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The Hero's Journey In A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens

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The Hero’s Journey is a cyclical journey commonly used in literature. Joseph Campbell was the first to realize this pattern is frequently used in stories, movies, and fairytales. The cycle contains twelve significant milestones that occur as a hero explores an unknown special world. This cycle resembles a clock in a few ways. The twelve hours represent the twelve stages. The minutes in between resemble the minor, yet important events. Similar to the clock’s order sequence, the hero’s journey must occur in a specific order; beginning with status quo and ending with status. The hero's journey has many regulations, therefore, many stories do not qualify. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is not an example of A Hero’s Journey because it does not possess certain components included in the hero’s journey. …show more content…

The result in the hero’s journey is the final milestone in the adventure. Without it, the adventure would seem almost pointless or empty (in most cases). In the result, the main character(s) is hailed a hero. For example, in The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta are hailed heroes for winning the hunger games at the end of the novel. If this did not happen, the story would feel like a bare tree in the winter after all its beautiful leaves were stolen by the wind. However, some stories don’t necessarily need a “hailing” to feel complete. They just won’t make the cut for the hero’s journey. That's where one of Charles Dickens’ most popular novels A Christmas Carol fits in. Unlike Katniss, Scrooge does not get a big celebration in his honor. Instead of a common result, Scrooge decides to spend Christmas the proper way and have dinner with his family. Since this component is missing, it does not meet all the special elements that make the hero’s journey

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