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"The idea that the passage of the magical threshold is a transit into a sphere of rebirth is symbolized in the worldwide womb image of the belly of the whale. The hero, instead of conquering or conciliating the power of the threshold, is swallowed into the unknown and would appear to have died."
-Joseph Campbell, Hero With a Thousand Faces |
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A Hero's Journey: The Belly of the Whale
After a brief break, here's the next step in the Hero's Journey. The "Belly of the Whale" stage is, for some writers, hard to get through. This is the point where their hero must finally sever all that connects him to his past life or anything that may be holding him back to what lies ahead. It is a dark time for the hero, full of trials and suffering, but if the hero can perservere, he will emerge stronger for it and ready to face what comes.
Joseph Campbell writes:
"This popular motif gives emphasis to the lesson that the passage of the threshold is a form of self-annihilation. . .[I]nstead of passing outward, beyond the confines of the visible world, the hero goes inward, to be born again. The disappearance corresponds to the passing of a worshiper into a temple - where he is to be quickened by the recollection of who and what he is, namely dust and ashes unless immortal. The temple interior, the belly of the whale, and the heavenly land beyond, above, and below the confines of the world, are one and the same. . .The devotee at the moment of entry into a temple undergoes a metamorphosis. His secular character remains without; he sheds it, as a snake its [skin]. Once inside he may be said to have died to time and returned to the World Womb. . .Allegorically, then, the passage into a temple and the hero-dive through the jaws of the whale are identical adventures, both demoting in picture language, the life-centering, life renewing act."
In Star Wars the Belly of the Whale is the scene in which Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca are in the trash compactor in the Death Star. When they escape, they are no longer strangers, but with a shared purpose and a sense of a burgeonding friendship.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, it happens after his adventure with the Barrow wights. Frodo accepts his journey, and is more confident in himself. No longer is he the complacent hobbit regretting his fireside comforts.
This stage, the belly of the whale, symbolizes the final separation from the hero's known world and self. It can be described as the hero's lowest point, but it is actually the point when the hero is between two worlds and two selves. The separation has been made, or is being made, between the old world and old self and the potential for a new world/self is just being realized. The experiences that will shape the new world and self will begin shortly, or may be beginning with this experience which is often symbolized by something dark, unknown, and frightening. By entering this stage, the hero shows their willingness to undergo a metamorphosis, to die to him or herself and thus be symbollically reborn.
Questions to help frame this step:
 Is the person ready to transform? Does he or she enter the belly of the whale willingly, or is he or she thrust or captured in that place?
What self is being left? The self of childhood? Of incomplete or unfulfilled adulthood? An outgrown self?
What self is the person moving toward?
What will symbolize this stage in the story? |
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From: Breezy-E ~ In College  
Do you have any advice for someone living overseas? I fully intend to take Writing when I go to college next school year, but I don't think that conferences are really an option for me. Thanks!
You might check out possibilities for local writing clubs. I'm sure that your college would have such a group and they might know of other groups to join. |
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Fantasy: April 18, 2007 Issue [#1659]
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Erin's Fantasy Book of the Month
Now that I'm all grown up, this story still holds a sense of magic and wonder--a unique flavor difficult to identify but unforgettable as well. Read the story of a unicorn's quest for her lost kindred and see if her journey is in vain.
