Entry 4.7: Final Essay

      For me this semester has been a great one. After looking back over this semester, I have learned many things the first being, how to use an online blog. Though I had a Blog Spot account before. Prior to this class I never had used an online blog on a weekly basis. I might of only written one entry on my other blog. My experience of using Blog Spot this semester was great. I think it’s useful because I made me think that this is a excellent place, where I can write my thoughts down and express them. I think I will be writting on my other blog now on. Keeping an online blog will allow my thoughts to be heard by people throughout the world, which to me sounds pretty cool.           

      The second lesson I learned while attending this class was the internet research assignment, where the class was allowed to pick any topic to research on. If I recall it was during blog entry 1.2. I think that this blog entry was useful for me because since I had a huge fascination with aliens, this blog entry allowed me to learn more facts about them. Due to time I never had the time to research about them and the only things, I know about aliens were that they weren't creatures from earth, they had space ships and that they had been spotted at Roswell, Mexico. From this blog entry I learned the story of Barney and Betty as the first people who encountered with aliens.                                                                                                     

       Another important lesson I learned in class was being able to break down a poem and find the meanings behind. Before this class I used to do this but with short poems. So I never really thought that I could master interpreting poems. By taking this class I learned how to break them down with much longer poems like Christina Rossetti’s poem Goblin Market. In blog entry 2.1, I got to find the meaning behind the poem by using literary elements such as connotations, denotations, symbolism and archetypes. I enjoyed doing the blog entry 2.1; I think that this blog entry was useful for me because it made me know that I do have the capability of interpreting longer poems.                                                                                                        

       Another lesson I learned from this class was in Blog Entry 2.2. This blog entry involved the class selecting an archetype that suited them the best. I got the innocent archetype. This blog entry made me discover that in literature I would be considered as such. This meant that I would be described as a character that is trustful, helpful, and truthful. This is important to me because now when I read a novel, I know which character personality in novel suits my personality the best.                                                                                                           

        The blog entry I found valuable was Bik, Sandra blog entry 2.2. This blog entry was about the innocent archetype. The reason behind this is because I liked how she described the innocent archetype using a picture of nature. She used an image on the sun rising through the snow to describe her archetype. I think that it was well though on her part. I also liked how she described the innocent archetype because it was well informed

         In conclusion, it was a pleasure attending your class Professor Smith, thank you.                                   

Entry 4.6: Final Project

                    Animal Farm

Orwell’s novel Animal Farm is about an animal revolution against the human society.  The novel was published in 1946 by the writer and a journalist. In this novel George Orwell expressed his political thoughts towards totalitarianism. He drew inspiration for his novel on an experience he had while in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. By volunteering in the war Orwell had sided with the Trotskyites. It was in this war where Orwell witnessed the power of the Communist Party. The Soviet Union’s government took control over Spain and from this experience Orwell became aware how the Soviet Union controlled the minds of people. They achieved this through propaganda and Orwell believed it had the potential to control the minds of people in democratic countries, as stated in the Ukrainian Edition of Animal Farm.  Therefore, his reason for witting the novel Animal Farm was to expose the Soviet Union’s myth of socialism through a story that can be understood by anyone, and if translated it would be comprehendible in any language.              

Orwell came up with the idea of animals when he witnessed a young boy along the road whipping a cart- horse every time it turned. It was here were he though to himself  “if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat” (Preface to the Ukrainian Edition, home.iprimus.com.au ).  He further stated that he had used the Russian Revolution and the life after it as his inspiration for Animal Farm. I will use the literary elements that we have gone over in class this semester to prove this through characters found in the novel and relate them to life in Russia. The literary elements that I will be covering will be plot, characterization, symbolism, and archetypes.   

Animal Farm takes place in England. The novel starts out with the farm animals getting together to hear Old Major’s speech. Old Major’s speech comes from the dream he had the previous night. Facing death Old Major informs the animals that it is his duty to pass on his wisdom to them all. He then tells them how the lives of all animals are really miserable because of humans. To stop this horrible treatment he advises them to rebel against Mr. Jones and human society. Old Major describes his dream to be a place where all animals live in happiness without human tyranny. He also advises them not to adapt to the human way of life, for he says humans are the enemy. His speech becomes an inspiration for the farm animals that within a short time the rebellion against Mr. Jones occurs. After Mr. Jones is overthrown two pigs named Snowball and Napoleon take charge of the farm. The farm’s original name Manor Farm gets change to Animal Farm. Then the sevens commandments are introduced to all who reside in Animal Farm. The following are the rules that must be followed:

Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

Whatever goes upon four legs or has wings is a friend

No animal shall wear clothes.

