29th Annual Student Research Conference
The Hero's Journey: Mythical Analysis Of Wanted
Nasharee Z. Thomas
Dr. Mark Smith, Faculty Mentor
The Hero's Journey outlines the typical adventure and stages of a protagonist, identified as the 'hero', completing multiple, challenging tasks to uncover an individual destiny. The Hero's journey has become the basis of Hollywood films for decades. This critical paper utilized Monomythic analysis on the text Wanted, closely examining eleven stages from Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" model. The examination focused on the adventures of Wanted's protagonist, Wesley Gibson, and how his quest aligned with Campbell's monomythic stages. Although some of the stages were more evident than others, the majority of the text closely replicated the model which confirms Campbell's principle that monomyth is a means of better understanding the growth and development of a text's main character. By the end of the text the protagonist in Wanted had found his calling; or as Campbell calls it his "freedom to live".
Keywords: Myth, Media, Criticism, Hero, Journey
Topic(s):Communication
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: -5
Location: MG 1096
Time: 10:30