Summary
The time to wonder around, make allies, and gain enemies is over. Now hero is getting closer and closer to the most dangerous and supreme parts of his journey while approaching the Inmost Cave. Sometimes when the hero is approaching the Inmost Cave, a romance may occur, so the hero can get something good out of the harsh situation. This is the time for the hero to make the last arrangements, get all the information needed, and have his army ready (if it is the case). Obstacles and challenges are part of the journey, so the hero must be ready for them. A hero can't fall asleep on the march; he needs to stay alert at all times (145). The Inmost Cave makes the hero focus in his main goal, but also reminds the " time bomb" to audience (149). When heroes are alone and have nobody to help them achieve their goals, they need to re-organize themselves, and maybe look for help if needed. Heroes get help from mentors, but sometimes there are situations in which mentors cannot go where the hero is going, and the hero must be on his own (150). Mentors guide the heroes and support them, but the hero must do the rest. Now is time for the hero to relax for a while and take a deep breath, because things are going to get serious (151).
Being in the deepest part of the Inmost Cave, the hero is now at the Ordeal stage. In the Ordeal, heroes must die so that they can reborn (155). When heroes die at this stage, they do not just live again and things become happy. A hero changes, gains knowledge, experiences, and becomes a better hero. The Ordeal can lead to a wide variety of situations to happen, it leads to the climax of the story. After a crisis, a hero is reborn in the sense of his character; he gets stronger and wise. When the hero appears to die, or actually dies, there is always a witness watching. This witness gets really sad when the hero "dies", but then is extremely happy when the hero revives (159). The audience wonders if the hero is ever going to get up, if he is still alive. Heroes get a pretty good taste of death. As humans, we like to experience danger, because sometimes it feels good. Vogler explains that people pay good money for a taste of death, and I totally agree with that. For example, people go to Busch Gardens to get into those humongous rides, like Sheikra. People enjoy being there, very high, and going as fast as the wind. Is is very common in a story when a hero comes close to the Ordeal, and the villain is the one that actually dies (164). When heroes get a pretty good taste of death, their ego dies. Tasting dead lets you sit in God's chair for a while (171).
Reation
I really liked these two chapters of Vogler, because although the content was pretty wide and somehow difficult for me to understand, he gave perfect examples that really helped me. These two reading are the most interesting ones that I have read so far from the Vogler's book. The content in these two chapters is very deep, and there were a lot of information that I never heard before. I can relate the chapter about the Inmost Cave with my own experience when moving to the United States. Vogler explains that a hero cannot fall asleep on the march; that it needs to keep going. That is totally true, because it was very hard for me to keep going on and being under pressure with a new language, but if I did not continue I could not achieve my main goal that was graduation. The stage of the Ordeal is one of the most explosives parts of any story. I hate when a hero appears to die, and the audience is biting their nails, and wondering if the hero is going to wake up. Vogler was right when talking about how humans pay good money for a taste of death. I am like that, I go to Busch Gardens and the first thing that I do is to go straight to Sheikra. Yes, I am scared at first, but the feeling of being high up there is amazing.
Disussion Questions
1. Have you had any big obstacles when approaching the Inmost Cave during a personal experience?
2. How do you think dead and rebirth may change a hero? What changes in him?
3. In what movies have you seen this example of dead and rebirth of a hero? What was your reaction?
1 comment:
One of the movies that instantly reminds me of the death-and-rebirth cycle is the Matrix (first part). When Neo died, it didn't make sense to me why the director would kill off the main hero almost at the end. At this point I was sure that there would only be one movie and this was it. However, he is reborn (through the power of love notably) and finally realizes his true potential as 'The One'. In this context the central crisis point actually made sense because Neo identified his inner hero and then went on to 'save the world' in the other two sequels.
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