Chris Vogler, a story analyst for Disney, Warner Bros, 20th century fox an more explored the construction of narrative from a character driven perspective. His Theory is called the hero’s journey.

The Hero’s Journey consists of 12 parts

I will list the parts with reference to my chosen film: Star Wars: A New Hope (1977, George Lucas)

1: Ordinary World: We start off seeing Luke on his home planet, we are slowly introduced to him and his environment to help establish his place as the protagonist.

2. The call to adventure: A message from Princess Leia calls Luke to save her from the empire.

3. Refusal of the call: Less of a refusal, R2D2 runs away before Luke can get enough information about the situation.

4. Meeting the Mentor: When looking for R2D2 luke and the gang are ambushed and attacked, Ben Kenobi (Obi Wan Kenobi) ends up finding Luke and takes him to his home.

5. Crossing The Threshold: After seeing his home has been attacked, Luke agrees to be taught under Obi Wan Kenobi, and to go save Princess Leia from the empire.

6. Tests, Allies and Enemies: The hero – Luke, is constantly tested in fights to build his skill and confidence and help him get ready for the final challenge. Additionally he meets Han Solo and Chewbacca who agree to help him on his journey

7. The Approach: Not too much happens here, it is mostly just preparation for the main ordeal.

8. The Ordeal: Luke and the gang end up trapped in garbage chute / crusher, They nearly all die but manage to escape just in time.

9. The Reward: Luke and the gang are finally safe with the “reward”: Princess Leia. And start the journey back home.

10. The Road Back: although they have the reward, they try to go home but are tracked by tie fighters and must escape them aswell – usually a chase scene occurs.

11. The Resurrection: Luke, after recovering Leia, goes to destroy the death star, however Darth Vader is there to block Luke’s quest, in-fact it looks look Vader is about to kill Luke, however, just as it looks like the hero is or is about to die, they suddenly come back to life with full force and complete the quest, in this case, Han Solo helps Luke to fend off Darth Vader so Luke can Destroy the Death Star.

12. return with the elixir / tot he ordinary world: This is the final stage and it is very simple, in which the hero returns to their own world after completing their quest. However in some cases where sequels exist, the quest is not finished and Luke never really exits the extraordinary world, this is because there is still more of his quest, so in the next films Luke restarts the Hero’s journey in some form and it repeats.

Levi-Straus, a French anthropologist in the 1900’s theorised that the majority of narratives contain binary opposite characters.

These may include:

Man Vs Woman e.g “His Girl Friday” (1940, Howard Hawks)

White Vs Black : “BlackkKlansman” (2018, Spike Lee)

Hero Vs Villain : Huge amount of films that link to this, I’ll choose “Batman” (1989, Tim Burton)

And more.

The lord of the rings, 2001 directed by Peter Jackson, is a good example of a film which follows the hero journey theorized by Vogler.

The ordinary world was when Frodo lived comfortably in the shire and visited Bilbo. He is introduced as a likable character of whom the audience can sympathize for and understand even early on in the film.

Gandalf then tells Frodo he must destroy the ring which is his call to adventure. This is a shakeup from the ordinary world, and the protagonist, Frodo, must face the beginnings of change

Next, Frodo is reluctant to leave the world he knows. He fears the unknown and initially refuses to accept the change

Frodo is introduced to the Fellowship of the ring by Gandalf which is his first meeting with his mentor. This is a significant relationship to show the wisdom and advice being given to Frodo which will help him develop as a character but mainly the hero of the story

The Fellowship then set out on their journey to Mount Doom. This shows them crossing the threshold, because they are leaving the ordinary world to face new threats and unfamiliarity

But in the form of enemies, they face Balrog who drags Gandalf into the pit with him. This climactic scene is one of the obstacles faced on the journey.

Frodo then sees the corruptive and dangerous power of the ring and decides to move forward alone with Sam. This is the approach where they prepare to face the danger awaiting them

Gollum then leads Frodo away from Sam to Shelob’s layer but he is saved by Sam. This is the ordeal where, near the middle of the story, enemies and fears are confronted before the final challenge

Frodo no longer wants to destroy the ring after being corrupted and consumed by it’s power. This is since he faces death by taking the power, but there is also the danger of losing it

Gollum bites off Frodo’s ring finger and jumps after it to his death. This is the road back because he is almost complete his journey but still faces danger and threats before he can finish

Frodo and Sam reunite with the Fellowship when Sauron is defeated towards the end. This is the resurrection since Frodo has been tested and the conflicts around are beginning to be resolved

Finally, Frodo leaves the Middle Earth to live in the Gray Heavens with the elves. This is not entirely the return with the elixir since Frodo’s departure is somewhat negative because he does not want to corrupt his friends with the ring so leaves only with Sam who wanted to keep his promise to Gandalf by protecting Frodo