In 1949, writer Joseph Campbell published The Hero With a Thousand Faces, a groundbreaking work of comparative mythology. Campbell’s book was so influential not because it did anything new, but because it identified a familiar pattern that was very, very old. By analyzing dozens of classic myths and stories, Campbell realized that they all shared a common architecture or essential structure, a universal pattern that spanned culture. He called this pattern a “monomyth,” but today we often refer to it as the Hero’s Journey.
The Hero’s Journey can be applied to texts as ancient as The Bible and The Odyssey or as contemporary as Harry Potter and The Hunger Games and generally follows 12 steps that fall under three acts:
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
The Hero’s Journey is a fascinating archetypal structure that warrants close examination of all 12 steps. Equally fascinating are the Heroes themselves, and a crucial part of their identities that emerges during the first three steps—a type of character commonly known as the Reluctant Hero.
When we think of mythological heroes, we tend to think of self-sacrifice, unfaltering bravery, and supernatural levels of perseverance. And while these are all attributes a worthy protagonist should no doubt possess, they don’t always possess them at first.
Step 1 of the Hero’s Journey is the Ordinary World. This is the Shire, 4 Privet Drive, and District 12.
While this world may look different from ours, it is inherently familiar in its mundane, quiet, and domestic nature. Inhabiting the Ordinary World is our ordinary protagonist. Crucial to the Reluctant Hero archetype is their beginnings as a regular person. Some reluctant heroes—like Jesus, Luke Skywalker, or Harry Potter—may possess a hidden birthright or noteworthy parentage. Others—like Moses, Katniss Everdeen, or Frodo Baggins—have more common origins, but both variants are raised as if they are simply normal people and for much of their lives believe themselves to be such.
In Step 2, the Call to Adventure, the status quo shatters. Odysseus is called to fight the war against the Trojans. Hagrid breaks down a door and introduces young Harry to the wizarding world. Primrose Everdeen’s name is selected to compete in the Hunger Games.
But the most fascinating moment happens at step 3, the step that makes the Reluctant Hero what they are. They refuse the call. In the words of Harry Potter, “I’m Harry, just Harry.” Odysseus pretends to go mad to avoid being sent away from his family. Moses treats a burning bush with a healthy dose of skepticism, Frodo spends months hiding the Ring of Power before finally coming to terms with the fact that he absolutely must leave the Shire. Even Katniss, who answers the Call to Adventure by literally volunteering as tribute, can be classified as a Reluctant Hero because she does so under duress and spends the entire trilogy being understandably pissed about it.
The New York Times defined the Reluctant Hero as someone who “is never comfortable with his title. He wishes that anyone else could take the task, however, he innately understands that he alone has been chosen to do it.” Moreover, the Reluctant Hero is not motivated by gold, success, or even love. They don’t even necessarily forge ahead because it’s the right thing to do. The thing that motivates them is nothing more than a return to the life they once knew, the pursuit of the ordinary world they have lost or left behind.
Now, if you’re Odysseus or Katniss, the pursuit of the ordinary involves making your way back to romantic or familial love. Or like Frodo, you have been expelled from the ordinary world, but it is still out there waiting for you. Sometimes, like Katniss and Frodo, our Heroes return home only to find their community has quite literally gone up in flames, a moment when their heroics are truly tested.
For some Reluctant Heroes, the journey itself involves building a new, better Ordinary World. Like Moses leading the Israelites through the desert or Harry finally finding family at Hogwarts, the motivating principle behind the mission is creating or finding a world that welcomes them.
What ultimately unites all these heroes is, yes, their unquestionable bravery, but also what motivates that bravery: friends, family, second breakfast, domestic bliss. This is what makes the Reluctant Hero such a powerful device. They are motivated by the same things that motivate us and are rightly reluctant, apprehensive, and even downright terrified of the things that would make us reluctant, apprehensive, and downright terrified.
We admire the incredible qualities of our favorite heroes not because they are so different from us, but because they could be us.
What is so powerful about the Reluctant Hero trope is that it gives our characters, and by extension ourselves, a remarkable amount of grace. By allowing our heroes the opportunity to refuse the call (even if we know they will ultimately say yes), we build space in our stories for fear and doubt and establish that experiencing these feelings doesn’t make you any less heroic.
To Learn More, Check out…
Campbell, Joseph, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Princeton University Press, 1949.