No animal shall sleep in a bed.

No animal shall drink alcohol.

No animal shall kill any other animal

 All animals are equal (pg.24-25).

Soon tensions between the pigs on leadership of the farm emerge. In order for Napoleon to become full leader, he must overthrow Snowball out of the farm. When Snowball is taken out of Animal Farm, he is also taken out of power. This enables Napoleon to do as he wishes. Napoleon becomes the full leader of the farm. Once Napoleon becomes in charge, he and the pigs begin to slowly adapt to the human ways of life and inequality is seen. This is shown by Napoleon making the animals work long hours and using them as labor, as well all the pigs and him being the only ones breaking all the seven commandments. Once the farm becomes communistic, the farm becomes a totalitarianism. Napoleon then renames Animal Farm to its original name, Manor Farm. Napoleon and the pigs humanized actions causes the animals at the end of the novel not being able to distinguish them between the humans. The farm animals saw that “the creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig to man again, but already it was impossible to say which was which” (141). So at the end of the novel the farm is once again ruled by humans.        

                          

           In the novel Mr. Jones is characterizes as a drunken farmer who mistreats his animals by being unkind and not feeding them. He is described by Old Major as an evil man who uses the animals for his own benefit by using them only for his source of food and labor. Orwell portrays Mr. Jones as a symbolization to the Russian tsar Nicholas II.  Back in the 1900’s, tsar Nicholas II was a Russian ruler who wasn’t popular with the Russian people  because of the way he ran the country. Nicholas II’s unpopular decisions, such as the Russo Japanese War, where one of many reasons the Russian people were very unpleased with him. Poor wages and inequality among the Russia’s social classes was also other reason that caused the Russian people to question their tsar’s leadership. In the novel Mr. Jones can be described as a villain archetype. Mr. Jones is described as a farmer at Manor farm with a constant drinking problem. He also continuously abuses the farm animals. His actions towards the animals depict him as a villain, similar to the action of Nicholas II.              

           The idea of a rebellion came from Old Major’s speech. Old Major is characterizes as a wise old pig. One night Old Major called the farm animals for a meeting. Old Major’s speech that day came mainly from the dream he had the previous night. During his speech Old Major first informs the farm’s animals how life for them on Manor Farm can only be seen as “miserable, laborious and short” (pg 6) because of humans. Old Major then talks about this dream. In his dream there exists a place where all animals live happily without any human tyranny. Overall, Old Major’s speech about his dream inspires the animals’ rebellion against Mr. Jones.  During his speech Old Major also introduces the farm animals with the concept of animalism that “all animals are equal”. Animalism in this novel is portrayed as communism (Animal Farm, newspeakdictionary.com). The farm animals are pleased with the idea of animalism and are inspired to have a rebellion. Old Major's character in the novel is supposed to symbolize Karl Marx (Animal Farm, newspeakdictionary.com). Karl Marx is the founder of modern communism; Marx disagreed with the way capitalism ran. His reason for not supporting capitalism was because of the separate social classes that the capitalist government created. Marx also believed in a type of government where all humans are treated equal. Karl Marx's politic ideas on modern communism inspirited people in Russia to revolt against their tsar Nicholas II, the same as Old Major does to the farm animals three after his death. Similar to Karl Marx, he dies before the Russian Revolution in Russia. Mr. Jones continuously mistreatment towards the animals caused them to go against him, so he is soon overthrown. This relates to the event were Nicholas II gets overthrown by the Russian people for his unfair ways of running the country. Old Major can be described as the wise archetype. In other literature works characters that are described as this archetype hold wisdom. In the novel Old Major is portrayed as an elderly pig who had already explored life. This is indicated in the novel, “He was twelve year old and lately grown rather stout but he was still a majestic looking pig with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the fact that his tushes had never been cut” (4). Characters that are described as this archetype tend to share their wisdom with other characters. These characteristics fit Old Major character. In his speech he shares his wisdom by telling them his tough life experience with humans. He recalls the time where he had to give up over 400 of his babies to them.  He then tells them that humans throughout his life have used him and the animals for their own benefit.  His wisdom on his speech inspires the animal to revolt against Mr. Jones.                                         

