The Writer's Journey

by Christopher Vogler

  HUMANIZING THE SHADOW

  Shadows need not be totally evil or wicked. In fact, it's better if they are humanized by a touch of goodness, or by some admirable quality. The Disney animated cartoons are memorable for their villains, such as Captain Hook in Peter Pan, the demon in Fantasia, the beautiful but wicked queen from Snow White, the glamorous fairy Maleficent in The Sleeping Beauty, and Cruelle D'Eville in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. They are even more deliciously sinister because of their dashing, powerful, beautiful, or elegant qualities.

  Shadows can also be humanized by making them vulnerable. The novelist Graham Greene masterfully makes his villains real, frail people. He often has the hero on the verge of killing a villain, only to discover the poor fellow has a head cold or is reading a letter from his little daughter. Suddenly the villain is not just a fly to be swatted but a real human being with weaknesses and emotions. Killing such a figure becomes a true moral choice rather than a thoughtless reflex.

  It's important to remember in designing stories that most Shadow figures do not think of themselves as villains or enemies. From his point of view, a villain is the hero of his own myth, and the audience's hero is his villain. A dangerous type of villain is "the right man," the person so convinced his cause is just that he will stop at nothing to achieve it. Beware the man who believes the end justifies the means. Hitler's sincere belief that he was right, even heroic, allowed him to order the most villainous atrocities to achieve his aims.

  A Shadow may be a character or force external to the hero, or it may be a deeply repressed part of the hero. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde vividly depicts the power of the dark side in a good man's personality.

  External Shadows must be vanquished or destroyed by the hero. Shadows of the internal kind may be disempowered like vampires, simply by bringing them out of the Shadows and into the light of consciousness. Some Shadows may even be redeemed and turned into positive forces. One of the most impressive Shadow figures in movie history, Darth Vader of the Star Wars series, is revealed in Return of the Jedi to be the hero's father. All his wickedness is finally forgiven, making him a benign, ghostly figure, watching over his son. The Terminator also grows from being a killing machine bent on destroying the heroes in The Terminator to being a protective Mentor to the heroes in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

  Like the other archetypes, Shadows can express positive as well as negative aspects. The Shadow in a person's psyche may be anything that has been suppressed, neglected, or forgotten. The Shadow shelters the healthy, natural feelings we believe we're not supposed to show. But healthy anger or grief, if suppressed in the territory of the Shadow, can turn to harmful energy that strikes out and undermines us in unexpected ways. The Shadow may also be unexplored potential, such as affection, creativity, or psychic ability, that goes unexpressed. "The roads not taken," the possibilities of life that we eliminate by making choices at various stages, may collect in the Shadow, biding their time until brought into the light of consciousness.

  The psychological concept of the Shadow archetype is a useful metaphor for understanding villains and antagonists in our stories, as well as for grasping the unexpressed, ignored, or deeply hidden aspects of our heroes.

  Heroes on their journeys may need someone to travel with them, an Ally who can serve a variety of necessary functions, such as companion, sparring partner, conscience, or comic relief. It's useful to have someone to send on errands, to carry messages, to scout locations. It's convenient to have someone for the hero to talk to, to bring out human feelings or reveal important questions in the plot. Allies do many mundane tasks but also serve the important function of humanizing the heroes, adding extra dimensions to their personalities, or challenging them to be more open and balanced.

  From the dawn of storytelling, heroes have been paired with friendly figures who fight at their sides, advise and warn them, and sometimes challenge them. In one of the first great stories ever recorded, the tale of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian hero-king is linked by the gods with a mighty wild man of the forest, Enkidu, who at first mistrusts and opposes him, but soon wins his respect and becomes his trusted Ally. Hercules had a valuable ally in his charioteer Iolaus, an Olympic champion who cauterized the necks of the Hydra to keep the heads from growing back after Hercules knocked them off with his club.

  MULTIPLE ALLIES

  Heroes on great epic journeys may acquire whole ship-loads of Allies, building up a team of adventurers, each with his or her different skill. Odysseus has his shipmates and Jason has his Argonauts. In the British Isles, King Arthur, beginning with his foster-brother Sir Kay, attracts a small army of Allies, the Knights of the Round Table. In France, Charlemagne gathers a similar band of Ally knights from all the nations of his empire who become known as his Paladins. Dorothy picks up a series of Allies on her quest, starting with her animal Ally Toto.

