Monomyth "The Steps Not Taken" by Paul D'Angelo
Monomyth or the hero’s journey is a basic pattern, which is found in many narratives and myths from around the world. The monomyth is “one of the dominant archetypal pattern in literature, film, and even video game text is the story of a journey.” Through an in-depth analysis of The Step not taken by Paul D’Angelo, this essay will give an explanation of the three stages of a monomyth. The monomyth is made up of three stages that the hero moves through. The stages are departure or separation, struggle or initiation, and return and reintegration.
The monomyth’s hero moves through the first stage, that of departure. Within the departure are several short events: he is called to adventure; he gets supernatural aid, and fully accepts the quest. The story begins with a first person perspective of an unknown protagonist. The unknown protagonist receives his call to adventure when he notices a well-dressed young man in his mid-20s in the elevator. At this stage the protagonist is not aware that everything in his life is going to change. He thought “nothing at all” was going to happen, suddenly the young man fell down and burst into tears. Without looking back the protagonist left the young man to cry alone. He refuses the quest initially of saving a fellow man in need because he had “bundle of mixed emotions, [and didn’t know] what to do.” The Hero had second thoughts of decision he made at that moment. In order for the character to guide him back to his quest, a guiding spirit appears and causes the hero to commit consciously or unconsciously to the adventure. The guiding spirit that helped the protagonist was his own curiosity and concern about the young man. The protagonist had many questions about the young man and wondered if the young was “[mentally disturbed, A manic-depressive, or A suicide just waiting to happen.]” He couldn’t live with the “sense of regret” of not knowing the answer to these questions as well as not knowing If he did the proper thing, by
The monomyth’s hero moves through the first stage, that of departure. Within the departure are several short events: he is called to adventure; he gets supernatural aid, and fully accepts the quest. The story begins with a first person perspective of an unknown protagonist. The unknown protagonist receives his call to adventure when he notices a well-dressed young man in his mid-20s in the elevator. At this stage the protagonist is not aware that everything in his life is going to change. He thought “nothing at all” was going to happen, suddenly the young man fell down and burst into tears. Without looking back the protagonist left the young man to cry alone. He refuses the quest initially of saving a fellow man in need because he had “bundle of mixed emotions, [and didn’t know] what to do.” The Hero had second thoughts of decision he made at that moment. In order for the character to guide him back to his quest, a guiding spirit appears and causes the hero to commit consciously or unconsciously to the adventure. The guiding spirit that helped the protagonist was his own curiosity and concern about the young man. The protagonist had many questions about the young man and wondered if the young was “[mentally disturbed, A manic-depressive, or A suicide just waiting to happen.]” He couldn’t live with the “sense of regret” of not knowing the answer to these questions as well as not knowing If he did the proper thing, by