The Dark Knight
David Henry
Sheehan
9th lit 7
22 September 2012
Heroes Journey: The Dark Knight Campbell’s hypothesis about the monomyth is, that there is one myth and twelve components to that myth.(Campbell 1)The Dark Knight is a story that seems to possess all twelve components of Campbell’s hypothesis, and proves that Campbell’s hypothesis is right. One of the components that fits in with The Dark Knight is “the call to adventure”. Once the joker robs the bank, Batman knows he must help in any way he can. The Joker wants Batman killed and he knows that, so he questions whether he should go and fight or not. He decides not to fallow through at first.
His decision not to fight fits in with another one of the twelve components, and that component is the “refusal to the call”. This happens when the hero refuses the call to adventure. The hero most of the time is encouraged or led on by a mentor of some sort to answer the call to adventure. The encounter with the mentor goes with the third component called “meeting with the mentor”. This happens when the hero meets with a wise someone that convinces them to change their mind. In this movie the meeting with the mentor is shown when Batman meets with Albert and is convinced to fight the joker. In the film The Dark Knight, Lt. James Gordon says, “They’ll hunt you” and then Batman says, “You’ll hunt me, you’ll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that’s what needs to happen.” This quote fits well with the component “the road back” because Campbell says, “usually a chase seen…” and that’s what it is. Batman starts to realize that the citizens are thinking of him as a villain instead of a hero. Batman has to prove to them that he is not a villain, but that he is indeed their hero. This leads to batman riding off on his motor cycle and the police Dogs are released after him. The police want to arrest him and prosecute him. This literal road will be a long road back. Finally, The Dark Knight possesses all twelve
Sheehan
9th lit 7
22 September 2012
Heroes Journey: The Dark Knight Campbell’s hypothesis about the monomyth is, that there is one myth and twelve components to that myth.(Campbell 1)The Dark Knight is a story that seems to possess all twelve components of Campbell’s hypothesis, and proves that Campbell’s hypothesis is right. One of the components that fits in with The Dark Knight is “the call to adventure”. Once the joker robs the bank, Batman knows he must help in any way he can. The Joker wants Batman killed and he knows that, so he questions whether he should go and fight or not. He decides not to fallow through at first.
His decision not to fight fits in with another one of the twelve components, and that component is the “refusal to the call”. This happens when the hero refuses the call to adventure. The hero most of the time is encouraged or led on by a mentor of some sort to answer the call to adventure. The encounter with the mentor goes with the third component called “meeting with the mentor”. This happens when the hero meets with a wise someone that convinces them to change their mind. In this movie the meeting with the mentor is shown when Batman meets with Albert and is convinced to fight the joker. In the film The Dark Knight, Lt. James Gordon says, “They’ll hunt you” and then Batman says, “You’ll hunt me, you’ll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that’s what needs to happen.” This quote fits well with the component “the road back” because Campbell says, “usually a chase seen…” and that’s what it is. Batman starts to realize that the citizens are thinking of him as a villain instead of a hero. Batman has to prove to them that he is not a villain, but that he is indeed their hero. This leads to batman riding off on his motor cycle and the police Dogs are released after him. The police want to arrest him and prosecute him. This literal road will be a long road back. Finally, The Dark Knight possesses all twelve