This article first appeared in the January 2004 issue of Writer's Saddle, the newsletter for the Calgary RWA® Chapter. It cannot be reprinted without permission from the author. For permission, please email writers_saddle@yahoo.ca.
THE HERO'S JOURNEY
and Frank Kapra's It's A Wonderful Life
By Terri BakerWhen I tried to tackle what movie to study vis-à-vis Christopher Vogler's Writer's Journey, I had a tough time. First, I wanted it to be a romance.
Second, I wanted to look at a movie done before the publication of Vogler's book so as to rule out the movie following the "formula" of Vogler's hugely popular Journey. Next, I wanted to make sure the film was both accessible and not over-examined in other writers' workshops.
Since It's A Wonderful Life is a classic film (it rated the eleventh position on the American Film Institutes greatest movies of all time), a personal favorite and one we've viewed many times as a family at Christmas, I thought it ideal.
As we examine the Hero's Journey and how it will apply to the book you are writing, we must divide the story into three parts (Vogler calls them Acts). Part One will constitute 25% of your book, Part two 50% and Part Three 25%. Hopefully this will help you when structuring your story vis-à-vis the Hero's Journey.
Part One
Ordinary World
In order to understand the intensity of the journey-its impact on the hero and his life-you must show your audience what the hero's Ordinary World is like. Vogler advises that "the mythological approach to story boils down to using metaphors or comparisons to get across your feelings about life" (Vogler, 82).
By starting Wonderful Life with a series of vignettes of George's life growing up, Kapra shows how someone's choices in life determine the road that life follows. His title reinforces this theme, echoed again by Clarence's words at the end of the movie: "You really had a wonderful life, George Bailey."
Foreshadowing should be introduced at this stage, like when George seeks out his father's advice regarding the druggist (Mr. Gower) and ends up fighting with Potter.
Goals must also appear at this stage, which is why Kapra focuses on George's search for happiness in Bedford Falls (inner goal) and his passion for travel (i.e. leave Bedford Falls, outer goal).
Theme is important to your work. Though you may not discover it until after you've completed your story, make sure you introduce it in the Ordinary World when you revise. For George Bailey, we see that he is constantly being tested to make a choice, often risking himself: the ear infection when he saves Harry, the beating he receives when he saves Mr. Gower and the sacrifice of his dreams when he saves the Building and Loan. The theme of an honorable man caught between a rock and a hard place arises.
Call To Adventure
The Call may take the form of a series of accidents or coincidences, or the form of a temptation. With George Bailey it's the former. Knowing how successful Harry Bailey is at football and how savvy George is with people, prompts Peter Bailey to ask him to work at the Bailey Building and Loan. Peter plays the role of herald here, issuing an invitation to George.
Refusal Of The Call
George is a reluctant hero, a character who is constantly professing his dislike of being "stuck in this lousy, miserable town" and longing to pursue his own interests. His honorable actions, however, continue to show him as a man who takes responsibility seriously.
Meeting With The Mentor
Vogler says the mentor of old myths provides many "services to the hero" (117) including "protecting, guiding, teaching, testing, training, and providing magical gifts" (117). Try not to turn the Mentor into a cliché, however, like the fairy godmother. Today's sophisticated reader can spot these.
In George's case it is his father who mentors him, both at the time of issuing the Call and after his death. When George addresses the board of the Building and Loan, he quotes his father's principles (his father's picture looking over his soldier in this scene), thereby sealing his fate as the board's choice for replacement.
First Threshold
This is the "critical action" (127) of Act One. It is "an act of the will in which the hero commits wholeheartedly to the adventure" (127).
George has replaced his father at the Building and Loan. Harry comes home with a new wife, placing George in a difficult predicament. Does he go away as he had planned, or does he let his brother take the career path for which he attended college? George hasn't made that concrete decision yet (though we know he will). When he visits Mary, he fights against inevitability. He leaves, returning just in time to confront the Threshold Guardian (Sam Wainwright) who wants Mary for himself. Instead, George proposes to Mary (mostly against his will-reminiscent of Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice). He physically crossed the Threshold of Mary's house when he entered her place the second time.
