Making Of A Hero Tolkien s The Hobbit And The Monomyth

Making of a Hero: Tolkien’s The Hobbit and the Monomyth American mythologist, scholar, and author Joseph Campbell popularized the study of patterns within heroic narratives in his 1949 book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell’s theory, born from a lifelong study of heroic myths and narratives from around the world, is that the hero’s journey inevitably follows a common pattern of experience. By describing the universal stages (i.e., elements of the hero’s journey/story) that transcend temporal and cultural differences, Campbell’s theory manifests itself as the literary blueprint for the heroic narrative. Campbell’s theory of the narrative structure of the hero’s journey can be applied to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Tolkien’s†¦show more content†¦Some four, I should say by the sound† (Tolkien 10). Upon settling, the group then proceeded to discuss details of their pending journey. Gandalf volunteers Baggins to be the thief, one of the most lucrative positions wit hin the company, complimenting his advantageous proportions â€Å"Here is our little Bilbo Baggins, the burglar, the chosen and selected burglar. So now let s get on and make some plans (Tolkien 21). Baggins’s sudden call to adventure mimics the very definition of a hero’s call as mentioned in Campbell’s studies. Taking place in a familiar setting the protagonist, is then faced with a challenge such as a quest. Tolkien’s central figure is met at his home dwelling and is introduced to a world unfamiliar to his culture, a world of adventure. Baggins’s attempt to shy away from adventure embodied Campbell’s concept of archetypes in heroic narratives. Archetypes are often patterns of behavior shared amongst heroes, such as Baggins’s attempt to shy away from Gandalf’s adventurous offer. A refusal is often prompted out of fear. Being the timid Hobbit, Baggins was not too fond of the thought of the pending dangers lurking in the unknown. So, he invites Gandalf to tea instead: â€Å"Sorry! I do not want any adventures, thank you† (Tolkien 7). Introducing the second element of the hero’s journey, the â€Å"refusal of the call†, this often consists of the protagonist succumbing to his fears promptingShow MoreRelatedMythological Archetypes2077 Words   |  9 PagesMythological archetypes are the elements of which myths develop. A Scheme according to which a model of myth is collected from an archetypal constructor is universal and is called monomyth.(reference) But as actors change in different mythological histories, circumstances, then the variety of details of narration became very bright and can be seen instantly, and the similarity of the canvas remains unnoticed. According to Jung, the archetypes evolved in the course of evolution like internal organs

Ancient Historians Sparta. Free Essays

Ancient historians reveal that Spartan society was something to be envied. (DISAGREE). Many ancient historians can agree that the Sparta, was an overall strong, well disciplined, sound governed, equal society, with hard working citizens and incredibly structured military forces. We will write a custom essay sample on Ancient Historians: Sparta. or any similar topic only for you Order Now Some ancient historians, such as Thucydide and Plato, admired many aspects of the Spartans good order, and praised how well the Spartans system appeared to be working, whilst other historians, such as Aristotle, were extremely crucial of the Spartan system, and criticised their structure in many of their individual writings. Many claim Spartans system of government included monarchical, and democratic components,although it is acknowledged as being primarily oligarchy. The government structure consisted of, two kings, and unlike most kings, these two did not have absolute power as they shared the power with each other and they also had to answer to a council of elders, or the Gerousia. The Gerouisa was made up of 28 male citizens, all over the age of sixty, who once elected served for live. Below the Gerousia, was another assembly, the Apella. The Apella consisted of male citizens over the age of thirty. To complete the system of checks and balances, the Spartans created a judicial position called  ephor. At any given time, there were five citizens serving in this role. Ephors were citizens over the age of thirty. They were elected to serve one-year terms. Ephors possessed considerable clout. An ephor could bring charges against anyone in Sparta—including one the city-state’s kings. Whilst some historians believed this government system to be efficient, and a sure way to keep matters, and laws fair through-out Sparta, Aristotle disagreed with one judicial position in particular, the Euphors. On them he said ‘The Lacedaemonian constitution is defective in another point; I mean the Ephoralty. This magistracy has authority in the highest matters, but the Ephors are chosen from the whole people, and so the office is apt to fall into the hands of very poor men, who, being badly off, are open to bribes. Aristotle believed that electing men, of no status whatsoever, and giving them such a high state of power was unwise, as a man of no status would be more prone to corruption, including the accepting of bribes. He then states ‘There have been many examples at Sparta of this evil in former times; and quite recently, in the matter of the Andrians, certain of the Ephors who were bribed did their best to ruin the state’ Thus proving his above point, that the Ephors were more likely to be bribed, for their own wealthfare. Throughout majority of Greece, wives were acquired strictly for the production of legitimate heirs, providing food and were used for sexual pleasure. Husbands dominated and demeaned the women, and treated them as objects. Both wives and daughters of any citizen were excluded from all public and intellectual activities, they were kept inside and weren’t allowed to participate in leisure activities , receive an education, or eat as well as their brothers or husbands. Women could not inherit or own any land, and it was considered unwise to educate them. This wasn’t the case with women in Sparta, although they still had arranged marriages, they did not have the right to vote, and were honored most for their production of strong sons, the women still enjoyed status and rights that were exceptional in those times and were considered a scandal to the rest of the essentially misogynous ancient world. Aristotle, from rival Athens, seems to complain about the Spartan society throughout his writings. He is extremely critical of the Spartan system, especially of their emancipated women. â€Å"The license of the Lacedaemonian women defeats the intention of the Spartan constitution, and is adverse to the happiness of the state. † – Aristotle, [On the Lacedaemonian Constitution] In this statement, Aristotle believes that by making woman emancipated, this disadvantages men and gives women an opportunity to take advantage of the men, by manipulating and controlling them. . How to cite Ancient Historians: Sparta., Essay examples

