The first Star Wars trilogy is all about atonement with the father. In Star Wars, Luke is blind to his own identity, but he takes the first step towards self-awareness by identifying with Obi-Wan and wielding his father’s light saber. In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke achieves greater awareness of Self. In a striking scene, Yoda sends Luke into a dark cave—the archetypal symbol of the unconscious, and also a womb-like tunnel of rebirth. At the heart of darkness within the cave, Luke encounters Darth Vader. They engage in battle, and Luke beheads Vader, only to see the image of his own face within Vader’s dark helmet. The illusion that Yoda displays to Luke reveals the hero to himself. Vader is Luke’s father, and he and his father are one. Like Oedipus, as long as Luke denies his true identity, he denies his own destiny as the savior of the galaxy. When Luke truly encounters Vader in a climactic light saber duel, Vader tells him: “Luke … I am your father,” but Luke still denies the truth. Like Oedipus, he chooses to remain blind to himself, and like Oedipus, he pays the price by losing a part of himself (Luke’s hand is severed from his arm in the duel). But in Return of the Jedi, Luke finally accepts the facts of his birth, allowing him to accept himself and claim his birthright as Jedi master and savior. When he pulls the mask off of Darth Vader’s head to reveal his true father, they share a moment of atonement that heals both of them.
Ordeal and Apotheosis
The atonement is usually a harrowing stage for the hero, a time of great physical and psychological suffering. By struggling through this “ordeal,” the hero shows his worthiness. He demonstrates that he is strong, courageous, determined and completely dedicated to the cause. More importantly, he exhibits the ultimate characteristic of heroism—self-sacrifice and the willingness to suffer greatly for the sake of others. The protagonist must emerge from the ordeal a completely different person. In essence, the protagonist must enter the ordeal a regular person, and exit the stage a true hero. The rebirth of the main character as a hero symbolizes the fact that his flaws have been purged through an ordeal of fire. Now he has the power to defeat his enemy and rise in stature from mere mortal to immortal legend. According to Campbell, the apotheosis stage is the symbolic death and resurrection of the hero. Jesus was resurrected on the cross and returned as a completely divine figure. Similarly, Moses climbed to the top of Mount Sinai and returned projecting the divine light of God’s words from his forehead. Following his symbolic death and rebirth, the hero emerges through apotheosis with the power of the gods, and an invigorated rededication to his cause.
The relationship between the three inseparable and essential elements of identity development—hamartia, epiphany and apotheosis—are the nuclear core of the hero’s character arc. In a critical moment of reflection before the title fight, the title character (Sylvester Stallone) in Rocky (1976) realizes that he cannot defeat Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). This epiphany, which relates directly to his hamartia of self-doubt, creates a new sense of integrity in the hero. In Rocky’s apotheosis, he is reborn as a hero who is not interested in becoming champion to gain external glory. He merely wants to prove to himself that he can “go the distance” with Apollo—that he has the same kind of heart that his mentor, Mickey sees in him, the heart of his namesake, Rocky Marciano. In Rocky’s apotheosis and ordeal in the ring, we see the death of his personal ego and his spiritual rebirth as a figure so powerful that he can face the awesome mythological force, Apollo.
After the ordeal and apotheosis, the hero is rewarded for completing his character development. This reward is both physical and psychological. Percival grasps the Grail, Arthur seizes Excalibur, Moses holds the Ten Commandments, Buddha experiences Nirvana, Frodo casts the Ring into the Cracks of Doom, and so on. The ultimate boon is accompanied by a psychological sense of accomplishment. “I did it!” the hero remarks to himself. “I am the chosen one!” “I am deserving of victory and praise!” “I am a hero!” But, brave hero, there’s no time to rest on your laurels now! You’re in the belly of the beast! Frodo is in the heart of Mordor. Luke is still in the Death Star. Moses is still on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea. Siddhartha still has to deliver his divine teachings as Buddha. Percival still has to bring the Grail to Arthur. Better make haste and return to the starting point. The journey is not complete until the hero has returned home with the ultimate boon that will save his society.