Sometimes, the hero comes in for a rough landing, according to Vogler, after crossing the Threshold. We see this in Wonderful Life when there is a run on the Building and Loan and George must forfeit his honeymoon money to keep it afloat.
Part Two
Tests, Allies And Enemies
TESTING: The hero must undergo a "period of adjustment to the Special World" (136), testing his character. The run on the Building and Loan is one such test. Potter's offer of a job is another.
ALLIES: Making alliances is part of what the hero must do to survive his journey in the Special World. George has already made a lifelong friend with Mr. Gower, but goes on to do the same with Mr. Martini, Burt the Cop and Ernie the Taxi driver. His most important ally is, of course, Mary.
ENEMIES: This is also the stage where the hero makes enemies. We see in Wonderful Life how Potter grows jealous of George Bailey's modest success and the unstinting devotion of his friends. This is what compels him to offer George a job.
Approach To The Inmost Cave
There are special functions falling into this phase of the journey. Vogler likens it to the hero nearing "the gates of a citadel deep within the Special World" (146). These functions include: preparation for the ordeal (planning Harry Bailey's welcome home party), obstacles (winter storm keeping Harry away), beware of illusions (Uncle Billy has the money, then he doesn't), more threshold guardians (the Bank Inspector), another special world/threshold (going to Potter for help), emotional appeal to guardian (praying to God for help in Martini's bar), and an impossible test (Clarence's magic).
Vogler sums it up as follows: "The approach encompasses all the final preparations for the Supreme Ordeal. It often brings heroes to a stronghold of the opposition, a defended center where every lesson and Ally of the Journey so far comes into play. New perceptions are put to the test, and the final obstacles to reaching the heart are overcome, so that the Supreme Ordeal may begin" (156).
Ordeal
In a "central crisis" (161) type of story, this stage marks the halfway point of your story. If the Ordeal occurs further along in Part Two, it is a "delayed crisis" (162). Either way, this stage involves the hero's greatest challenge. Key to this concept is the idea of death and rebirth: "Heroes must die so that they can be reborn" (159).
George disbelieves Clarence's magic power, only to discover that no one in "Pottersville" knows him. He spirals down into despair when his mother both denies knowing him and tells him Uncle Billy is in a hospital for the criminally insane. As a person, George never existed-he is dead to everyone in Pottersville. George, viewing Harry Bailey's grave, demands Clarence to tell him where Mary is.
When Mary runs from George in fear, George realizes how wonderful his life really was. He recognizes his love for Mary in a way he never has before. It is, as Vogler calls it, a "Crisis of the Heart" (171).
Wonderful Life present this Ordeal toward the end of Part Two, making it a "delayed crisis" (162), about two-thirds to three-quarters of the way into the story.
Reward
The hero has survived death. It is time for celebration.
George has his life back. He runs down main street, wishing "Merry Christmas" to his friends and supporters, revelling in their acknowledgement of him.
Part Three
The Road Back
This is when heroes "rededicate themselves to the adventure" (195), often chased by those who want to prevent him from completing this return journey.
George makes his way home, knowing the Bank Inspector and the Sheriff are waiting for him. Though he knows he may be going to jail, he returns home to his family anyway. His motivation: his love for Mary and his children.
The Resurrection
We must see how this experience has changed the hero. This is his resurrection-character change.
Now George is happy to be with the family he loves in the town that loves him. Gone is the bitter man who yelled at his kids for asking too many questions and hated the drafty old house his wife had fixed up for them to live in. George doesn't care about the charges hanging over his head, he simply wants his family back.
Return With The Elixir
This is what we learned in school as denouement. If a mystery, the killer has been caught and the detective unravels how he committed the crime. We see the villain get his comeuppance and, like the Reward phase, celebrate in the camp of the hero.
George's family and friends support him by contributing their own money/savings to replace the funds missing from the Building and Loan and prevent George from going to jail. The supreme testament to the overwhelming affect George has had on the people of Bedford Falls is revealed when Sam Wainwright's telegram arrives, offering to lend George a sum many times more than required to help him out of this bind.
The Bank Examiner no longer has an issue with the missing money and the Sheriff rips up his warrant for George's arrest.
Harry Bailey sums up the theme and the "elixir" George Bailey brought back with him: "To my brother, George Bailey, the richest man in town."
©Terri Baker 2003
