The Light in Carol's Kitchen - Page 7

CHARACTER GALLERY

The Hero’s Journey, an archetypal human story, finds an ordinary person, gives (in this case him) a task he is not equal to and forces him to undertake it. In the course of his journey, the task becomes more difficult and the man loses every advantage and guide he started with. He must learn to rely on himself and to accept the aid of those he encounters. The essential task does not change but his means for accomplishing it are so different from when he began that it is only his loyalty to its completion that sustains him. The man able to meet the challenge is thereby transformed into a Hero. But for every hero, there are countless people who fail.

I keep an index of these failed heroes in a Fools Row Lineup I’d like to share with you. Most of the usual suspects are there.