How to Read a Complex Novel: The Hero's Journey

Walking into a bookstore or library, seeing a substantial volume with a captivating title or plot, or signed by a favorite author, is for many readers synonymous with an immediate purchase. Many others, however, are deterred by the sheer size of the tome, worried that its considerable length in terms of pages and the presumed complexity of the plot might make reading a difficult, tiring, and far from pleasant activity. Indeed, whether it's an ancient legacy of endless pages to study during school or academic periods, or if countless daily commitments discourage tackling demanding, prolonged reading sessions, a significantly sized book, however intriguing initially, tends to inspire fear, and not a few readers give up on buying or starting to read it.

In reality, this is a misconception. We've already seen how it's possible to approach reading in multiple sessions, not necessarily long ones, just as we've seen how to resume reading after a long break. Even at a content level, it's possible to have a kind of mental framework in which to "channel" the novel's content, so as to always have a clear understanding of its structure, making reading smoother, clearer, and more enjoyable. This framework is known as "the hero's journey" and is an archetypal narrative pattern first theorized by mythologist Joseph Campbell in his text The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), then re-elaborated in the late 80s for cinema and narrative by screenwriter Christopher Vogler.

Starting with a simple and immediately understandable definition, the hero's journey describes the evolution of a protagonist who leaves their ordinary world to face adventures in an extraordinary world, emerging transformed. Regardless of the multiplicity of plots, every story can indeed be interpreted as a journey undertaken by the main character, the "hero," not just a strictly physical journey but also an internal one, which leads them to change, mature, and grow during the narrative path through a series of "trials." The hero's journey therefore represents a framework that every author can use as they see fit to tell their own story. So much so that in modern dramaturgy, this structure has become the standard for ensuring a character transformation arc that is emotionally satisfying for the audience, as the reader (or viewer) can identify with the hero along their growth path.

The hero's journey consists of three main phases, each of which is further divided into "stages":

1. The Departure (or Separation): The hero is called to embark on their journey, not without reluctance, which entails a "break" with their life up to that point and a separation from daily routine and habits;
2. The Initiation (or Descent): The hero begins their path and faces increasingly difficult challenges, approaching the final challenge, during which the hero confronts death or their greatest fear, so as to "be reborn" as a new person;
3. The Return: The hero returns to their place of origin, not without a final confrontation that seals their transformation, bringing back that something that has changed them, for the benefit of their community.

Let's analyze the three phases in detail, stage by stage.

The Departure:

1. The Ordinary World. The protagonist is presented in their daily reality, so that the reader can understand them, create a sense of identification, grasp what they will seek, and the stakes involved;
2. The Call to Adventure. The protagonist is confronted with a problem or challenge that disrupts the balance of their ordinary world and makes the ultimate goal clear;
3. Refusal of the Call. Typically, the protagonist's initial reaction, representing an initial unwillingness to abandon the status quo and face the challenge;
4. Meeting the Mentor. The protagonist enters into a relationship with the mentor figure, a friendly character whose task is to make them change their mind and prepare them for the challenge.

The Initiation:

5. Crossing the First Threshold. The protagonist has accepted the challenge and is ready to face its consequences and responsibilities. Typically, at this moment, the transition from the ordinary world to the "extraordinary" world occurs;
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies. The protagonist begins to encounter and overcome difficulties along the way. The challenge level of these trials will be increasing, in anticipation of the most difficult and important challenge. The hero gains greater awareness of the roles of the surrounding characters and the teams or factions involved, which ensures growing reader identification in recognizing the same dynamics they face in life (friendships, rivalries, fears);
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave. The protagonist, organized with their allies, approaches the objective (physical or metaphorical) of their quest, located where the main antagonist resides;
8. The Ordeal. The protagonist faces the first significant confrontation, from which they emerge defeated. This defeat represents the hero's moment of crisis, which, however, lends them humanity in the eyes of the reader, ensuring greater identification and allowing them to be reborn stronger than before;
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword). The protagonist, "resurrected" after the defeat, acquires new knowledge or objects that will be fundamental to winning the final battle against the antagonist and achieving the goal for which they began the challenge.