            After Mr. Jones is overthrown, Orwell introduces the reader to two pigs named Snowball and Napoleon, who took charge of Animal Farm. Orwell characterizes Snowball as “a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character” (16).  If we are relating to actual events Snowball is suppose to represent Leo Trotsky (Animal Farm, newspeakdictionary.com). Trotsky had been one of the faces that led the Russian Revolution, similar to how Snowball leads the rebellion against Mr. Jones. Then there was Napoleon, who Orwell described as “a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way” (16). In actuality real Napoleon portrays Joseph Stalin, the chairman of the Soviet Union (Animal Farm, newspeakdictionary.com).  After having overthrown Mr. Jones, tensions of leadership between the two pigs heats up. The two pigs seem to not agree on anything, the only idea they ever agreed only was the rebellion. This situation is similar to the situation that happened between Trotsky and Stalin. Both men took major leadership on the country after the revolution. Similar to Napoleon and Snowball these two men often disagreed with each other how to run the country. Stalin’s sudden raise of power caused Trotsky to be removed by the Communist party and the country. He was then killed by one of Stalin’s men in Mexico. Having removed Trotsky from the country made Stalin became full leader of the country. Just like Stalin, Napoleon removes Snowball from power with the puppies he has raised. The puppies represent Napoleon's secret police (Animal Farm, newspeakdictionary.com).  The puppies are  similar to Stalin’s secret police.

          Snowball can be considered to be a “scapegoat archetype” (Understanding literary archetypes, essortment.com). He gets blame for every single casualty even those that are not his fault. In the novel after Snowball is overthrown, he is one of the animals blamed. An example is when he gets blamed by the farm animals for the destruction of the windmill. In reality the windmill was destroyed by the weather.

          While, Napoleon can be considered as a villain archetype too. This can be proven by his actions he takes. One of them was breaking all the commandments of Animal Farm. His actions throughout the novel make him slowly adapt to the human ways of life. This can be seen when he walks on two legs, drink alcohol, and trades. At the end of the novel Napoleon  literally becomes human. This represents him as a human villain. In the original seven commandments humans are considered to be the enemy, therefore Napoleon becomes an enemy as well.                                                                                              

          During the novel we are introduced to Boxer. Boxer like many of the farm animals believed that the rebellion against Mr. Jones would make life better for the entire farm. He was one of many animals who believed that under Napoleon’s leadership life would improve if everyone worked hard enough. In reality the life of the animals under the leadership of Napoleon had stayed the same, if not wrost. The animals were used as labor, worked long hours, faced hunger, and many were murdered. Boxer is characterized as a big, strong horse “an enormous beast, eighteen hands high and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together” (4). He is also described as not being too intelligent, though he is looked up by others for his work ethnics, he is seen as loyal and dedicated. Throughout the novel, he develops phrase such as “I will work harder” (29) and “Napoleon is always right” (56) in spite of the corruption all around him. In Animal Farm, Boxer is supposed to represent the working class, who believes with if they work hard enough then life would improve, but it wasn't. (Animal Farm, newspeakdictionary.com). The working classes during the Soviet Union also worked long hours just like Boxer. Therefore, Boxer can be considered as an innocent archetype. Boxer can be seen as this archetype because he is unaware of the corruption happening .                                                                                                                       

          Once Napoleon becomes full leader of the farm he takes Squealer under his wing. This causes him to become Napoleon’s spokesman. Squealer is described as a small fat pig. After Snowball is overthrown by Napoleon, he becomes Napoleon's main comrade. Orwell describes him as a brilliant talker in debate. Squealer uses his talking skills to manipulate and fool the animals. Squealer clearly represents the Soviet Union’s propaganda (Animal Farm, newspeakdictionary.com). Squealer can also be seen as the Trickster archetype. Squealer's display of manipulation to the farm animals that life in the farm was improving. He uses this saying as an advantage over most of the animals, who don’t remember how life was before the rebellion. He also uses threats against them when they protest with the saying “surely none of you wishes to see Jones back" (36).            

