World War Z, Hero with a thousand faces

Selfless Hero When we come to that point in life where we have to choose a career, many of us will never expect that this decision may one day lead to saving the world. However, an individual’s talent and ability may point a person in that direction. Gerry is the protagonist in the film World War Z, who plays the role of an U.N. officer in process of becoming a hero. Outlining some of Joseph Campbell’s stages of the mythic hero’s journey in his book Hero with a thousand faces, clearly defines Gerry as a hero. For Instance, Campbell’s beginning stage of the hero´s journey is defined as the ¨call to adventure.¨ He states, ¨A blunder-apparently the merest chance-reveals an unsuspected world, and the individual is drawn into a relationship with forces that are not rightly understood. The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit¨ (51). Gerry faces an infested, deadly world of zombies where he must fight in order to protect his family. The film’s protagonist struggles to keep his family in a safe environment, so they must keep moving in order to stay alive. As they are on the move Garry receives a phone call from Thierry, who is a friend and an under-secretary of the U.N.; to let him know he will send a helicopter to rescue him and his family. However, in order to be rescued they need to survive another long dangerous night. In their search for a safe point, Garry has to fight his way in and out of a store in order to get his daughter asthma medication, and other essentials for the family. Also, Garry and his family will have to go through an apartment building full of zombies to find a safe place to spend the night. Before sunrise, Gerry heroically fights the zombies and leads his family to the roof-top of the building, where the helicopter was waiting for them. Furthermore, Campbell presents the next stage as ¨The refusal of the call. ¨This is described by Campbell as ¨ The Myths and folk tales of the whole world make clear that the refusal is essentially a refusal to give up what one takes to be one´s own interest.” (60). Garry enters this stage after they have been saved and taken to the U.N. Command Ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Thierry takes Gerry for a walk and briefly explains to him what they are dealing with, and how the epidemic probably began in South Korea. Thierry’s plan was to find a cure for the out breaking disease. Then, the sergeant in charge explains to Garry that he wants him to lead a team to take Dr. Fassbach to South Korea to extract what he needs for a vaccine. Garry firmly responded ¨no, I can’t help you, I can’t leave my family” (Forster, World War Z). The refusal for the call to adventure illustrates the hero in the second step described by Campbell. With this I can conclude Gerry’s only interest during this disaster is to be near his family, regardless of the situation or his help needed to retrieve a vaccine. Moreover, Garry accepts the mission that will lead him to enter another stage from Campbell, “Crossing the First Threshold”. This stage is described as “The adventure is always and everywhere a passage beyond the veil of the known into the unknown; the powers that watch at the boundary are dangerous; to deal with them is risky; yet for anyone with competence and courage the danger fades (82).” At their arrival to South Korea, the crew is attacked by the zombies, and Dr. Fassbach is killed by the walking dead. This accident encourages Garry to take leadership in finding a possible vaccine. Garry gathers valuable information from a source at the South Korean base, and takes off to Israel. Short after his arrival, Israel gets attacked by zombies, and Gerry observes a few normal individuals stand unnoticed by the zombies. With this evidence, Gerry comes to believe the zombies do not attack un-healthy humans’ rather only healthy humans. As Gerry catches a plane out of Israel he looks down upon what was once a safe city and continues his journey to the World Health Organization. After he explains his hypothesis to the virologists, he audaciously plans to enter the vault replete by zombies where the pathogens are located. After he reaches the vault he becomes trapped inside after a zombie discovers him. The only way to escape is by injecting himself with a disease which may kill him. Gerry’s hypothesis may or may not work, but the hero inside him will not stop at nothing to save the world. Consequently, the disease does not kill him and he opens the only door separating him from the zombie. To our surprise the pathogen works and is able to walk right by the zombies without being attacked. Thanks to Garry’s audacity and bravery, a vaccine is created to help fight back the zombies. In conclusion, Garry is involved in different departure stages from Campbell’s mythic hero’s journey. Garry fearlessly reacts to the unknown to save his family, although they’re his main concern, he is taken on a mission that only a true hero can accomplish.