The Hero’s Journey

Why do we love the hero’s journey so much in the books we read?

Do we all desire to be a hero rather than a victim?

Donald Maass states in his book Writing the Breakout Novel that “all readers unconsciously seek out novels for an experience of human life that is admirable, amusing, hopeful, perseverant, positive, inspiring and that ultimately makes us feel whole.” I agree, though today (the book was published in 2001) the popularity of the “bad guys” makes me wonder whether this is still true.

What follows is my personal opinion only, and please chime in via your comments below.

I believe we love the hero’s journey the way we do in order to vicariously experience that journey for ourselves. Did we grow up believing we are unworthy? Do we believe we can’t be, do, or have what we truly want? We see traits and behaviors in fictional characters that we desire to have. We want to conquer our difficulties and be a hero in our own lives.

Fiction stories help us learn from others who have the qualities we desire.

The majority of the world outside of fiction functions on a victim-persecutor-rescuer mindset, though they do it unconsciously. David Emerald calls it the drama triangle in his book The Power of TED (I highly recommend reading it).

Since becoming aware of that triangle, I see it everywhere, and nowhere more so than in fiction (books, movies, TV shows). If you examine fiction stories on even a cursory level, you’ll see these 3 roles. Indeed, I think fiction perpetuates the drama triangle in the real world.

We Can Be Heroes of Our Own Story

We can be the heroes of our own lives by stepping out of the drama triangle and into being a creator. It doesn’t mean we don’t still have problems. But it does mean we have control over our lives instead of some outside entity like fate or the boss or the weather. (Victims blame a wide variety of people and things.)

Our problems are good things; they teach us skills we’ll need at a future date. And we make the choice of how we respond to those problems—whether we moan and groan or calmly remind ourselves that the answer we need is here now.

That’s what we see in the hero’s journey. He takes responsibility for his life and takes action to conquer the obstacles he faces. Those obstacles help him grow as an individual.

We have the power to choose, which means we aren’t at the mercy of fate—or anyone else. Our decisions and choices are what make us the creator of our lives.

Why do you enjoy the hero’s journey? Leave your comments below.

(This post contains affiliate links. Doesn’t cost you extra but I earn a little.)