Week 6: THE HEROIC JOURNEY

Week 6: THE HEROIC JOURNEY

For this week, I decided to re-read The Hobbit. I was starting with The Essays on Middle-Earth when I realized that I had no memories of the names of the character or of the places mentioned in it. So I decided that I had to start with The Hobbit, since it has been, maybe 7 or 8 years since the last time I read The Hobbit and LOTR trilogy.

Reading The Hobbit brought back a nostalgic feeling of the times when I have the time to read novels after school or before I sleep. I have always love adventure books, especially the Heroic Journey type. I never knew that that kind of adventure books is called "The Heroic Journey" until I came to Ringling and learnt about it in Film and Narrative class, but back then, I did realize that there was the same pattern in those type of books.

I've always loved the "Mentor" or "Guru" type of characters. That's why Gandalf was my favorite character. There is something enchanting about character that has the "knowledge". But what I love about Gandalf, is that even though he seems powerful, he still feels somewhat human. And that applies to all characters in The Hobbit or LOTR. All characters has something they feared and they have weaknesses. Their weaknesses are also something that readers can relate to, like fear and greed, not some kind of alien stone from other planet (that's why I don't like Superman haha). Those weaknesses make me love the characters even more.

Story or journey wise, I really like the feeling I got when the characters go into the forest, or go into a bar and meet someone... No matter how many times I read it in different fantasy/adventure novels, I still adore the feeling. The final war or the battle is usually the part where I start skimming through instead of reading things carefully. Maybe because they always feel chaotic with lesser character development. The journey itself is my favorite part of the book.


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