  GREAT ALLIES IN LITERATURE

  Some great stories have been woven from the relationship between a hero and an Ally. Don Quixote and his reluctant squire Sancho Panza form one such pair, representing two extremes of society and very different ways of viewing the world. Shakespeare often employs Allies like Lear's Fool or Prince Hal's riotous companion Falstaff to explore his heroes more deeply, providing the heroes with comic foils or challenging them to look more deeply into their own souls. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are another example, where the amazing intellect of Holmes is unfolded for the reader through the admiring eyes of his Ally, Watson, narrator of the tales.

  INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL WORLD

  Dr. Watson illustrates a useful function for Allies of introducing us to an unfamiliar world. Like Watson, they can ask the questions we would be asking. When the hero is tight-lipped or where it would be awkward and unrealistic for him or her to explain things that are second nature to the hero but very exotic to us, an Ally can do the work of explaining everything as needed. The Ally is sometimes an "audience character," someone who sees the Special World of the story with fresh eyes as we would do if we were there.

  Novelist Patrick O'Brian employed this device in his long series of books about the British Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. His hero, Jack Aubrey, is similar to heroes of other seafaring books like C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower, but O'Brian's books are distinguished by the introduction of a strong, life-long Ally for the dashing sea captain, in the character of Stephen Maturin, a doctor, naturalist, and secret agent who remains a stranger to the ways of the sea despite decades of sailing with his friend. O'Brian provides much comedy with Stephens lame attempts to understand the jargon of the sailor, but also gives a good reason for the exasperated Jack to explain details of battle and sailing that we, the readers, want to know about.

  WESTERN ALLIES: SIDEKICKS

  In the rich tradition of Hollywood Western movie serials and TV shows, the Ally is called a "sidekick," a term from early nineteenth-century pickpocket's slang for a side pants pocket. In other words, a sidekick is someone you keep as close to you as your side pocket. Every TV Western hero had to have his Ally, from the Lone Ranger's "faithful Indian companion" Tonto to Wild Bill Hickock's "comical sidekick" Jingles, played by character actor Andy Devine, who also filled the Ally's role in many Western movies going back to Stagecoach. The Cisco Kid had his comic foil Pancho, Zorro had his silent but very useful accomplice Bernardo. Walter Brennan played a gallery of sidekicks, notably supporting John Wayne in Red River. There he goes beyond the usual roles of Ally as provider of comic relief and someone for the hero to talk to. He also serves as a conscience, muttering every time John Wayne's character makes a moral error and rejoicing when Wayne's surrogate son finally stands up to him.

  The relationship with the Ally can be quite complex, sometimes becoming dramatic material in its own right. A vast body of story has been written and filmed about self-righteous Western lawman Wyatt Earp and his unruly, alcoholic, sickly, but very dangerous Ally, Doc Holliday. In some versions of the tale, like director John Sturges' thundering Gunfight at the O.K. Co
rral, the two men are nearly equally matched, and while joining together to fight the external threat of the Clanton gang, they are also two horns of a great debate in American culture, between the rigid moral universe of the Puritans, represented by law-abiding Wyatt Earp, and the wilder rebel side represented by Holliday, a gambler from the old South.

  NON-HUMAN ALLIES

  Allies need not be human. In some religions of the world, each person is assigned a spirit protector, a lifelong sidekick or Ally. This may be an angel, the guardian angel who is supposed to look out for the person and keep them on the right path, or a minor deity of some kind. The Egyptians taught that Khnemu, the ram-headed builder god, fashioned each person out of clay on his potter's wheel and at the same time made a "ka" or spirit protector in the exact same shape. The ka accompanied each person throughout life and on into the afterlife as long as the person's body was preserved. Its job was to encourage the person to lead a good and useful life.

