Part 2 Project 2 The Hero's Journey, Research Point

 

Project 2 ‘The Hero’s Journey’

Research Point: 

Aristotle’s treatise, Poetics (c.335 BC), a work on dramatic theory where he lists, in order of importance, the six elements that determine the quality of a play:

1. Plot

2. Character

3. Thought (theme)

4. Diction (expression of meaning)

5. Song

6. Spectacle

Using something I have read recently, I am asked to reflect on whether or not it made use of Aristotle’s first four elements, all of which are essential to the construction of any story.

The book I recently read is a particular favourite of mine, Phillip Pullman’s ‘La Belle Sauvage, The Book of Dust, Volume 1,’ 2017. 

Plot - The general story line of this book is almost in two halves, a tale of a flood in an alternate world in the town of Oxford. The first half being before the flood, and the second being how the characters navigate their way through the disaster. As it serves as a prequel to the author’s famous trilogy ‘His Dark Materials’, many fans of his work are familiar with how the story unfolds. However, I found there to be an intense and engaging plot to this particular story.

 

Character - The main character in this story is eleven year old Malcolm Polstead. The entire story is told from his perspective as he encounters the young baby of Lyra Belacqua, who would be the main character in the future trilogy. Telling the story from a child’s point of view, I believe, is not only a challenge but offers further depth to the theme and diction of the story. (see below). In this alternate universe of Pullman’s, every human has what's called a ‘daemon’, a manifestation of a human soul in animal form. The children’s daemons are capable of shape-shifting into any animal, bird or insect before they finally ‘settle’ into a final animal that reflects the character's personality traits. This is a really interesting element to add to the element of character, as the daemons themselves are part of the individual but are individuals themselves. It allows the inner dialogues of the characters to be discussed between the human and their counterparts, giving the reader more insight.

Thought/Theme - I believe there are numerous thoughts and themes within Phillip Pullman’s works,but he primarily looks at the development of humans through puberty and maturity and explores his attitude towards religion. As an atheist, he often creates the villains to be religious and oppressive. The themes in this particular book are as apparent as they are in his other novels, again being a dialogue from a child’s perspective.This story has themes of action and adventure, but having fantasy elements to it with mythical characters and places, as well as being an other-world and an alternate dimension in itself.

Diction/expression of meaning - It is hard to disentangle this aspect from ‘theme’, but I believe in this story, the diction is clearly defined by the character’s daemons. The fact that Pullman chooses to explore adult subjects through a child’s viewpoint gives the reader an ability to question their own predetermined assumptions about such topics. Pullman expresses his views through the adventure that develops in the character’s story, through various interactions with other adults and the difficult situations brought about by a catastrophe. Malcolm is only just beginning to see the world from an independent position in his life as he is about to begin his teenage years, along with his teenage friend Alice who encounters assaults of a sexual nature in the story. These are very mature subjects and difficult to approach in any narrative, but Pullman is keen to emphasise the reader’s understanding of what is such a huge milestone in anyone’s development. He wants to address the way society looks at children, and how we try to control natural behaviours with order and religion and suppression.