the call

In class we discussed “The Call” and how it relates to Watership Down and The Odyssey. When I think of the call, I think of a young man being drafted in to the army in a time of war. This example of the call is a very big responsibility and may be very hard for the young man to accept the call.

In the Oydssey, Odysseus’ call came after the war of Troy. He was called to return home to Greece where his wife and children were waiting for him. Odysseus did not refuse this call though, something else got in his way. In Troy Odysseus angered Poseidon, the god of water. So when Odysseus went to sail home Poseidon sent Odysseus to several different locations other than home to his family.

In Watership Down, the journey of the family of rabbits all began when Fiver received a vision that something bad would happen to the Warren. This was Hazel’s call to become a leader and gather a group of rabbits to move from the Warren. Hazel first went to the king of the Warren to try to pass the call on to him. This did not work due to the king not believing Fiver’s vision.

In my life I experience calls everyday. I strongly believe that my archetype is mostly the caregiver. As the caregiver, anytime someone I know needs or asks for help it is my call to fulfill my duties as the caregiver. This begins a new journey sometimes not a very big one, but none the less it usually makes me travel out of my way and experience other aspects of “the call”.

monomythic characters

In class we discussed characters that fit the hero’s journey archetype of the monomyth. A monomythic character must follow three steps to complete its character. The three stages that are necessary  for a monomyth to complete his/her journey are departure, initiation, and return.

The first character that I think fills the archetype of the monomyth is Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. Obi-Wan Kanobi comes to Luke on the planet Tatooine and tells him to follow him to go after Darth Vader, which is Luke’s departure. Obi-Wan and Yoda train Luke to be a Jedi in his initiation. As Lukes return, he goes on a mission to destroy Darth Vader’s Death Star, which he successfully does.

The second character that I think fills the archetype of the monomyth is Jesus Christ. For Jesus’ departure he grew up and left his family to preach and recruit disciples. He was initiated as the son of God when John the Baptist baptized him and the heavens opened up and God spoke. He was also initiated when the devil tempted him to make give in to greed, lust, and power, but Jesus refused. After Jesus was crucified, he was ressurected three days later as his return to make him one of the most well known monomyths in history.

watership archetype comparison

I feel a connection with Blackberry from Watership Down. We are both smart and come up with good ideas. I think our use of intelligence fits the archetype of the Caregiver since in both cases it is used to better the groups we are involved in.

In Watership Down, Blackberry is the smart rabbit of the group. In chapter 8, the rabbits are faced with a problem that they need to cross a river, but Fiver and the injured Pipkin are unfit to cross the water. Blackberry comes up with the idea to float the two small rabbits on a piece of wood. The others are amazed at his discovery and puzzled by the fact that the two rabbits are not sinking like stones. Blackberry also helped out another rabbit when Bigwig got caught in a snare. All of the rabbits panicked, even Hazel ran to the troubled scene. Blackberry was the quickest and fastest thinking rabbit to find the peg on the snare and free Bigwig.

In my life, I feel I fit this archetype in a very similar way. I sometimes also feel as though I am the smart person of a group. Another thing that makes me stand out as smarter is that my major is Computer Science, which I am usually around people who do not have this as their major. So often someone I know will have trouble with their computer or other technology and, as the Caregiver, I will help them with their problem.

hero

To me, a great modern-day hero is Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong is an American professional cyclist born on September 18, 1971 in Plano, Texas. His whole life Lance was an exceptional athlete. Lance won United States Junior Triathlon title at the age of 16.

In 1996 Lance was diagnosed with testicular cancer that also infected his brain and lungs. He was treated with brain and testicular surgery as well as extensive chemotherapy. After recovering, Lance won the Tour de France, the most prestigious and extensive cycling competition in the world, seven consecutive times from 1999-2005. After this miraculous achievement of determination and endurance he was given many awards such as Male Athlete of the Year several years in a row. Lance Armstrong is hero because of his ability to never give up even when faced with overwhelming hardships. He is also regarded as a hero due to his efforts to support people affected by cancer through the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Lance Armstrong started his journey to become a hero when he was a young athlete with a lot of promise to become a world class cyclist. His first challenge was fighting testicular cancer along with brain and lung tumors. He overcame this challenge as well as continued a successful cycling career. The last challenge Lance faced was allegations, after he won seven Tour de France titles, that either blood doped or used performance enhancing drugs to win his titles. To this day none of these allegations have been proven leaving Lance Armstrong a hero.