Vogler 107-125

Key Points:

It is typical for heroes to try and avoid the adventure at first. The refusal of call is often an opportunity to redirect the focus of adventure. Writers know that the audience loves to see a “stiff” refusal worn down. Heroes tend to make up a long list of excuses of why they are so reluctant to take the call to adventure. These excuses usually fade away when the quest becomes urgent. A signature mark of a tragic hero is when they continually avoid the call to adventure. Vogler discussed some cases in which the refusals are positive, like in the instance of disaster or evil. A threshold guardian is a powerful figure who “blocks the hero before the adventure has even begun.” Threshold guardians also pose dramatic questions for the audience. These questions create some sort of emotional suspense for the audience. There are many times when a Mentor will switch over to play the role of a threshold guardian. The secret door is a symbol of “human curiosity.” This secret door is the powerful drive for us humans to know all hidden things and secrets.

Chiron, a strange mix of man and horse, is the prototype for all Mentors. He is known for leading his heroes-in-training through the thresholds of maturity by working with their skills of archery, poetry, surgery, etc. Storytellers often use the theme of misdirection’s by using the audience’s expectations against them in order to create a more interesting story line. Vogler also discussed a great deal of mentor-hero conflicts. An overprotective Mentor can lead to a tragic situation. Mentors can play different roles in so many different types of stories because they are so helpful to writers.

Reflection:

I feel as although the refusal of call plays a role in many novels and films it does not necessarily have to be a part of every story. The refusal to call is simply a hero who feels he is not yet ready for the adventure or does to want to undertake it at all. He thinks of excuses to escape having to go on the adventure. A Vogler discusses a Mentor again as he suggests many stories are driven by Mentors and Mentors can often be sneaky and switch roles on the hero.

Reaction:

I could really relate to Vogler’s section on an “Artist as Hero.”  “We must fully immerse ourselves in the world to find the material for our art. But we must also at time withdraw from the world, going alone to actually make the art.” I feel like many hero’s in stories take on the role of an artist whether it is an artist of actual art, of a sport, or an artist of a particular task, I can relate this concept to my own life as well as to the lives of the characters I have been reading about or watching.

Questions:

1. Have we read any text in class that can relate back to Vogler’s Refusal of Call?

2. Why might a writer use misdirection in their text?