The Hero’s Journey

The exploration of questing is vital to Joseph Campbell’s contribution to the hero’s journey; However, the argument of how much autonomy the protagonist archives in said quest differs. But what if the protagonist is female, does this create the illusion that autonomy can never be achieved? What about Heroism’s journey? On the contrary, what if the illusion that autonomy is achieved through the means of oppression? The fact that all the female protagonists are oppressed is not contestable; however, the illusion that they find autonomy from oppression is measurable. A feminist analysis of decolonial love in Paradise of the Blind, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and Of Love and Other Demons demonstrates why Campbell’s notion of questing follows patriarchal ideology.

Paradise of the Blind demonstrates decolonial love through Hang’s quest to avoid being shamed into compliance by her family. Using the framework of Campbell’s understanding of quest, one can start to see patriarchal rhetoric in the structure of said quest. The lotus, a motif that was used within the story represents Hang growing out of the Communist Party (muddy water) and becoming something beautiful. The reason that Hang is a representation of the lotus is because Hang sells the houses at the end of the book (spoilers sorry), to display her independence. Thus, Hang is a beautiful lotus breaking into the oppression of the muddy water, which is a stand-in for communism. The lotus motif recognizes the juxtaposition of toxic masculinity and various beauty. Campbell’s structure in quest fails to recognize the juxtaposition of the lotus motif as a questing component.

Uncle Chinh represents the political ideologies of the Communist Party through Hang’s quest. Chinh’s function is to serve as an antagonist for Hang. Only through Chinh can Hang display decolonial love. Hang needs Chinh to fulfill the said quest. Because of the expectations of conflict that Campbell tells us makes a story either good or bad. Most, if not all dogmatic rhetoric comes from Uncle Chinh within the novel. However, the expectations of Campbell’s structure inform the writer and readers that Chinh is one-dimensional; adding a negative connotation to the writing in question.

Hang’s mother represents the subservient nature of women in Vietnamese culture. Through Campbell’s vision of questing, the conflict between Hang and her mother rests on placing familial duties above all else. This representation is not seen in the hero’s journey, thus, arguing that the element is not important from a questing perspective. If this element is not important, does Paradise of the Blind follow Campbell’s three-act structure? If the novel doesn’t follow the structure, does this mean the story is less meaningful? If the adventure is less meaningful, does this suggest Que’s function is less than? According to Campbell’s theory, this is true.

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting explores the notion that Campbell’s patriarchal views provide Kundera with the ‘wrong’ blueprint of what questing entails. Kundera’s structure does not follow the hero’s three-act-structure journey. The nature of how Kundera explores narration does not connect with Campbell’s hero journey. The author follows more of a four-act structure. This blends stories in and out from one another. Past, present, future. The author rejects the Western ideals of what questing entails. This is clear in Kundera’s writing style. Campbell’s values of questing reject Kundera’s narration.

Marketa’s decolonial love suggests how the structure of questing can be subverted. Karel’s marital oppression of Marketa allows her to have the realization she can explore decolonial love. In Marketa’s quest, she can find autonomy in her marriage. Marketa’s relationship with Eva makes her more self-aware in her quest for decolonial love. Campbell’s theory on quests would make Karel the protagonist of the story. This brings less value to Marketa’s quest and has major patriarchal ideals. In Campbell’s eyes, Marketa cannot function without Karel because he is the true hero within the confines of the story.

The narrative structure in Lost Letters suggests that questing can be nuanced and multifaceted. The narrative structure of Lost Letters breaks Campbell’s ideals of questing. Kundera subverts narrative conventions. And turns the narrative into a complex plot device. Campbell’s thesis on narrative structure is rigid. This calls into question the idea of questing for only one answer. To say that the idea of storytelling and questing isn’t multifaceted is to have dogmatic ideas on what questing entails.

Of Love and Other Demons best suggests how decolonial love can further oppress the protagonist, thus, conflicting with Campbell’s ideals of what questing means. The idea that a female protagonist comes back with the elixir in questing conflicts with Marquez’s narrative.

An argument between Campbell’s structure and Marquez’s narrative conflicts with the idea of what a successful quest entails. Decolonial love gives the protagonist some autonomy but oppresses her further. It oppresses her since she shares different values than her town believes. Campbell’s ideas of conflict differ from the conflict seen in the novel. The ideas conflict because of the differing views of story structure. Campbell’s ideas of questing differ from how the novel explores conflict. Decolonial love is a means of conflict as a plot device within the story. The idea of conflict differs from the Hero’s Journey in how the novel presents magical realism and conflict. Magical realism does not support questing and the hero’s journey. Because the cultural concept of what conflict happens is not the same. If decolonial love does not support Campbell’s idea of questing suggests that these ideas are patriarchal indeed.

If Campbell’s beliefs on the Hero’s Journey are rigid. This suggests he believes the best stories are told from a formulaic point of view. The best way is to tell a story from a formula, this suggests Campbell’s rhetoric to be patriarchal by design. Campbell’s idea of questing conflicts culturally with how South American stories are told.
Campbell takes the Western ideas of what a quest entails Storytelling is cultural, therefore, many structures of telling a story are used in Of Love and Other Demons. If storytelling is cultural Campbell is dogmatic in his viewpoint. Marquez uses a four-act structure to tell the story. According to Campbell, the four-act structure holds lesser value in storytelling.

Decolonial love in Paradise of the Blind, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and Of Love and Other Demons demonstrates why Campbell’s notion of questing follows patriarchal ideologies. Paradise of the Blind demonstrates decolonial love through Hang’s quest to avoid being shamed into compliance by her family. Using the framework of Campbell’s understanding of quest, can one start to see dogmatic rhetoric in the structure of said quest. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting explores the notion that Campbell’s patriarchal views provide Kundera with the ‘wrong’ blueprint of what questing entails. Of Love and Other Demons best suggests how decolonial love can further oppress the protagonist, thus, conflicting with Campbell’s ideals of what questing means. While Campbell’s ideals of questing are important, framing a feminist lens onto his thesis allows him to suggest that there is a “correct” way to tell a story. Kundera, Marquez, and Duong provide clear evidence against these findings; because experiencing the craft of story, is to explore culture. Joseph Campbell’s contribution to the hero’s journey cannot be understated; However, the argument of how much autonomy the protagonist archives in said quest differs, remains evident.

In essence, as a creator—create the story you want—not the one someone is TELLING you will work. While these theories make logical sense from a mythological standpoint, (but also stem from sexist ideology) they don’t take into account the power of creativity.

Now, go write your story!

—TW