Analyzing the Initiation
The Ten Commandments
On his road of trials, Moses proves himself and the power of God by inflicting the Ten Plagues on the Pharaoh and his people. During his struggles in Egypt, Moses encounters his old love interest, who is both a goddess that provides love and a temptress who tries to lure Moses away from his mission. The Pharaoh relents and releases the Israelites. After a big ordeal at the Red Sea, Moses delivers his people out of Egypt and into Sinai. Moses ascends the mountain and becomes “at-one” with his Lord, receiving the holy Ten Commandments. He takes this ultimate boon, the Decalogue in God’s own handwriting, and heads back, reborn through apotheosis as a true hero. But upon descending the mountain with the stone tablets, he sees that the Israelites have lost faith and are worshipping a pagan idol. Moses displays his hamartia once again (the nasty temper which made him kill the Egyptian slave driver). He throws down the stone tablets and breaks them—destroying for all time the written testimony of God’s law on Earth.
Excalibur
On his road of trials, Arthur demonstrates through his bravery and leadership in battle that he is the one true king. No longer Arthur the squire, he is now King Arthur, knight and true hero. Arthur unites his kingdom and establishes the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot. He meets his temptress by taking a beautiful bride, Guenevere, but when his queen betrays him with his finest knight, Lancelot, we see Arthur’s hamartia. Like the ancient Greek heroes, Arthur suffers from hubris. He is too proud to forgive Guenevere and Lancelot for their misdeeds. His heart becomes black and bitter; he begins to die. Since the land and Excalibur are mystically linked with his soul, his kingdom begins to die, and Excalibur—the gift of the gods—is lost. But Arthur experiences a moment of epiphany when he drinks from the Holy Grail and realizes that he and the land are one. Following his ordeal, Arthur is reborn through apotheosis. He forgives Guenevere and is rewarded once again with Excalibur, the ultimate boon, which he wields one last time as he leads his knights into battle against the dreaded Mordred.
Star Wars
The first stop on Luke’s road of trials is a rough, rowdy saloon in a seedy spaceport town. Here they are joined by Han Solo and his first mate, the wookie Chewbacca. With the evil Imperial forces chasing them, the heroes cross the first threshold and take off in the Millennium Falcon. The relationship between Luke and his mentor develops as Ben instructs Luke in the use of his light saber, and teaches him how to control the Force. While the external goal remains the rescue mission, the internal goal is related to Luke’s mastery of the spiritual power of the Force, the symbol of his destiny as a Jedi knight. But the training is cut short as the heroes are drawn into the belly of the whale, the Empire’s formidable super weapon, the Death Star. Luke overcomes his hamartia of self-doubt, accepts his identity as a hero and rescues Leia, who is both a Temptress and Goddess figure. However, shortly after his rise to full heroism, Luke sees Darth Vader kill his mentor. In that critical moment, Ben’s body disappears, but his spirit is resurrected and integrated as a spiritual guide within Luke’s psyche, a psychological atonement with his father figure. The suffering that Luke undergoes as a result of Obi-Wan’s death constitutes a spiritual apotheosis, after which Luke is reborn into a powerful warrior with greater control over the Force, the ultimate boon. The symbol of Luke’s increased psychological power is evident in his sudden ability to destroy Imperial fighters with uncanny accuracy. However, the Death Star is nearly complete, giving Vader and the Emperor the power to destroy every planet in the galaxy.
The Lord of the Rings
The first stop for the four hobbits on their road of trials is The P
rancing Pony, a rowdy tavern in the outpost town of Bree, where they meet Aragorn, the man who will lead them to Rivendell. At Rivendell, the Council of Elrond decides that the ring must be destroyed in the fires of Mt. Doom, deep in the heart of Sauron’s evil kingdom of Mordor. But who will bear the ring? Gandalf cannot take it, because a wizard who holds the ring of power could easily rule the world. The elves won’t to take it themselves, but they don’t trust the greedy dwarves with the all-powerful ring, and neither do they trust the power-hungry men. At this moment, Frodo answers an inner call by volunteering himself as the Ringbearer. Since he is neither wizard nor elf, nor dwarf or man, a hobbit is the only politically correct choice. However, Frodo still does not believe in his heart that he is brave enough to bear the awesome responsibility of the ring. To address this need, Frodo gets another mentor, Uncle Bilbo, who bestows some more supernatural aid on Frodo—a chain-mail vest made of elfin “mithril” and a magic sword.