          In conclusion, George Orwell, being a believer of socialism himself, saw the Soviet Union antics of communism to be wrong. His purpose of writing Animal Farm was to expose the Soviet Union’s lie of socialism to the Western world. Animal Farm represents Russia during the tsar era of  Nicholas II, as well the Soviet Union era. I have used the literary elements of plot, symbolism, characterization and archetypes to prove this to be true through characters found in the novel and related them to events and people that took place before, during, and after the Russian Revolution. 

Links:

Orwell, Gerorge. Animal Farm. 

        New York: Signet Classics, 1996. Print.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/Orwell.html.      

http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/go-animal_farm.html

http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.html.

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0112205/stalinvstrotsky.html.

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/secr.html

http://www.essortment.com/all/literaryarchety_rabl.htm.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/animalfarm/characters.html.

http://jalopnik.com/5310380/commenter-of-the-day-snowball-the-pig-edition  (pic

http://dunedinschool.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/sigmund-freud-and-the-animal-farm-school-of-intellectual-inquiry/ (pic)

http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/281364-film-animal-farm (pic)

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1215079 (pic)

http://www.needcoffee.com/2004/12/16/animal-farm-1954-dvd-review/ (pic)

Entry 4.5: Project Update 5

Symbols

Manor Farm: This symbolizes the farm bring under control by human society.
Animal Farm: This symbolizes the farm being under control by the animals. This name was given to the farm after the rebellion.

Snowball: He is supposed to represent Leo Trotsky.
Napoleon: He is supposed to represent Joseph Stalin.
Sugar Candy Mountain: This place is suppose to represent Animal Heaven.
Squealer: He represents the Soviet Union’s propaganda.
Boxer: He represents the hard working class.
The puppies: They are supposed to represent Napoleon's secret police.

For the next blog entry, I will post my research paper.

Links: http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/go-animal_farm.html
http://www.geekosystem.com/animal-farm-musical/

Entry 4.4: Project Update 4

Archetypes

Mr. Jones can be described as a villain archetype. Mr. Jones is a farmer at Manor farm with a drinking problem. Mr. Jones also continuously abuses the farm animals. His actions towards the animals depict him as a villain.

Boxer can be considered as an innocent archetype. Boxer can be seen as this archetype because of his trust for Napoleon’s and Squealer’s sayings. This can be seen when he adapts the saying “Napoleon is always right.” He can also be seen as this archetype because he believes that life on the farm will improve if he continues to work harder. In reality his working quality did nothing to improve it, instead it made his life harder as he ages.

Benjamin can be described as a wise archetype. Benjamin represents this archetype because he is the one who remembers perfectly how life was with Mr. Jones and after the rebellion. He acknowledges that life after the rebellion hadn’t improved or gotten any worst, he believes life has stayed the same.

Clover can be characterized as a fool archetype. The reason why she can be seen as this archetype is because after the pigs had violated a commandment, she easily believes their deception. Through their manipulation she believes that they haven’t violated any commandment. This can be proven when she is a shame of herself for not remembering the commandments well.

Napoleon can be considered as a villain archetype too. This can be proven by his actions by breaking all the commandments of Animal Farm. His actions throughout the novel make him slowly adapt to the human way of life. This can be seen when he walks on two legs, drink alcohol, and trades. At the end of the novel Napoleon becomes human. This represents him as a villain and also a human. In the original seven commandments humans are considered to be the enemy, therefore Napoleon becomes an enemy as well.

Snowball can be considered to be a scapegoat archetype. He gets blame for every single casualty even those that are not his fault. In the novel after Snowball is overthrown, he was the one the animals blamed on.

Squealer can be seen as the Trickster archetype. Squealer displayed this by manipulating and by saying how life on Animal farm is improving while in reality it’s not. He uses this saying as an advantage over most of the animals, who don’t remember how life was before the rebellion. He also uses threats against them when they protest with the saying “surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?"

For the next blog I will post the symbols.

Links: http://wiki.bssd.org/index.php/Animal_Farm

http://www.essortment.com/all/literaryarchety_rabl.htm

Entry 4.3: Project Update 3

Characters

Mr. Jones is the owner of Manor Farm. His mistreatment over the animals causes the animals to havea rebellion. He later comes back to recapture the farm but fails. This is known as the Battle of Cowshed. Later on, Mr. Jones sets out to another country and dies in an inebriates’ home.

