The Monomyth

          

The idea of the monomyth is a series of events or perhaps quests that happen throughout almost every movie or book that is written today. There are 17 stages to the monomyth and every one represents a key part of each story. The man who discovered this pattern is named Joseph Campbell. He has helped write many movies and books designed to fit these key points. I’ve noticed that one movie that fits almost all these points dead on is The Lion King. Such a simple movie, right? But no one would ever think that such a short, simple story designed for kids would follow the same basic pattern as the same horror films we watch on Halloween.

            The first stage I would like to introduce to you is The Call to Adventure (Stage 1). When first looking at this movie, I thought hands down that the call to adventure would be when Simba runs away and tries to start over new, but the more I think about it I see something else. I believe the call to adventure would be when Nala finds Simba and begs him to come back to the pack and defeat Scar.

            The second stage I would like to point out is The Refusal of the Call (Stage 2). Simba refuses Nala’s offer to return home and help the pride land, and he meets a very strange friend who convinces him otherwise. When Simba runs into Rafikki and he tells him about his Father and Simba sees him in the sky, Simba feels as though he isn’t worthy and that the death of his Father was all his fault. But when his Father tells him that he everyone needs Simba’s help, he’s on a brand new road of adventure! His transformation from feeling unworthy to feeling that he must now save his kingdom is what I believe to be the stage of Apotheosis (Stage 10). I see this as apotheosis because he’s realizing that he’s more than he ever thought he was and he sees that he is now worthy and is able to defeat something bigger than himself.

            Surprisingly I found a big part of the story that does not follow the basic pattern of the monomyth and that would be the stage of The Woman as a Temptress (Stage 8). Normally in most books and movies, the temptress would be someone or something that is trying to get the hero to hold back and not continue on with his journey, but as I was thinking about it, Nala is trying to force Simba to begin a journey, not stop him from continuing one. I thought this was strange because I don’t realize this happening in any other movies; it’s the complete opposite actually.

            Possibly one of the biggest and most important parts of all the stages would be The Ultimate Boon (Stage 11). The Ultimate Boon is when the hero is faced with the thing he’s been searching for on his entire journey and he must decide to either defeat it or to let it win. The Ultimate Boon in The Lion King would be when Simba finally has to face Scar and learn how to defeat him. He overcomes the demons within himself to not have to live with the guilt of killing his Uncle and lets him fend for himself with the hyenas.

            The final stage that is represented in The Lion King is The Freedom to Live (Stage 17). The Freedom to Live is when the hero finally defeats The Ultimate Boon and receives everything he’s been working so hard to achieve throughout his entire journey. With Simba The Freedom to Live would been when Simba finally receives Pride Rock and grows it back into what it once used to be and what he remembered as a little cub. It’s also when he receives his true love with Nala and that everything ends up being the way it was supposed to be all along.