The Fellowship of the Ring then travels through the belly of the whale, the orc-infested mines of Moria, where they face the most devastating creature imaginable, a demonic balrog. Gandalf fights the balrog alone, and is dragged down to the pits of Hell. Frodo, in witnessing his mentor’s death, internalizes his mentor into his psyche, and integrates his spiritual power in a moment of atonement. After the ordeal in Moria, the fellowship travels to the kingdom of forest elves in Lothlorien, where they meet with the goddess—Galadriel, the elfin queen. The goddess is also a temptress, as Frodo is tempted to give Galadriel the ring and give up his own calling as Ringbearer. Galadriel turns down the ring, but we see that Frodo is still critically ambivalent about his identity as the Ringbearer. The goddess provides Frodo with an oracle, in which he sees that the fellowship is dissolving and that men will betray him in order to take the ring. This prophecy comes true in the next stage, when Boromir attacks Frodo and tries to steal the ring from him. Frodo’s epiphany occurs when he realizes that the ring is not safe, even within the fellowship, and that he must bear the ring alone into the realm of Mordor. After this ordeal of betrayal, Frodo is reborn through apotheosis and overcomes his hamartia by finally accepting his identity as the one true Ringbearer. He heads off by himself to Mordor, taking only his faithful sidekick, Sam.
The Hero’s Return
The final act is the hero’s return to his common day world, where he will use the ultimate boon to save his people. But sometimes, the hero would prefer to stay in the world of adventure. The refusal of the return is similar to the hero’s refusal of the call—it is a stage of inert reluctance that the hero must overcome. But once the hero accepts the fact that he must return, he enters the final stages of the journey, in which he typically experiences a quickening of the pace. Now that the hero has reached the apex of his character arc, it’s all downhill from there. The rest of the plot can race towards a rather speedy resolution in a magic flight. Often times, a large part of the Third Act is dedicated to a chase scene in which the action is visibly swift. In sports movies like Rocky, The Karate Kid (1984), Hoosiers (1986), Chariots of Fire (1981), Victory (1981), The Bad News Bears (1976) and many others, the Third Act is the big game, race, fight or competition that is always hurried and action packed. Like in the Popeye cartoons, the last act is always an explosion of ultra-violent energy and just retribution. The hero’s abundant energy and fluidity at this stage seems to carry some paranormal force. In Campbell’s words: “the final stage of his adventure is supported by all the powers of his supernatural patron.”
Sometimes, the hero must be brought back to the ordinary world by his allies in a rescue from without. In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke is left hanging alone, crippled and helpless after experiencing his ordeal, the great light saber duel with Darth Vader. He is rescued by Han Solo and his allies, who pick him up in the Millennium Falcon. In The Return of the King, Frodo is left helpless and stranded on the exploding volcano after he destroys the ring of power. He is rescued by giant eagles sent by Gandalf. The message at this stage is that even the greatest hero needs friends and allies. The strongest and bravest champion in the world is still vulnerable unless he has friends to help him and watch his back.
After the crossing of the return threshold, the hero becomes the master of the two worlds. He is familiar with the ordinary world because that is the world he grew up in. He knows all the places to hide, all the secret passages and all the best spots to stage an attack. He also knows all the townspeople. They remember him as a bright young lad growing up before their eyes. He is one of them, and they trust him. But they also sense that he has changed. The prodigal son has returned, but he is not the awkward, oafish, over-eager young boy who left not too long ago. Now he is confident, strong, and experienced. He seems to carry some type of mystical power that inspires courage in others. As master of the two worlds, conqueror of the outside world and citizen of the ordinary world, he has the unique ability to lead a rebellion of ordinary people against the evil tyrant. At this point, the character arc comes full circle. The hero is not just a warrior, he is a leader and mentor to others. Now he can lead the timid oppressed townspeople in a revolt against the dominating imperial forces. The “elixir” or ultimate boon that the hero delivers to his people is the freedom to live without tyranny.