The Return:

10. The Road Back. The protagonist desires to restore order and begins to feel the absence of their ordinary world. The hero's new abilities are put to the test. The final challenge becomes inevitable;
11. The Resurrection. The protagonist faces their ultimate confrontation – the true climax of the work – from which they emerge victorious thanks to their new abilities, but not before once again being on the brink of defeat, definitively demonstrating their change, transformation, and growth;
12. Return with the Elixir. The protagonist, after overcoming their weaknesses, facing every challenge, and transforming into a better person, can finally return to their ordinary world, bringing with them the "prize" of the challenge (physical or metaphorical), for the benefit of all.

Unlike the phases, character archetypes can be infinite, but they can generally be traced back to a few codified categories, seven to be precise. Let's analyze them.

1. Hero: This is the protagonist, called to search for something, the one who will have the most marked growth journey within the narrative arc. This is the character with whom the audience is meant to identify: the more universal the object of their quest (e.g., self-identity or love), the wider the range of readers who will identify with them;
2. Herald: This is the character (or event) that calls the hero to adventure, announcing a change or a challenge that will disrupt the status quo in which they lived;
3. Mentor: This is a positive figure, the character who contributes to the hero's growth. The mentor may have been a hero themselves in the past and can bestow upon the protagonist objects or knowledge that will prove crucial. However, they can only accompany the hero; they cannot replace them in facing the challenge. The relationship between hero and mentor is the most symbolically charged, as it represents the bond between parents and children, teachers and students, doctor and patient, deity and human;
4. Threshold Guardian: A neutral or enemy character who prevents entry into the extraordinary world. If neutral, they ask the hero for a test of their worth to pass. Once the test is passed, they might be convinced to join the hero's allies. If they are an enemy, they are typically an antagonist's helper;
5. Shapeshifter: These are characters who, in the protagonist's eyes, change roles one or more times (sometimes even physical appearance), confusing and deceiving the hero;
6. Shadow: The character who represents the enemy, the negative force, sometimes present in the hero's own dark side. This character is necessary for conflict to exist and is the only one capable of bringing out the hero's best side;
7. Trickster: This character is necessary to relieve tension and offer lighter moments within the story. Often, they are neither an ally nor an enemy, as their sole objective is personal interest.

Although theorized only in modern times, the structure of the hero's journey can be applied to virtually all narrative works, from Sumerian, Akkadian, and classical antiquity (The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Legend of the Birth of Sargon, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, to name a few) to the present day (such as The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter). Are there, however, works that reverse the structure of the hero's journey? Indeed, yes. If, for example, we look at the Bible with a literary eye, specifically the New Testament, Christ represents the figure of a hero who is already on the right path, and his narrative arc is defined by his influence on those around him. His journey does not change him, but changes others.

Despite Vogler's structure having a practically universal application, the screenwriter's formulation was not immune to criticism, as it was accused of causing creative flattening. The objection arose from the equation that if all works refer to the same pattern, then they are all the same. Vogler himself challenged this criticism, stating that the hero's framework is not a mathematical formula to be rigidly applied, but a canvas within which to find inspiration, without experiencing it as a rigid prison. According to the screenwriter, an author should know the hero's journey and archetypes and take them into consideration in the initial creative phases to sketch the broad outline of the work; subsequently, however, it is appropriate to allow space for one's creativity to add, remove, and shuffle the various phases in order to tell the story in the most effective way, returning to the hero's journey model during the revision phase to identify any weaknesses and improve them. Vogler also maintained that readers love to be surprised, so challenging them with a creative subversion of an entrenched and standardized model would certainly be a winning idea. In this regard, he summarized the meaning of his statement with a evocative metaphor: "One must not confuse the map with the journey. The hero's journey is a map, the text is the journey."