campbell mentions that the hero may be helped, but the “last trick” has to be done by the hero. With this in mind, it is still questionable whether or not Frodo turns out to be the sole hero, because it is not Frodo that casts the ring in the fire, but Gollum, who falls down with it. Many readers of The Lord of the Rings see Gollum as the tragic hero because he has a long journey, even longer than Frodo’s, and the ring ultimately destroys him, first in mind, then in body.
The last part of the hero’s journey, as stated by Campbell, is the action of return. At this point, the hero has undergone a transformation of consciousness. In this respect, it is evident that Frodo has changed the most out of his companions. While Mary, Pippin and Sam all seem to fit comfortably back into their new lives in the Shire after the Scouring of the Shire, Frodo is permanently psychologically affected through his time with the ring and must leave Middle Earth. Although it ends here for Frodo and many of the heroes in mythology, Campbell genuinely believes that myths are alive, both in our dreams and daily lives. He says, “We dance to mythology even though we may not know it.”
Emily Marvin? October 01, 2008, at 10:13 PM
