The Hero’s Journey: Stephen William Hawking...

The Hero’s Journey: Stephen William Hawking’s My Brief History

Author Name : S. Ranjani, Dr. S. Janaki

ABSTRACT

Stephen William Hawking’s work, My Brief History is a memoir published in 2013. The term The Hero’s Journey/ Monomyth was coined by Joseph Campbell in 1949, refers to tales where a character goes out, seek what they need, faces conflicts and triumphs over adversity. Christopher Vogler, a screenwriter in 2007 in his work, The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure elongated it by defining in twelve stages from the three stages. The Hero’s Journey is an archetypal narrative structure which describes the hero on an adventure. It defines and describes the path toward a goal and the ideal experiences along the way. In this research work, the term “Monomyth” is used to focus on the tough and ardent journey of Hawking, and elevate Hawking as a hero. The twelve stages of the hero’s journey include: The ordinary World, The Call of Adventure, Refusal of the call, Meeting the Mentor, Crossing the First Threshold, Tests, Allies, Enemies, Approach to the inmost Cave, the Ordeal, The Reward, The Road Back, Resurrection. The first stage Ordinary World reinforces that Hawking initially led a simple life. Similarly each stage correlates with the difficulties he faced, his achievements and his progression. Hawking an epitome of courage, intelligence, positive attitude and indomitable will is an inspirational hero people to the world.

KEYWORDS:  Adventure, Indomitable will, Memoir, Monomyth