  The Romans also believed that every man had a guardian spirit or Ally, his "genius," and that every woman had a "juno." Originally these were ghosts of the family's distinguished ancestors, but later came to be personal guardian deities. Each person made offerings to the genius or juno on his or her birthday, in return for guidance and protection or a little extra brain power. Not only individuals but also families, households, the Senate, cities, provinces, and entire empires could have such protective supernatural Allies.

  The play and movie Harvey show a man who relies on an imaginary friend, a kind of psychic Ally who helps him cope with reality. Woody Allen's character in Play It Again, Sam conjures up the spirit of Humphrey Bogart's movie persona to guide him through the subtleties of love. It's a Wonderful Life depicts a desperate man being helped by an angel Ally.

  ANIMAL ALLIES

  Animals as Allies are common in the history of storytelling. Goddesses especially are accompanied by animal Allies, like Athena and her companion owl, or Artemis and the deer who is often seen running at her side. The jester of European folktale, Till Eulenspiegel, was always associated with two symbols, an owl and a mirror. His name "Eulenspiegel" means "Owl-Mirror" and suggests that he is wise as an owl and that he holds up a mirror to the hypocrisy of society. The owl became Tills reluctant Ally in the animated film Till Eulenspiegel The heroes of Westerns are often supported by animal Allies like Roy Rogers' elegant steed Trigger and dog Bullet.

  ALLIES FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

  Ancient folktales tell of Allies even among the dead. The name for the band "The Grateful Dead" had its origins in a folktale term for the dead who give aid to living people in gratitude for doing something to set their souls at rest, such as paying a debt to give them decent burial. The Helpful Ghost is the title of a romance novel by Sheila Rosalind Allen in which a ghost sorts out romantic matters in an old house.

  HELPFUL SERVANTS

  Another folktale Ally motif is the "helpful servant," a stock character in tales of romance who helps the hero achieve his or her goal by carrying love letters and messages or providing disguises, hideaways, escape routes, and alibis. D'Artagnans long-suffering valet Planchet is one of the helpful servants in The Three Musketeers and Dudley Moore's butler, played by stately John Gielgud, performs the role in Arthur. Batman's butler Alfred serves many roles and it should be noted that the Ally function can easily overlap with that of the Mentor, as Allies occasionally step up to the higher function of guiding the hero in spiritual or emotional matters.

  PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION

  The Ally in dreams and fiction might represent the unexpressed or unused parts of the personality that must be brought into action to do their jobs. In stories, Allies remind us of these under-utilized parts and bring to mind actual friends or relationships that may be helpful to us in the journey of our lives. Allies may represent powerful internal forces that can come to our aid in a spiritual crisis.

  MODERN ALLIES

  Allies thrive in the modern world of storytelling. Allies in fiction suggest alternate paths for problem-solving and help to round out the personalities of heroes, allowing expression of fear, humor, or ignorance that might not be appropriate for the hero. James Bond relies on his loyal Ally Miss Moneypenny and occasionally needs the help of his American Ally, CIA man Felix Leiter. Comic book writers, aiming to expand the appeal of their stories to younger readers, will often add young Allies for their superheroes, like Batman's ward Robin. Simba, the young lion hero of The Lion King, has his comical Allies Timon and Pumbaa. One vision of the future is provided by the Star Wars universe where machines, animals, alien beings, and spirits of the dead all can serve as Allies. Increasingly, computer intelligences and robots will be seen as natural Allies as we move on to new journeys into space and other uncharted realms.

  The Trickster archetype embodies the energies of mischief and desire for change. All the characters in stories who are primarily clowns or comical sidekicks express this archetype. The specialized form called the Trickster Hero is the leading figure in many myths and is very popular

  in folklore and fairy tales. PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION

  Tricksters serve several important psychological functions. They cut big egos down to size, and bring heroes and audiences down to earth. By provoking healthy laughter they help us realize our common bonds, and they point out folly and hypocrisy. Above all, they bring about healthy change and transformation, often by drawing attention to the imbalance or absurdity of a stagnant psychological situation. They are the natural enemies of the status quo. Trickster energy can express itself through impish accidents or slips of the tongue that alert us to the need for change. When we are taking ourselves too seriously, the Trickster part of our personalities may pop up to bring back needed perspective.