Old Major is a twelve year old pig, who is respected by ever animal on Manor Farm. This respect is indicated in pg four, “…was so highly regard on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hours of sleep in order to hear what he had to say.” He was also the animal who inspires the farm animals to a rebellion against Mr. Jones.

Napoleon is described as a “large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way.” After Snowball is overthrown, he declares himself as the full leader of Animal Farm. Napoleon can be described as the villain of Animal Farm, as he is the one who breaks all the commandments.

Snowball is describes as a pig who believes in animal equality. He and Napoleon become leaders of Animal Farm, after the rebellion. He soon becomes Napoleon rival for leadership as he doesn’t agree to any of his ideas. Snowball is then overthrown by him.

Boxer is characterized as a big, strong horse in pages four and five“ Boxer was enormous beast, eighteen hands high and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.” He is also described as not being too intelligent, though he is looked up by others for his working skills. He is seen as loyal and dedicated worker. Throughout the novel, he develops phrase such as “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right” in spite of the corruption all around him.

Clover is described as a middle aged mare and a close friend of Boxer. She is one of the farm animals, with the help of Muriel, who knows that the commandments  have been broken by the pigs. However once the commandment  have been changed, she blames herself for not remembering the commandment well.

Muriel is a white goat. He is one of the few that animals who can read. He reads the commandments  to Clover.

Benjamin is an elder donkey with a bad temper. He is the oldest animal living in the farm. Throughout the novel, his character doesn't change as he doesn’t expected anything from the rebellion as the other animals do. However he is devoted to Boxer and he is one of the few animals who remember life before the rebellion.

Squealer is described as a small fat pig. After Snowball is overthrown by Napoleon he becomes Napoleon main comrade. Orwell describes him as a brilliant talker in a debate. Squealer uses his talking skills to manipulate and fool the animals.

Mr. Frederick is the owner of Pinchfield. Pinchfield is a neighboring farm of Animal Farm. Mr. Frederick shows he is untrustworthy by invading Animal Farm.

Mr. Pilkington is the owner of Foxwood. His farm is another neighboring farm of Animal Farm.

Mr. Whymper is a man who works under Napoleon, who does business of the farm with humans.

The Puppies were young puppies that were taken away by Napoleon during their infancy. Later on they become Napoleon’s as well as the other pigs guards. They protect them from the farm animals.

For the Next Blog Entry, I will post the archetypes and the symbols.

Source: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/animalfarm/characters.html

Entry 4.2: Project Update 2

For this blog entry, I have decided to make an outline summary of the story.

Animal Farm

• Old Major calls for a meeting in the farm. In the meeting Old Major talks to the animals about his dream. In his dream Old Major informs them that all the animals lived in a happier place, without any humans around.Old Major tells the animals that all human beings are evil because of their mistreatment towards them.He then suggest the animals to have a rebellion against Mr. Jones.
• He introduced them to a song called the Beast of England.

Beast of England

Beast of England, beasts of Ireland,

Beasts of every land and clime,

Hearken to my joyful tidings

Of the golden future time.

Soon or late the day is coming,

Tyrant Man shall be o'erthrown,

And the fruitful fields of England

Shall be trod by beasts alone.

Rings shall vanish from our noses,

And the harness from our back,

Bit and spur shall rust forever,

Cruel whips no more shall crack.

Riches more than mind can picture,

wheat and barley, oats and hay,

Clover, beans, and mangel-wurzels

Shall be ours upon that day.

Bright will shine the fields of England,

Purer shall its water be,

Sweeter yet shall blow its breezes

On the day that sets us free.

For that day we all must labour,

Though we die before it break;

Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,

All must toil for freedom's sake.

Beasts of England , beasts of Ireland,

Beasts of every land and clime,

Hearken well and spread my tidings

Of the golden future time.

• Old Major dies. Though his idea of a rebellion is born within the farm.
• Mr. Jones continues to mistreat the animals. This mistreatment causes them to rebel against him.
• Mr. Jones is defeated.
• Two pigs named Napoleon and Snowball become in charge of the farm.
• The sevens commandments are introduced.

Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

Whatever goes upon four legs or has wings is a friend.

No animal shall wear clothes.

No animal shall sleep in a bed.

No animal shall drink alcohol.

