Hero's Journey In Iron John

The Hero’s Journey through Iron John

Jacob Grimm once said, ” I am impelled not squeal like a grateful and frightened mouse, but to roar.” Jacob stated that being afraid is one thing, but roaring like a lion is a whole other thing. In Iron John, the Grimm’s Brothers use the three stages to strengthen the Hero’s Journey through the departure, initiation, and return.

Firstly, the call to adventure is when Iron John is found in a well, the narrator of the story tells us,” When they could see to the bottom there lay a body and his skin was brown like rusty iron and hair down to his knees” (Grimm's 435). After Iron John is pulled from the well, a huntsman takes a hold of him, and brings him to the castle, and puts Iron John in a cage where everyone can see him and the huntsman forbid anyone from opening it, for death shall be the punishment for opening it. One day the king had a son

The boy tried to find a job, but could find none, and he had learnt nothing by which he could help himself. The boy suddenly meets a princess, while being a gardener, and she saw his golden hair while he was picking flowers. The princess brings the boy to the king and tells him to take off his hat, but the boy tells him, ” Ah lord, I cannot; I have a bad sore place on my head “ (Grimm’s 439). Then the king scolded him by telling him to get out. Not long afterwards, the country was overrun by war. When the boy heard this, he gathered some soldiers and took the forest route. He calls Iron John’s name three times, and Iron John asks him what does he need. The boy tells him, ” I want a strong steed, for I am going to the wars” (Grimm’s 439). When the boy gets his horse, he runs into the storm of the enemy and helps his side win the war. Later, the boy is getting married to the princess, and Iron John is there to congratulate him on his victory and to tell him that whatever Iron John owns, he can have