vogler refusal/mentor

Summary

In this section, the reading discusses the refusal to the call to adventure and the meeting with the mentor. The refusal to the call talks about how the call is an adventure and that heroes tend to hesitate due to fear. By taking a moment to think things through allows the hero to choose his or her own path and shows the dangers that will accompany the adventure. The hero may refuse the call because of past experiences that he or she does not wish to be a part of again or because of conflicting calls. Also, the text describes that a hero may disobey the Mentor’s requests and at times refusing the call is a good call as with the “Three Little Pigs.” The meeting with the mentor allows the hero to receive some kind of gift, whether it is materialistic or emotionally/mentally (wisdom). The test describes that not all mentors are “good” and that some may turn against the hero and become a villain; some may not be trustable. In times where the story is “stuck” the writer may incorporate a mentor into the story, and thus the mentor may show up once or at every stage of the journey.

Reaction

The information on the refusal of the call seemed to make a lot of sense and compared to works that I have seen. There was one part in which I did not agree with, however. I do not think that a call has to be dangerous and adventurous. Parts of the section on meeting the mentor seemed a bit redundant to previous sections in the text. It was interesting, however, to see the writer compare the hero’s journey and mentor to a deck of tarot cards. Also, I did not realize how many types of mentors there were. It was a bit confusing at first on how a mentor would turn villainous or against the hero, but I suppose the mentor must teach a lesson, and thus that may be the only way.

Reflection

As with the other sections, I related this area of the text to real life events. There have been several events in my life that have related to these points of a story. As stated above, I do not believe all calls include dangerous and exciting events. For example, I drive to Florida every year to attend school (call to adventure), however, I do not think of it as exciting or dangerous (at least not more dangerous than a regular car ride to the grocery store). There have been times in which I refused a call if I was afraid of the consequences. I have had several mentors throughout my life, but they have changed at different stages of my development, whether they be family members, friends, or teachers.

3 Questions

1). Can you think of an adventure where it wasn’t risky? Did you have difficulties accepting the call?

2). Why do you think Propp calls willing heroes “seekers,” but other heroes “victimized” heroes?

3). How would you create a non-cliché mentor?