The Stages of a Hero’s Journey according to Vogler (1999 p.14)
I have chosen to map out the novel by Jojo Moyles, ‘Me Before You’, published 2012, according to Vogler’s stages of A Hero’s Journey. The book later became a film in 2016.
Act I -
Ordinary World Lou Clark lives in a small town, works in a cafe and dresses eccentrically. She has a boyfriend, she lives with her parents, grandfather, sister and nephew. She likes to keep her life simple and consistent.
Call to Adventure Lou loses her job at the cafe, and with her family’s low income and her father’s redundancy, she has to go to the job centre to find a new job. After failing at a few jobs, she goes for one she doesn’t feel suited to at all, a carer for a paraplegic person, by the name of Will Traynor.
Meeting with the Mentor I believe the mentor in this story to be Nathan, who is Will’s medical carer and knows him better than most, as his confidant. Upon meeting, Nathan provides Lou with basic details of Will’s care, but explains he takes care of the medicinal and physical needs mostly.
Crossing the First Threshold Lou takes the job, reluctantly and self consciously tries her best to work with a very bitter and sarcastic Will Traynor!
Act II -
Tests, allies, enemies When Lou wants to quit, her sister reveals that she wants to go back to college which would put financial strain on the so Lou decides to continue, despite her discomfort.
Traynor’s ex-girlfriend and best friend visit him to announce their engagement, which leads to Will destroying photos. This is the catalyst that starts Will and Lou's relationship.
Will’s parents also display a difficult relationship, being very wealthy Lou feels somewhat out of place.
Lou and her boyfriend start to drift apart as he spends more time at the running track and she grows more familiar and comfortable with Will.
Will encourages Lou to step out of her comfort zone and see new things. He learns that she dresses strangely because she experienced a sexual assault and society’s attitudes led her to believe it was her fault for the way she dressed and acted. So she became confined to her small way of life and dressed oddly to avoid ‘the wrong type’ of attention.
Approach to the Inmost Cave Will contracts pneumonia and because of a snowstorm, Lou is forced to stay overnight. When Nathan arrives, she realises the severity of the situation. She sees scars on will’s wrists that indicate self harm. She has to take care of Will in a whole new level as he becomes seriously ill. When he recovers, she asks Nathan about the scars.
Ordeal Lou comes to learn that she is in fact in ‘suicide watch’ for Will. Nathan explains Will wants to end his life by travelling to Sweden where assisted suicide is legal. He promised his parents 6 months before making the journey, because they hired Lou to try and change his mind, by giving him hope and a new outlook on life. Lou is horrified at learning this and questions if she can continue in this job. But after discussing it with her sister she decides that she’s being given an opportunity to save his life. She has 6 months to give him reasons to live.
Reward After many failed attempts at ‘fun’ outings, Lou learns more about Will with the help of Nathan and by researching what people with similar conditions can do. They attend Will’s ex-girlfriend’s wedding together among other events. She gets his parents on board with plans to take him on holiday. She and her current boyfriend break up, especially after Will falls ill again and her boyfriend becomes jealous at Lou’s caring for Will. They eventually kiss and begin to fall in love.
Act III -
The Road Back On the holiday, Lou confronts Will about his plans to end his life. Will is adamant that he will not change his mind which leads to heartbreak for them both. They return from the holiday, almost out of time and Lou resigns her job, admitting to Will’s mother that she ‘failed’ to change his mind. Lou refused to be a part of Will’s decision.
Resurrection Despite Lou’s mother forbidding it after learning about the situation, Lou agrees to travel, at the last minute, to Sweden to be there for Will. They confess their love for each other, and Will passes away.
Return with the elixir Lou may not have succeeded in changing Will’s mind about dying, but she herself has changed. Will left her a large sum of money and encouraged her to travel and explore the world in a letter he left for her. It ends with her being in France, heartbroken but having learnt what she is capable of and that she has a whole life ahead of her. Will instructs her, in his letter, to ‘just live’.
This exercise has asked me to create my own plot using this structure. It’s difficult to come up with a story so I focused on inspiration from poetry, music and other stories that I love.
Act I -
Ordinary world In a dimension beyond what we are aware of when we are alive, is one alongside us that carries the souls of the dead. Sometimes the barrier between realms weakens and the living can see glimpses of the dead. The dead are a mix of peaceful ghosts, poltergeists, spirits and demons. Demons are the most evil, having lived a life of torture and pain and turned cruel and twisted. One such demon, by the name of Eddie, is the hero of the story.
Call to adventure Upon one of the strange incidents when the barrier between dimensions thins, Eddie is accidentally forced into the realm of the living, into the world and fails to cross back through.
Meeting the mentor After some time, Eddie crosses paths with a peaceful ghost, Anne. Being evil, he is not willing to listen to her even though she is knowledgeable and can help him return if he wants.
Crossing the threshold Eddie comes across a 12 year old girl by the name of Sage. Somehow it was her who weakened the barrier and he is unwillingly attached to her. He decides to figure out how she did it so he can get back. The girl would be considered to be possessed in the living world. She is a sad, lonely girl who has a history of being bullied at home and at school.
Act II -
Tests, allies, enemies Sage, being possessed, talks to Eddie and isn’t afraid of him. She uses him to scare her bullies, in quite comical ways. He is impatient with her and just wants to go back to what’s familiar to him.
They become allies and make fun of her neglectful/deranged parents. They bond over this.
Eddie believes that when Sage opened the barrier it was because she was strong. So if he can help her to get stronger again they can open the barrier.
Approach to inmost cave Sage is getting stronger but Eddie is getting weaker. He is softening towards her in a guardianship type way. He’s becoming more like Anne, a ghost, rather than a demon. He tries to come up with ways of being more disturbing and evil, to maintain his demon form.
Ordeal in response to Sage’s retaliations, she is attacked by her bullies. Eddie, having been weakened, is unable to come to her aid. She is unconscious on the street and bleeding and he can’t help her. The fact that he is hurt by her pain only weakens him further. It’s a long time before help arrives and he is not sure if she will live.
Reward He is awakened to his own past, as he becomes more of a ghost. He realises that he has become a demon because of his past when he was alive. He was abused, and tortured and this created more evil in him. Eddie realises that the path he is driving Sage down, is the same as his own. He cares too much to allow her to become a demon. By being a ghost, he can stay alongside her rather than possess her. And learns that being a ghost is the only way to pass through the dimensions freely.
Act III -
The Road Back Anne tried to help by reaching through to Sage’s spirit. It’s not normally allowed because it’s an interference but as Eddie is not as familiar with being a ghost, he begs for help. Anne manages to reach Sage, with Eddie. Eddie begs her to come back and explains why life is worth fighting for.
Resurrection Sage awakens. Her mother is by her bedside, having left her abusive husband. She says that they’re going to move back to their old town. Eddie is no longer possessing her. But he doesn’t want to leave.
Return with the elixir Eddie is reformed as a ghost. He is liberated and at peace. As Sage grows older, she is less in tune with the spirit world and he is less able to reach her. But as time has no meaning to the dead, he waits and watches her grow through life. He waits for her to pass so they can meet again, but until then he wishes her a good life.
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