NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Mythology What is a quest? Different dictionaries give different definitions. If we see from the point of view of literature and mythology, a quest is a journey a hero takes to achieve his goal. Sometimes it is remarked that the notion of quest concerns only mythological plots and is mostly completely absent in modern literature. But if we take closer consideration over the modern short stories given, we can find most elements of heros quest in them, and they are not only outside ones (something that happens around the hero), but mostly inside (something that happens inside the hero).
The first similarity which catches the eye is that both of the heroes (the boy and the old woman) take a journey trying to achieve a certain goal. From the first sight their goals do not seem to be so serious like looking for eternal life or Golden Fleece or the Holy Grail. The boy just wants to buy a present for a girl, and the old woman needs a medicine for her ill grandson. But at the moment for each of them it is the most important thing in life, things they concentrate all their thoughts and efforts on. And one more similarity is that both of them live simultaneously in two worlds: the real world and imaginary one. And these worlds are mixed and influence one another.
And its hard to say which of the quests inside or outside is more important for each of them. What are the basic elements of heroes quest and how can we interpret them in respect of the given stories? Any quest starts with a call, which is an incentive to action. And such call can take many forms. In Joyce's story it is a question of the girl if the boy was going to Araby.
But really it is much deeper. The real call is the boys desire to change the situation from just watching and following her on the way, desire to attract her attention. And he hopes that bringing her something from the bazaar could turn their relationships into another stage. In Weltys story it is the need of the old woman to help her ill grandson, as she is the only person he can rely on. And these two rather different stories are similar by this very incentive, as it is caused by feeling of love, doesnt matter a love for a girl or a love for grandson. And the call of love relates these modern stories with ancient legends, as a lot of mythology heroes started their quests in the name of love love to a woman, a family or their native land.
The next stage of each quest is the threshold that a hero should pass. It is the starting point, a border between habitual everyday world and a journey to the new one. And passing this threshold means the heros readiness for starting the quest. And here a hero meets a kind of threshold guardians, i.
e. somebody or something that can prevent from passing the threshold if a hero is not ready. These guardians can be real or imaginary, material or not. To pass over the threshold the boy in Joyce's Araby had to overcome his shyness and confusion, and his words I will bring you something were the declaration of his readiness for the quest, a kind of point of no return. The next stage of any quest is initiation, which includes challenges, obstacles, hardships on the road and influences the heros transformation. There can be several of them, and some could be rather easy, but sooner or later comes a moment of the greatest challenge.
And as a result, a hero either overcomes it and changes, receives the result of the quest, or surrenders and gets nothing. For the boy in Araby such greatest challenge was waiting for his uncle, as his entire plan depended on him. And particularly, the uncles lateness was the reason of the fail. For the old Phoenix the whole road was the challenge, even though it was usual and worn, and she took it many times each time meeting with a series of obstacles, real (like thorny bush, or dog, or a man with a gun) or imaginary (like a ghost). However the main obstacles and hardships, which she will encounter again and again, are being a woman, being old and being black. On their way heroes meet different people, who are either friendly or hostile, they can be helpers and supporters or enemies and tempters.
And sometimes it is rather difficult to tell real helpers from those who just pretend to be ones. Our heroes also meet people. There is a man who seems to talk friendly to the old woman, but in condescending manner. The same as attendant at the desk, who treats her in accordance with her charity case.
And there is a woman, who put her packages down on the sidewalk beside her and laced and tied both shoes for Phoenix, without even being asked to do so. They are boys relatives, who take care of him, but do not consider his desires and requests to be something important. And people the boy meets at bazaar counting money and thinking, laughing and flirting, thinking only about profit. If we take mythology, not all the knights succeed in looking for Holy Grail.
The same is in the sited stories. The old woman in The Worn Path received what she wanted, and even more. The boy in Araby didnt. But its only the first outside impression. As the woman will have to take the same way again and again, and its only a short respite in her long quest. As for the boy, he didnt receive a material result, but his main acquisition in this search is the inner change, entering into the real world of adult life with its disappointment, unfairness and hopelessness.
And finally he comes to a thought that the real obstacle was not his uncles lateness, not the absence of gift he wanted to purchase, but poverty. The final part of any quest if the return of the hero, sometimes with victory or gift, sometimes without, but in any case, as the other person, who has changed after going through challenges and obstacles, has obtained some experience. We dont see the return of our heroes the woman with gift and the boy with his failure. We can just imagine and suppose. But we know for sure that they have changed, they received some experience, and maybe this experience can help him / her to become ready for another quest. These two stories are just two episodes from the lives of two very different people.
And we see that they would have more of such quests. For Phoenix Jackson, the old woman, it will be the same habitual way to town and back for a medicine. For the boy there will be other quests, not necessarily connected with journey. What unites these stories is the understanding, that human life is full of quests, they are everywhere. One should just be able to define them, to realize their stages and come through them consciously, making conclusions and obtaining new life experience.
Free research essays on topics related to: threshold, heroes, real world, quest, holy grail
Research essay sample on Holy Grail Real World