No animal shall kill any other animal

All animals are equal

• The name Manor Farm is changed to Animal Farm.
• Mr. Jones along with others invade animal farm. He is defeated. This event is known as the Battle of Cowshed.
• A tension between Snowball and Napoleon builds up especially on constructing the windmill.
• Snowball is overthrown. Napoleon then takes control of the farm.
• Napoleon orders the animals to build the windmill that Snowball had suggested.
• The pigs begin to sleep in Mr. Jones bed.The fourth commandment is therefore changed to “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.”
• The pigs begin to trade items with the other farms.
• The windmill is destroyed.This causes Napoleon to suggest the animals to build the windmill again.
• The sixth commandment is changed to " No animal shall kill any other animal without cause."
• Napoleon begins to drink.Then the fifth commandment  is changed to " No animal shall drink alcohol to excess."
• The pigs send Boxer to a vehicle to be slaughter.Boxer dies.
• Years past the majorly of animals have long gone and news arrives expect for Clover, Benjamin, Moses and some of the pigs.
• Mr. Jones sets off to another country and dies.
• The windmill is completed.
• The pigs begin to walk in two feet.
• Ironically, the sheep begin to say "Four legs good, two legs better!"The seven commandment of is changed to "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”
• Napoleon puts on Mr. Jones clothing.
• The farm’s name Animal Farm is changed to Manor Farm.
• The animals can no longer distinguish the differences between humans and pigs.

For Next time: I have also plan to do a character blog entry in the near future. In this blog entry I will write a brief blog entry about the characters using characterization. I have decided to do this so you all can get an idea on what I have already done in the research paper.

Links: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRQLjeHnAi_JYTu1u7KnEZYY8SSKxH-ByoQyYgybkYTsVHMwP8k

Book used: Animal Farm, Gerorge Orwell

Entry 4.1: Project Update

Even though I have not yet finished reading Animal Farm. I have decided to write a summary on what I have read so far.

Summary

The novel starts out with the farm animals getting together to hear Old Major’s speech. Old Major speech comes from the dream he had the previous night. Facing death Old Major informs the animals that it is his duty to pass on his wisdom to them. He then tells them how the lives of all animals are “miserable, laborious and short” because of humans. To stop this horrible treatment he advises them to rebel against Mr. Jones and the human society. Old Major describes his dream, where all animals live in a happy place without any human tyranny. He also advises them to not adapt to the human way of life.

Examples:

Not live in a house

Sleeping in a bed

Wear clothes

Drink alcohol

Smoke tobacco

Touch money

Trade

Old Major then introduced a song to them called the Beast of England. The animals’ continue singing it until they hear a sound. The sound was Mr. Jones firing a shot. This shot causes the animals to stop their activity and go to sleep.Three days later Old Manor had dies, though his speech still remain alive. His speech inspires the animals to have a rebellion.The rebellion fell upon two pigs. The two pigs go by the name of Napoleon and Snowball.

For Next time:

I plan to finish reading the book. Then, I plan to write a full summary about it on the next blog entry.

Source for the picture: http://people.dbq.edu/students/sparsons/Power%20Point/farm%20animals.jpg
Book used: Animal Farm, George Orwell

Entry 3.5: In Class Essay (Coraline)

Joseph Campbell was an American scholar. He was born on March 24, 1904. One of Campbell’s most memorable works was The Hero with a Thousand Faces, where he talks about the steps heroic characters go through on their adventures. In his book Campbell describes the pattern or cycle found in literature raging from dramas to myths. The Hero’s Journey consists of twelve stages, they are the following:

The Ordinary World

The Call to Adventure

Refusal of the Call

Meeting with Mentor

Crossing the Threshold

Test, Allies, and Enemies

Approach

The Ordeal

The Reward

The Road Back

The Resurrection

Return with the Elixir

I will demonstrate Campbell’s stages by using Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline. The character I will be using is Coraline. Coraline is considered to be a heroic character in the novel.

The novel is about a young girl named Coraline. Coraline moves in to her new house, which introduces us to the first stage of Campbell's idea of the Hero’s Journey. Campbell describes The Ordinary World as a stage where the heroic character is first introduced. Campbell also described this to be a stage where the heroic character faces some sort of dilemma that is introduced in the very beginning of the story. The Ordinary World in this novel is Coraline living her normal life and moving into a new house. In the novel Coraline is described as a young girl who likes to travel, but with busy parents. Their busy personal lives prevents them to not spend time with Coraline. This isolation makes Coraline explore her new house. While exploring the house, Caroline meets new people such as Miss Spink, Miss Forcible and a crazy old man. She soon encounters a drawing room that is locked and she is warned by her mom to not enter.But, Coraline’s traveler persona gets the best of her and she goes on an adventure by unlocking the drawing room.

