Abdurrahman Zeitoun and The Hero with a Thousand Faces Essay

Abdurrahman Zeitoun and The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Essay Example The object of this paper is to depict the journey of a real life hero seen through Campbell’s version of heroic adventure and dilemma. Campbell has put forward three main criteria as features of a Hero’s journey. The actions and adventures of a real life personality, Abdulrahman Zeitoun are assessed on the basis of the criteria mentioned by Campbell. The altruistic deeds of Zeitoun has placed him on the altar of a modern day Hero and can be a guiding light for the young generation to be strong and fearless in all difficult situations. The mythological set up of Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces has expressed the adventures of an emerging Hero. With many mythological examples the book explains how different people can display courage in the face of adversities and achieve the status of a Hero by fulfilling the call of their missions. The journey of the Hero starts when he gets a call for a mission and on basis of the call he steps in a hitherto unknown and supernatural world from the comforts of his ordinary world. In this journey he faces many hurdles which he overcomes with great display of courage and determination. Eventually, he returns to his homeland equipped with all the powers of a superhero and from then on he uses his power for the welfare of his people. There are three different stages of the journey to heroism and they are Departure, Initiation and Return. The journey that one has to make in his life indicates moving forward without any hesitation and. The journey is full of challenges that one has to overtake with sheer integrity and willpower. Only by overcoming the fear of the unknown, one can emerge victorious as a true hero. The mythological journey of the Hero depicted in this book can act as an inspiration for generations to come. (Campbell, xxiv) Campbell depicts in his book the three stages through the story of a mythological character’s journey and his adventures. He uses various appropriate examples from mythology and religious history to describe the journey of his hero. He embarks on the journey when he gets a call from the supernatural and the first stage of the journey begins when he faces Separation from his own ordinary world. (Campbell, 45-53) â€Å"A sharpened edge of a razor, hard to traverse, A difficult path is this—poets declare!† – (Campbell, 21) Every man who dares to respond to the call of the unknown knows very well the dangers lurking ahead and he alone has to face them with courage and determination. (Campbell, 21). Initially he refuses to respond to the call but then he is assured of supernatural assistance. This gives him the courage to embark on his journey and face the challenges ahead. The second stage is about the hero’s Initiation to the supernatural world. In his journey to this mystic world he faces many tough challenges and tribulations but every time he overtook them and achieved victory with his extraordinary po wers. His bravery won him the good fortune of meeting the Goddess. â€Å"At their word, the word which tortures the spirit, The sick woman was turned into a corpse, The corpse was hung from a stake† – (Campbell, 99) The hero of every era at one time or the other in his life has to confront his other self either by being absorbed by it or by absorbing it. Life will throw at him challenges which will require him to let go of his pride and inhibitions and he must surrender himself to the flow to rediscover himself. In this journey the Hero was provoked towards temptations and like any ordinary man he surrendered his will power to such provocations. Still, the Holy Father gave him the chance to atone for his weakness and thus he received the chance to cleanse himself of his sins. Gradually he gets elevated to divine status and he is bestowed with powers