Hero's Journey Essay: Mulan

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Illiana Garcia Mrs. Barnes English II/Period 1 19 December 2013 To Prove I Was Worthwhile In mythology, the journey of a hero is an ancient and universal theme. In every culture from ancient Greece to China, Southeast Asia, and the Americas, heroes have embarked on life-altering journeys. The hero’s journey, or monomyth, was created and designed by Joseph Campbell, who divided the journey of the hero into three distinct stages: the Departure, Initiation, and Return. One example of the monomyth is Disney’s Mulan, directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook. Mulan is an outcast in a society that values feminine beauty, which is shown when her father Fa Zhou says, “I know my place. It is time you learned yours” and when he prays to “help Mulan impress the matchmaker today.” (Mulan). Mulan is a story of a young Chinese girl who tries to find herself and goes on an adventure to bring honor to her family. Mulan is an example of a monomyth because it contains a Departure, Initiation, and a Return, archetypes, and the universal theme of growing up. The Departure begins with the “call to adventure.” According to Campbell, “the adventure begins with someone from whom something has been taken or who feels there’s something lacking in the normal experience available or permitted to the members in society. The person then takes off on a series of adventures to recover what has been lost.” (Campbell 123). In Mulan, the “call to adventure” is when Shan-Yu leads the Huns to invade China. Because of the invasion, the Emperor orders a decree stating that one man from every family must fight in the war against the Huns in order to protect their country. Campbell says that “a hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” (Campbell 123). Mulan’s father is hurt from a previous war injury and would not be able to withstand the harsh

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