Zoah Alvarado
Vogler Annotation
Vogler, Christopher. "Book Two: Stages of the Journey". Stage 7: Approach of the Inmost Cave, and Stage 8: The Ordeal.
Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Production, 2007. 143-173.
Summary.
The Approach to the Inmost Cave is the stage in which the hero begins to prepare for the central most ordeal, the ordeal that marks the greatest turning point within the story itself. Vogler writes, "Heroes at this point are like mountaineers who have raised themselves to a base camp by the labors of Testing, and are about to make the final assault on the highest peak"(143). At this point the hero is forced to utilize all that he or she has learned and/or has been given. In this section, Volger uses the movie The Wizard of Oz for most of his examples, and pulls forth the ever famous Threshold Guardian archetype. The end of the stage is brought into view when the main characters become "trapped like rats"(152).
Stage Eight, or The Ordeal, occurs inside the very bowels of the Inmost cave where the hero is facing the greatest of his trials yet. Vogler stats the very interesting phrase, "The simple secret of the Ordeal is this: Heroes must die so that they can be reborn"(155). In the stage of The Ordeal, Heroes face the possibility of death but in such an event are also given up to rebirth. The element of rebirth has the ability to generate more dramatic effects on audiences than the element of death. Vogler says the The Ordeal is in reality the "Crisis" and not the "Climax" of the story, explaining how the word "Crisis" is defined in the Webster's dictionary as "the point in a story or drama at which hostile forces are in the tensest state of opposition" (157).
Reaction.
Vogler poses a good question in Stage 7: Approach to the Inmost Cave. He asks "Who is the Hero at this point"?, giving for example how the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow both display conflicting dominant traits at the same time, temporarily removing Dorothy's character as the hero. I wish, however, that Vogler would have extended and elaborated on this segment of his book. Furthermore, I am intrigued by Vogler's idea (or suggestion) that Villains are also heroes simply with their own stories. I have always felt a level of sympathy towards the villain because I would think about the reasons why they turned evil: were they forced into evil or was it of their own choice. I like the humanization of the villain archetype put in focus by Vogler's suggestion.
Questions.
1. Do you agree with Vogler's suggestion about the villain also being a hero but of his or her own story?
2. Is it discomforting for you to have sympathy for the villains story and point of view?
3. Is it difficult to understand the villains side as something reasonable and/or logical?
Words.
Skein(166): A quality of thread or yarn, wound to a certain length upon a reel, and usually put up in a kind of loose knot; a small cluster or arrangement resembling a skein.
Sentence: I have over two dozen skeins of worsted yarn for knitting and crocheting projects.
No comments:
Post a Comment