The return stage is an essential part of the myth, though it is often overlooked in modern movies. The Ten Commandments ends shortly after Moses delivers the Decalogue to the Israelites. It cuts through the return stage from the Bible, in which Moses becomes a leader of the Israelites and guides them into battle as they travel to the Promised Land. Similarly, in The Return of the King (2003), Frodo destroys the ring of power and Middle Earth is saved from the dark lord, Sauron. However, despite Christopher Tolkien’s objections, the semi-final chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic, “The Scouring of the Shire,” is not included in the film. This is a shame, because in this chapter, we see Frodo and his hobbit companions returning to their hometown as conqueror heroes. No longer a timid little hobbit, Frodo is now a powerful and confident hero and leader. He returns home to see that the hobbits of the Shire have been conquered and subjugated by wild men, soldiers of Sauron. While the Frodo of the first chapter would never have even thought of rebelling against these dangerous, massive men, the returning Frodo does not hesitate to raise a force of insurgent hobbits against the human imperialists. Frodo’s intimate knowledge of the Shire and his relationship with its citizens mixed with his newfound bravery, heroism and ability to inspire others combine to make Frodo a leader and mentor so powerful that he is practically invincible. The final defeat of the evil wizard Saruman does not take place on the great battlefields of Isengard, Mordor or Gondor. Saruman dies in the Shire, after he is stripped powerless by none other than the hobbits—the smallest, weakest inhabitants of Middle Earth. The message at this stage is clear: the meek shall inherit the earth.
The Ultimate Boon. Moses receives God’s laws and delivers them to his people. At the end of his hero’s journey, Moses is now a mentor to Joshua, who will take up the mantle of leadership after Moses dies. Moses (Charlton Heston), left, and Joshua (John Derek). The Ten Commandments (1956), Paramount.
The exact same theme is played out in Return of the Jedi. Luke returns from his trials and ordeal as a full-blown hero—a well-trained Jedi knight. He then leads the inhabitants of a small, Earth-like planet—the Ewoks—in a rebellion against the Imperial armies. The rebellion is successful, due mainly to Luke’s final stage of character development with his father. But the little Ewoks still earn their great victory over the evil empire.
Analyzing the Return
The Ten Commandments
After the fateful scene at Mt. Sinai, Cecil B. DeMille cuts to the end of Moses’ journey. He has fulfilled his role of Messiah—he liberated his people from bondage and brought them to the threshold of the Promised Land. But more importantly, he became their teacher and mentor. Though the stone tablets were broken, Moses still delivered the law of God—the ultimate boon—to the Israel
ites by teaching it to them personally. This is why Moses is remembered in the Hebrew tradition as “Moshe Rabeinu,” Moses Our Teacher. Though he liberated the Israelites from Egypt, he is not remembered for the bravery of his liberation, but for the wisdom and dedication of his teaching. By teaching his people God’s Law, he gives them the freedom to live according to their own tradition, rather than the tyrannical rule of the Pharaoh. He has become a legend, and he will live on as the greatest legendary figure in Judaic tradition.
Excalibur
At the brink of death, Arthur is reborn through apotheosis by drinking from the Holy Grail, which was brought to him by his most faithful knight, Perceval. He has survived his ordeal, but it may be too late because his sorceress sister Morgana and his powerful nephew/son Mordred are about to seize control of the land. Nevertheless, Arthur has another epiphany, and realizes that while kings and kingdoms may come and go, the only eternal truth is love. Before going off to die in battle, Arthur visits Guenevere and overcomes his hamartia—he forgives her and heals both of their wounded hearts. Arthur is rewarded by being reunited with Excalibur, which Guenevere had been safeguarding through all the dark years. Arthur becomes a great king and mentor once again, leading his knights into a heroic and victorious battle. Though he is mortally wounded in the end, he never really dies. Excalibur is returned to the gods who created it, and Arthur is carried off in a mystical ship to the mythical land of the spirits, knowing that his legend will live on after him for all eternity. Arthur will always be remembered in Anglo-Saxon mythology as the greatest King of all times.
Movies and the Mind Page 12