The Call to Adventure is described as the second stage of the Hero’s Journey. In his work, Campbell describes this stage as the stage where a solution is stirred up within the character. This is the stage is also described as a period where the hero must face change, sending the main character on a adventure. The Call to Adventure in this novel is Coraline's curiosity about the drawing room’s lock. Her curiosity gets the best of her as she unlocks it, causing her to enter the other world.

Refusal of the Call is the third stage in the Hero’s Journey. This is the stage were the heroic character fears about the unknown and wants to turn away from it but only for a short time. After this internal struggle the character is warned by another character that danger is still ahead of them. This stage in the novel can be described when Coraline arrives in the other world. While there she discovers everything about this place is opposite from the her own world. Her other mother asks Coraline to stay in the other world forever. This leads Coraline to touch her pocket where the stone was locked. In the earlier chapters, Miss Spink and Miss Forcable give the stone to Coraline as a good luck charm. In this stage the stone could represent as the symbol that danger is up head for Coraline in the other world. The other mother’s offering only cause Coraline to feel creeped out and therefore she returns to the real world.

Meeting with Mentor is the fourth stage of the Hero’s Journey. In this stage the heroic character meets up with an informative character that gives them valuable advice about the hero’s adventure. In this stage Coraline meets up with the cat, who warns her about the other world and informs her about her other mother.

Campbell describes Crossing the Threshold as a stage where the character decides to leave the ordinary world to enter to the special world. Campbell explains that this is the stage where the character acknowledges that there is in an unfair advantage by going to the special world. In the novel, this can be described when Coraline discovers that her parents are missing. Coraline then figures out that the other mother must have kidnapped them to the other world. Therefore, Coraline has to go rescue them and must return to the other world.

Test, Allies, and Enemies is a stage where the character on the journey is tested through challenges. In the novel, Coraline is tested by the other mother by telling her that she didn’t capture her parents, this is shown in pg 62 “Silly, silly, Coraline, they are fine wherever they are.” She also tests Coraline by showing her a mirror where her parents are shown living a happier life without her. The other mother test doesn’t succeed as Coaline knows that it was nothing but an illusion created by her. Coraline knows that this was a trick set up by the other mother for her to stay in the other world. In this stage Coraline acknowledges the cat to be an ally of hers.

The Approach is next stage of the Hero’s Journey. This is the stage were the character prepares to challenge the special world. This can be seen in the novel when the black cat informs Coraline about challenging the other mother. In page 65, the cat tells her to“Challenge her. There’s no guarantee she’ll play fair but her kind of thing loves games and challenges.”

The Ordeal is the stage where the character faces death in the special world. In the novel, Coraline almost experiences death. This occurs when the other mother sends the other father to capture her during Coraline's challenge with her.

The Reward is the stage where the character receives an award after almost facing death. This is the stage were Coraline gets the key from the other witch, which allow her to return to the real world.

The Road Back is another stage of the Hero’s Journey. This stage is about the hero leaving the special world. This is shown when Coraline tricks the witch by getting the keys from the other mother, which causes her to return to the normal world with her parents, the three ghosts, and the cat.

The Resurrection is the eleventh stage of the Hero’s Quest. This is where the character is tested one more time. In the novel, Coraline is tricked by the other mother as she breaks her promise and returns to the real world. The other mother comes back to the real world to get the key from Coraline.

Return with the Elixir is the final stage of the Hero’s Journey where the character returns to their normal live and is ready to face the challenge they once feared. In novel this is shown by Coraline defeating the witch and accepting who she is as a person. Coraline is therfore no longer afraid of going to school like she was during the beginning.

In conclusion, I believe that Campbell’s idea of the Hero’s Quest does help us as the reader to better understand the archetypal. Therefore, the reader understands more about the characters, than just reading the book and analyzing them through characterization. You can also see the growth of the character by using the twelve stages found in the Hero’s Journey.

Sources:

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2008/06/16/coraline.jpg

http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm

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