Star Wars: A New Hope depicts only the first two parts of the “hero’s journey” which Campbell describes in varying stages, “Departure,” and “Initiation.” Actually, A New Hope doesn’t even make it through the entire stage of initiation. I would argue the main entirety of the movie is wrapped up in the first part of the initiation which is the “Road of Trials.” It can be argued that Luke does go through the step of the “Meeting with the Goddess” when he meets Princess Leia. However, I think this is debatable because although he does meet the women who becomes the object of his affections, this is supposed to be a stage which “is the final test of the talent of the hero to win the boon of love.” The main two actions scenes in this movie, the rescuing of Leia, and the end of the movie with the destruction of the Death Star, are part of the “multitude of preliminary victories.” This is part of the succession of trials which the hero must go through.
Luke receives his “Call to Adventure” through two of the ways that Campbell mentions in The Hero With a Thousand Faces. When the movie introduces Luke into the plot, it becomes immediately apparent that he wants off of Tatooine. He pesters his uncle to allow him to attend the pilot academy, which most of his friends have already attended. “The Call may be a sensation on the part of the hero that something is lacking in his or her life and that he or she most search for what is missing” (Campbell). Luke’s aunt expresses this when she says “Luke’s just not a farmer, Owen. He has too much of his father in him.” This comment also alludes to one of Campbell’s “Characteristics of the Hero,” that although Luke is of “lowly birth, he may have “a high birthright he is unaware of.” Later it is discovered that he is the son of a Jedi knight, although the exact details are revealed in the later movies.
The other Call that I believe relates to Luke is, “The initiate may go willingly or may be forced by circumstance to go on the quest.” Although at first the possibility of Luke going on the quest relates to his desire to leave and his belief he was meant for something more (“Hey Biggs! I told you I’d make it some day”), once the Imperial troops destroy his home and family he no longer has anything to tie him to Tatooine. His family has been taken from him. THis also takes away his initial inclination to refuse his “summons” or “call” saying that he still needed for harvest. WIth his family gone, he no longer has any excuse to not continue upon his destiny and must follow the “Supernatural Aid,” who in this case is Obi-Wan. The weathered old Jedi knight “acts as an adviser to Luke and his friends in their seemingly hopeless battle against Darth Vader” (Pfeiffer and Lewis 68). Obi-Wan Kenobi not only shows Luke his path, but he also provides Luke with the knowledge of the force and the ways of the Jedi which are skills he needs in order to destroy the Death Star.
They continue upon the next step of the stage of departure, “Crossing of the First Threshold” when they leave Tatooine and head to t for the next step of preparation to fulfill their objective of returning R2D2 to Princess Leia’s father on Alderann. It is here that they hire Han Solo to take them to Alderann. The next steps of their journey become steps in the next stage of “Initiation. If Star Wars is based on his portrayal of Cambpell’s journey of a hero, where I’m confused is where the “Belly of the Whale” step of the “Initiation” comes in. Would love to hear any opinions that might shed some light.
I found that you provided a very good comparison of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and Joseph Campbell’s A Hero with a Thousand Faces. I agree your argument that the bulk of the movie takes place during the “Road of Trials” stage of “Initiation.” This could be due in part by the fact that this film is only the first part of the original Star Wars trilogy. Now because this film is one of three, it does not exhibit all of the stages outlined by Campbell. I also realized through further examination of the film that some stages of A New Hope I labeled incorrectly due to the fact that I viewed this film as one journey. In fact, I ignored that it is only one third of the journey. In my blog incorrectly stated that the belly of the beast stage was when the crew was stuck on the Death Star. As you pointed out, this stage perhaps has not occurred yet. I think that the remainder of the initiation stage is yet to come. This would shed light on both of our quandaries if these stages are to occur in the next two films of the series.
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