The Quest Hypothesis

 

 

If we examine popular art of the 20^th century,

art which moved people in their thousands and even millions,

we find that the same situations and character types appear over and again.

 

For example, looking at the genius of Disney, the art of Norman Rockwell,

at the charming figurines of little Bavarian children created by Hummel,

or the graceful figurines created by Lladro,

the activities depicted fall

into a number of clearly defined categories.

 

The Quest Hypothesis

is the story of how we make sense of social situations…

 

 

how we recognise who are the heroes…

 

    

 

and who they help…

 

 

and who are the villains…

 

 

and those you shouldn’t trust…

 

 

It’s the story of making friends…

 

 

of dreaming…

 

     

 

and striving…

 

 

of the impasse…

 

 

and the joy of getting the treasure:

 

 

 

Are these categories familiar?

They bear a striking resemblance to archetypes

one finds in traditional fairy tales, in the characters and

situations recommended to screenplay writers in Hollywood,

and in the stories grabbing the headlines in the tabloid press.

They are the characters and situations typical of all storytelling.

As Christopher Vogler says in ‘The Writer’s Journey’

 

‘All stories consist

of a few common elements found

universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams

and movies.

 

They are known collectively as

The Hero’s Journey… ‘

 

‘In his study of world hero myths

Campbell discovered that they are all basically the same story,

retold endlessly in infinite variation. He found that all storytelling,

consciously or not, follows the ancient patterns of myth and that all stories,

from the crudest jokes to the highest flights of literature,

can be understood in terms of the Hero’s Journey…

Campbell’s thinking runs parallel to that of the

Swiss psychologist, Carl G. Jung, who

wrote about archetypes: constantly

repeating characters or energies

which occur in the dreams of

all people and the myths of

all cultures… The repeating

characters of world myth

such as the young hero, the wise

old man or woman, the shapeshifter,

and the shadowy antagonist are the same

as the figures who appear repeatedly in our dreams

and fantasies.’

 

(Vogler, The Writer’s Journey, Michael Wiese Productions, 1992)

 

Indeed,

we can go a step further,

and say that these categories are hard wired into the brain,

and are not only the way we understand myths and stories, but the way

we understand and make sense of our own everyday experiences.

This is the equipment we use to pursue

our own treasures.

The people and things we encounter

in our own Hero’s Journey are slotted into one of these categories,

and the appropriate emotions and spurs to action follow directly because of

the hard wired relationship between these archetypes in our brains.

 

For example,

the story may be elaborated by creating a series of helpers:

 the mentor; the magic amulet, the magic sword, the magic horse.

Each has something vital to contribute to achieving the final treasure,

and so are subordinate treasures in the overall quest,

to be sought out by the hero in turn.

Once achieved, they turn

from treasures to helpers in later stages

of the quest.

 

This has the effect of enriching,

and spinning out the story, setting up secrets

and surprises to hold the attention

while the message of the tale is conveyed to the listener.

And this is only one way the plot can be made more complex.

‘Helpers’ may be suddenly revealed to be tricksters – antagonists in disguise.

Each new antagonist then needs to be defeated before the final conflict in the quest.

Or the search for each subordinate treasure and the main treasure itself

may have to be sought in different realms, and access to these

realms may be restricted. The hero has to pass through

a perilous portal to get there, a portal guarded by

powerful beings, often helpers in disguise

 as antagonists. They are best turned

into helpers, or if not, outwitted,

or defeated as subordinate

antagonists.

 

Another means

is for the initial encounters with an antagonist

to fail.

Success may be negated twice and then permitted the third time,

often teaching an important lesson to the audience

about how to treat people or situations

they may encounter in life.

 

And in order to recognise a character’s role in the story,

there are often visual and other clues. Each has a hidden and a manifest character…

but first, how do we communicate

togetherness?