Nazis in Power free essay sample

Hitler’s Nazi party enjoyed widespread popularity among the German people between 1933 and 1939 as a result of their domestic policies. Through the economy, the biggest factor in support of reducing mass unemployment, they introduced the KDF, Strength through Joy this allowed Germans to enjoy paid holidays and concerts. They also helped reinforce law and order, ensuring there were no street battles in Nazi Germany. Germans appreciated this as it was fresh and strict following the previous weak Weimar Government. The Nazis had youth policies which were appealing to the parents and children as they encouraged the likes of camping and sports. These factors were the main reasons that the Nazis had great popularity as they related to many German citizens. However, there were also serious concerns of coercion being used to enforce German peoples’ acceptance. They brought around the totalitarian state which was to Nazify the country; this meant that everyone was mainly completely controlled by the Nazis. Also, Anti-Semitism focused on the races and religions that Nazis did not believe as pure. The Jews were targeted and eventually stripped of their German citizenship. In addition, women were also discriminated against as the Nazis felt that they should have a lesser role than men, and if they had any disability or disorder they should not be allowed to have children. Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state in which all means of protest or dissent were blocked. However, despite this, the Nazis enjoyed great popularity throughout Germany, as they had associated with so many Germans and seemed extremely similar to the thoughts of the citizens. However, although many accepted the Nazi ways, many more were afraid to speak out at Nazi excesses, so there was coercion used as the party were very threatening and had many policies which would destroy anyone who did not follow the Nazi rules. The Nazi party received a great deal of support for the economic policies which set out to do things Weimar could not. When the Nazis were in power they managed to put people back to work and the unemployment figures fell rapidly from 26% in 1933 to below 1% in 1939. These figures were impressive and German people supported the Nazis for being able to lower unemployment. The German labour front forced people into jobs and created new jobs by forcing people like Jews and woman, who were not included in unemployment figures, out of their jobs. Hitler also gained popularity by giving people an incentive to work. The KDF, strength through joy organization offered people rewards such as paid holidays, holiday camps and the people’s car if they were loyal workers. This had huge support and although people were now working longer hours for less money they didn’t mind as they were getting things they never would have has the chance to have before such as the Volkswagen car. This shows that people did appreciate Hitler’s economic policies as he gave incentives and dropped unemployment figures. Due to the Weimar government, law and order had pretty much broken down and riots had started and the Reichstag fire had happened. Hitler made this a first priority and stopped it in order to restore law and order. In order to ensure law and order, Hitler created the apparatus of a police state. The SS was the state’s internal security service and its purpose was to root out all opposition, real or imaginary. They wore threatening black uniforms and people were frightened of the SS. The Gestapo was the secret police and acted on suspicion in order to take out any anti-socials. These police made many German people nervous and this lost some support of the Nazis as people missed their freedom and did not like being controlled. However it still did gain some support as people disliked the breakdown of law and order in Weimar and so were prepared to accept the totalitarian state that concentrated on removing undesirables who most Germans disapproved of anyway. The Nazis also had very strict youth policies in Germany. Their aim was to turn boys into soldiers and girls into housewives and mothers. From 1933, parents were encouraged to enrol their children in the youth policies but by 1939 it was compulsory. Boys took part in activities such as shooting and camping, designed to toughen them up into good German soldiers. By 1936 60% of boys were enrolled in some kind of youth activity. Girls were toughs to go by the slogan of the 3K’s: Kinder, Kirche and Kurche, meaning children, church and kitchen. German people supported these ideas and youth policies as parents liked their children to be disciplined and it also gave incentives such as free uniforms for poorer children so they could be clean and look smart, also free holidays for poorer kids too. However the youth policies did not always enjoy widespread popularity as people did accept these policies at first but as they became compulsory in 1939 people were not so willing. Some young Germans even rebelled and formed their own gangs. If the Nazis caught these youths the punishments were harsh. The most famous was the White Rose movement, the leader of the movement Sophie