  DRAMATIC FUNCTION: COMIC RELIEF

  In drama, Tricksters serve all these psychological functions, plus the dramatic function of comic relief. Unrelieved tension, suspense, and conflict can be emotionally exhausting, and in even the heaviest drama an audiences interest is revived by moments of laughter. An old rule of drama points out the need for balance: Make 'em cry a lot; let 'em laugh a little.

  Tricksters may be servants or Allies working for the hero or Shadow, or they may be independent agents with their own skewed agendas.

  The Tricksters of mythology provide many examples of the workings of this archetype. One of the most colorful is Loki, the Norse god of trickery and deceit. A true Trickster, he serves the other gods as legal counselor and advisor, but also plots their destruction, undermining the status quo. He is fiery in nature, and his darting, elusive energy helps heat up the petrified, frozen energy of the gods, moving them to action and change. He also provides much-needed comic relief in the generally dark Norse myths.

  Loki is sometimes a comical sidekick character in stories featuring the gods Odin or Thor as heroes. In other stories he is a hero of sorts, a Trickster Hero who survives by his wits against physically stronger gods or giants. At last he turns into a deadly adversary or Shadow, leading the hosts of the dead in a final war against the gods.

  TRICKSTER HEROES

  Trickster Heroes have bred like rabbits in the folktales and fairy tales of the world. Indeed, some of the most popular Tricksters are rabbit heroes: the Br'er Rabbit of the American South, the Hare of African tales, the many rabbit heroes from Southeast Asia, Persia, India, etc. These stories pit the defenseless but quick-thinking rabbit against much larger and more dangerous enemies: folktale Shadow figures like wolves, hunters, tigers, and bears. Somehow the tiny rabbit always manages to outwit his hungry opponent, who usually suffers painfully from dealing with a Trickster Hero.

  The modern version of the rabbit Trickster is of course Bugs Bunny. The Warner Brothers animators made use of folktale plots to pit Bugs against hunters and predators who didn't stand a chance against his quick wits. Other cartoon Tricksters of this type include Warner's Daffy Duck, Speedy Gonzales, the Roadrunner, and Tweety Bird; Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker and Chilly Willy the penguin;
and

  MGM's ubiquitous dog Droopy, who always outwits the befuddled Wolf. Mickey Mouse started as an ideal animal Trickster, although he has matured into a sober master of ceremonies and corporate spokesman.

  Native Americans have a particular fondness for Tricksters such as Coyote and Raven. The clown Kachina gods of the Southwest are Tricksters of great power as well as comic ability.

  Once in a while its fun to turn the tables and show that Tricksters themselves can be outwitted. Sometimes a Trickster like the Hare will try to take advantage of a weaker, slower animal like Mr. Tortoise. In folktales and fables such as "The Tortoise and the Hare," the slowest outwits the fastest by dogged persistence or by cooperating with others of its kind to outwit the faster animal.

  Tricksters like to stir up trouble for its own sake. Joseph Campbell relates a Nigerian story in which the Trickster god Edshu walks down a road in a hat that's red on one side and blue on the other. When people comment, "Who was that going by in a red hat?" they get into fights with people on the other side of the road who insist the hat was blue. The god takes credit for the trouble, saying, "Spreading strife is my greatest joy."

  Tricksters are often catalyst characters, who affect the lives of others but are unchanged themselves. Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop displays Trickster energy as he stirs up the existing system without changing much himself.

  The heroes of comedy, from Charlie Chaplin to the Marx Brothers to the cast of "In Living Color," are Tricksters who subvert the status quo and make us laugh at ourselves. Heroes of other genres must often put on the Trickster mask in order to outwit a Shadow or get around a Threshold Guardian.

  The archetypes are an infinitely flexible language of character. They offer a way to understand what function a character is performing at a given moment in a story. Awareness of the archetypes can help to free writers from stereotyping, by giving their characters greater psychological verity and depth. The archetypes can be used to make characters who are both unique individuals and universal symbols of the qualities that form a complete human being. They can help make our characters and stories psychologically realistic and true to the ancient wisdom of myths.