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Finding a Hero's Journey in As I Lay Dying

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I think the narrative pattern of the hero’s journey can still be deciphered in such a storytelling style. Although complicated and at times difficult to figure out, there is still a journey and a larger story. It may not be particularly heroic, and most of the characters aren’t sympathetic, but I think there is room within the hero’s journey for sad stupid people and their journeys.  Many of the stylistic choices of As I Lay Dying aren’t barriers to it being a hero’s journey. While a much more clear-cut hero’s journey, and simplified for his younger audience, Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series has a similar style, with 7 main characters and ~9 different POVs, nonlinear plotting, and somewhat stream-of-consciousness interior monologue. While none of the narrators in the series are unreliable, they all have secrets they keep from each other and the reader, and they all have different goals that give them different perspectives, like in As I Lay Dying .  Also like the Hero...
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Schmidtt’s Heroine’s Journey with respect to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

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(Spoilers)  Even above romance, Pride and Prejudice is a work of social commentary. Jane Austen is big on what marriage means in her world and how largely that’s influenced by money and class. The characters’ journeys reflect this. Elizabeth Bennet, our heroine, has a pretty standard heroine’s journey where she learns not to judge based on appearances as much, although the internal changes she goes through aren’t very large. Her development is overshadowed by Mr. Darcy’s.  Very simply, the plot follows the Bennet family, which consists of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. The Bennets are landed gentry, but on the poorer and lower class side. Mrs. Bennet’s goal in life is to get her daughters married, and she thinks they have a chance at making good matches when the amiable Mr. Bingley, along with his friend Mr. Darcy, move into the neighborhood. Darcy is extremely rich, but so proud and unfriendly that no one likes hi...
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The Secret of Raquelle's Heroine's Journey

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  Warning: Spoilers!!  Barbie: A Fairy Secret (2011) is the 20th film in the Barbie Cinematic Universe, and the second movie starring Barbie as herself (not counting the Barbie Diaries). In the Barbie Cinematic Universe canon, at least for the older films, Barbie is an actress, and the fantasy films, such as Barbie: Fairytopia (2005), are movies she’s “acted” in, while this movie follows the real Barbie and her personal life. A key part of Barbie’s personal life is her relationship with long-time frenemy Raquelle. In this movie Raquelle, usually a one-dimensional villain with no life outside of trying to one-up Barbie and steal Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, gets a redemption arc. Barbie’s character in this movie is pretty uninteresting, as always, but Raquelle’s emotional journey almost completely follows Maureen Murdock’s version of the heroine’s journey. In this blog post, I plan to explore how it fits and its implications.  Barbie: A Fairy Secret (2011) starts with a monta...
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An Examination of Barbie: Fairytopia as a Hero’s Journey Narrative

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Barbie: Fairytopia (2005) is the fifth movie in the series of 39+ movies produced by Mattel to promote their Barbie doll line, most of which are set in worlds independent of each other (to learn more about the Barbie Cinematic Universe (BCU), I highly recommend taking the Barbie Bonanza Agora class this spring). Fairytopia is the first movie in a trilogy following Elina the fairy (played by Barbie) as she has adventures and saves her beloved Fairytopia from various threats. In this post, I will examine Barbie: Fairytopia as a hero’s journey. Warning: spoilers! Fairytopia starts with Elina at equilibrium. She is the only fairy  without wings in the Magic Meadow, and keenly wants them. Her call to adventure happens when she hears that an evil fairy named Laverna has kidnapped a fairy guardian and has released a spell that weakens fairies’ ability to fly. Because all her friends are getting sick, Elina sets out to get help, along with her sidekick Bibble, and after a long road of t...
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