Scholl was hanged for rebelling. Although at the beginning many youths and parents did support these policies, especially poorer families, by the time it was compulsory parents were worried about their children being brainwashed and began to rebel. While the Nazis were in power Germany became a totalitarian state, every aspect of people’s lives were controlled and regulated by state. Things such as employment, education, youth and even your leisure time was controlled, it was said the only freedom German’s had was their sleep. Hitler took over things such as Trade Unions and on the 2nd of May 1935 the trade unions were abolished and the Nazi Labour Front took over. This was the beginning of the forced co-ordination in Germany. On the 14th of July 1935 Hitler banned all political parties aside from the Nazis and developed the creation of a one party state so that there were no further elections. Newspapers that were critical of the Nazis were shut down and Hitler supplied every German with a radio so they could hear the Fuhrer. Speakers were put up on street corners so no one could avoid messages and state messages from the Fuhrer were compulsory. Police states like the SS and the Gestapo were ordered to eliminate all opponents and the concentration camps were set to be a symbol of terror. Although some Germans did accept and agree with these policies as it got them out of the mess from Weimar, German people were terrified and even law abiding citizens became frightened to speak. People missed their freedom and widespread popularity across Germany for the Nazis disappeared as they took over people’s lives. The Nazis had very traditional domestic policies when it came to women. They felt that woman should have an important but subsequent role to men. Married woman in Germany got sacked from their jobs to make way for men as it was felt their husband could look after them. This infuriated a lot of German woman as they enjoyed their work. Marriage loans were also given to encourage women into marrying and to bear children. For each child a woman had, a quarter of their loan was paid off. Women were also forbidden to marry non-Aryan men and those who were already married had their marriages cancelled. Also in Nazi Germany a woman was not allowed to have a child if she had learning difficulties, or suffered from depression or was an alcoholic, nearly 225,000 women were forcibly sterilized due to these circumstances. Mary Fulbrock states that â€Å"Hitler’s views on woman, which now would appear extraordinarily sexist, where at the time fairly representative†. This quote is showing that although these policies were harsh, many women did support the traditional ideas that Hitler brought about. Nevertheless, many women did feel very restricted in Nazi Germany and they had no ambitions in life other than being a wife and mother, causing their support for the Nazis to fade. The Nazis policies on anti-Semitism were very strong and for most people the Nazi dictatorship is linked forever to the persecution of the Jews and the anti-Semitism of the state was a factor in its popularity with many Germans. When the Nazis took over at first the harassment was petty and low level. Germans were forced to boycott Jewish shops, windows of Jewish shops were smashed, Jews had yellow park benches and they were not allowed to sit down on trains or buses. However, in 1935 the Nuremburg laws were introduced and harassment became more serious. These Nazis race laws meant that Jews were no longer citizens in Germany and could not be elected or vote, Marriages were cancelled and people were not allowed to work for Jews. Then by 1938 in relation to the death of a German diplomat by a Jew the Nazi leader Goebbels organized nationwide violence against Jews. 10,000 Jewish shops were destroyed, synagogues burned down and at least 90 Jews murdered. Although these laws were horrific, many Germans hated the Jews as much as Hitler and his domestic policies to destroy them made a lot of German people support him more. People saw Jews as anti-socials and liked the fact that Hitler’s policies on anti-Semitism were destroying them. To conclude, in general many German people did support the domestic policies of Hitler and a lot of his ideas managed to enjoy a widespread popularity between 1933 and 1939. People loved that his economic policies were getting unemployment figures down and they liked the incentives he offered for loyal workers. Germans liked that they didn’t have to fear law and order being destroyed again, as Hitler had restored it. They also enjoyed how the youth policies gave them disciplined children and that the Nazis had traditional views and ideas in the way Germany was run. Nevertheless, many of Hitler’s domestic policies caused resentment and a number Germans did not support his ideas. People disliked that their children were being brainwashed and that they had a severe lack of freedom now. Germans were living in fear and they did not support Hitler’s policies due to this. Therefore, despite his incentives and the many people who did show his widespread popularity, there were still a lot of Germans who did not support the Hitler and the Nazi party.