Nick Martinez
Professor Kevin Hastings
Heroism
17 October 2014
Luke Skywalker and the Adventure of the Hero Joseph Campbell’s perception of a hero’s journey begins with a primary series of steps called the Adventure of the Hero. Many narrative heroes use all or many of these steps. One particular character is Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. In his journey to become a Jedi he goes through these initial stages. Luke Skywalker lives with his Aunt and Uncle on a farm. Luke wants to be a pilot but his uncle has been holding him back from joining the academy so that Luke can help out on the farm. In order to get enough hands to compensate for Luke’s departure they must purchase droids to work on the farm. This is where he meets R2-D2, a droid that the family purchases from some space creatures called the Jowas. R2-D2 contains a message from a women name Princess Leia. In the message, she is addressing a man named Obi-wan Kenobi. Luke figures that she means Ben Kenobi who is an old man that lives on Luke’s planet. Luke decides that he will go later to look for Ben and figure out what the message is about. However, R2-D2 is determined to find Obi-wan Kenobi as soon as possible and ends up leaving in the night to find him. Luke finds the droid the next day but is unfortunately attacked by savage creatures called the Sand People. They prepare to kill him but he is saved by Ben Kenobi who happens to be passing by. Ben listens to the message that R2-D2 is holding and informs Luke that he is going to find Princess Leia and he wants Luke to help him. At this moment, the first step of Campbell’s journey of a hero takes place, called the Call to Adventure. Here, Luke is faced with the choice of whether to join Ben Kenobi on his quest to save Princess Leia or stay on the farm to help his uncle. Luke has never been anywhere else but his farm. He has no knowledge of the outside would and by leaving his farm he would be heading into the unknown. Knowing this, Luke declines Ben’s offer. This is where the next step takes place called, Refusal of Call. Luke turns down Ben’s proposal because he is unfamiliar with the outside world and he is needed by his uncle on the farm. The next step in Campbell’s journey of a hero is called Supernatural Aid. The supernatural aid is clearly Ben Kenobi. Ben was once part of a group called the Jedi Masters who are known to be able to use the mystical power called the Force. They can use this power to see things without their eyes, move objects and even control people’s minds. Ben demonstrates this when they are stopped by Imperial Soldiers. In order to get past them he targets the leader of them and controls his mind. Another aspect of this step is a giving of a gift or relic from the supernatural character to the hero. In this case, it is the light saber. The Jedi Masters are known for using light sabers which are a beam like sword that can cut through almost anything. This light saber will aid Luke on the rest of his journey. The next step that is supposed to happen is called Crossing the Threshold. Unfortunately, when Luke returns home he discovers that his family has been murdered. He decides to go back to Ben and join him on his quest. He has no obligations now and he is quite curious about the outside world and who Princess Leia is. The final stage is called the Belly of the Whale. This stage occurs when Luke is in a space station called the Death Star. Ben tells him to stay there while he finds a way to get them out. Luke has not shown any acts of heroism at this point and it fits his personality for him to agree to stay hidden and not get himself into trouble. However, once he finds out that Princess Leia is being held somewhere in the station he immediately decides to go save her. At this moment, he has started to go through a transformation in his personality. He would never have agreed to do something so bold before he started this journey. He has allowed himself to change.