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The document discusses Joseph Campbell's concept of the monomyth, which outlines typical stages in a hero's journey. It argues that the "Road of Trials" stage, where the hero undergoes a series of challenges, is the most important for their development. This stage makes up most of the hero's journey and exposes them to opportunities for growth with each new obstacle overcome. By passing through the Road of Trials, the hero gains the skills and strength needed to ultimately accomplish their quest.

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32 views

Assessed 7

The document discusses Joseph Campbell's concept of the monomyth, which outlines typical stages in a hero's journey. It argues that the "Road of Trials" stage, where the hero undergoes a series of challenges, is the most important for their development. This stage makes up most of the hero's journey and exposes them to opportunities for growth with each new obstacle overcome. By passing through the Road of Trials, the hero gains the skills and strength needed to ultimately accomplish their quest.

Uploaded by

Bobm
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Joseph Campbell’s ​The Hero with a Thousand Faces​ introduces the concept of the monomyth: a series of

stages that all stories follow, culminating in the development of the hero in their quest to accomplish

whatever they set off to accomplish. Of all the stages that a hero undergoes, the Road of Trials is

undoubtedly the most influential stage of a Hero’s Journey, being the catalyst for growth and

development to prepare for success.

The Road of Trials is a series of trials making up the bulk of the Hero’s Journey, and each of

these successive trials are opportunity upon opportunity for the hero’s growth. Episodic shows like

Avatar: The Last Airbender​ demonstrate this well, with each episode introducing a new obstacle for the

main character to overcome, and by overcoming each obstacle, the characters grow stronger, becoming

more equipped to face the final threat. Although the process can be slow and gradual, it is a necessary

one. In the case of ​Avatar​, if Aang, the protagonist, went straight to the final boss, the Fire Lord, right

from his first episode, he wouldn’t possibly have been ready, given he had only mastered one of four

different types of element bending needed to fight the Fire Lord. Another one of the biggest reasons for

the Road of Trials’ importance is the fact that it's the longest stage by far, with various other stages like

Woman as the Temptress and Atonement with the Father falling under it as one of its many trials. This

means for however much they contribute to the protagonist’s growth, the Road of Trials contributes that

much and more, making it more important. As with a good recipe, the key ingredient to the hero’s success

is time, and the Road of Trials naturally encompasses most of their journey.

While many can cite any number of reasons to argue that a different stage is the most influential,

all of them are made irrelevant by the nature of the Road of Trials. For starters, none of the stages prior to

when the Hero enters the unknown can be the most important simply because the hero hasn’t even started

their adventure yet, and so, they have yet to begin their development. These stages may lead up to the

hero’s development, but they are not directly responsible, unlike the Road of Trials, eliminating the Call

to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Supernatural Aid, and Belly of the Whale as potential candidates.
Additionally, as previously mentioned, because the Road of Trials is a stage encompassing all trials,

stages like the Crossing of the First Threshold, Meeting with the Goddess, Woman as the Temptress,

Atonement with the Father, and Abyss only further demonstrate the importance of the Road of Trials.

Each one of these stages are fundamental to the hero’s development, which is why many believe it to be

the most fundamental, but no matter how important they are, since all of them are a part of the Road of

Trials, they only serve to further exemplify the importance of the Road of Trials. Moving on, although

many believe Apotheosis is the most important moment in the hero’s growth, being the culmination and

highest point of their development, they forget that the tribulations the hero underwent in the Road of

Trials are directly responsible for the Apotheosis even happening. If this stage were skipped, the hero

would be underdeveloped and unable to achieve Apotheosis at all, hence, it is more important than the

Apotheosis. Finally, none of the stages after Apotheosis can even be considered as “the most important to

the development of the hero” for the mere fact that the Apotheosis is the highest point of development,

meaning the hero barely, if at all, grows from that point on, meaning the Ultimate Boon, Refusal of the

Return, the Magic Flight, Rescue from Without, the Crossing of the Return Threshold, Master of the Two

Worlds, and Freedom to Live are all lesser in importance than the Road of Trials. Since the most

important stage cannot be one that is before, after, or even during the Road of Trials, the most important

must therefore be the Road of Trials.

Obviously, through the Road of Trials’ lengthy nature encompassing every single trial the hero

must overcome, it is definitively the most important stage of the Hero’s Journey for the hero’s

development. It’s the longest stage, making up most of the Hero’s Journey, and the trials it provides are

the catalysts for the hero’s growth. Without it, the hero would not have the skills necessary to meet their

final task, and they would be hard-pressed to complete any adventure.

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