annotation for october 7th

Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey : Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. 107-125.

Summary
This part of the reading started with the refusal of the call, stage three. this stage is to signal the audience that the adventure is going to be risky. Vogler also says it "forces the hero to examine the quest carefully and perhaps redefine its objectives" (108). This stage give the possibility for the hero to dodge the adventure. there can be many reasons to refuse the call and the stiffer the better. vogler comments that the audience likes to see the hero be worn down until he accepts the call. there may also be conflicting calls, where the hero must make a choice between two or more calls to adventure. some refusals may be positive when it is a call to desire of evil or disaster. the refusal of the call could be as simple as the ordinary world knows it and begins to "cling" to you.
the refusal of the call may not always be the hero himself but faces of others that cause the refusal to these described willing heros. It may be the archetype of threshold guardians that are stopping the hero before he even begins. On a final note about refusal of call, it may be a single step in the beginning or at every step of the way.
The next stage, stage 4, is the meeting with the mentor. The mentor is the source of wisdom most of the time that the hero comes into contact with before his journey. Vogler then goes into the prototype of the Chiron: man and horse mix. Chiron was kind and peaceful. this is the way of showing that mentors are connected to nature somehow.
The word mentor comes from the Odyssey as the loyal friend of odysseus. he gets the story rolling. The hero is not always grateful for the mentor and may even harm him in some way unaware that he is trying to give wisdom and help. as final note, Vogler says, " [the mentor] archetype is present in almost every story, to get things rolling with gifts, encouragement, guidance, or wisdom" (123).


Reaction

My reaction to these readings was simple. it is Vogler re asserting what he has said before and really engraving it into our brains. i think this way of writing is helpful for someone who is really trying to learn from his book. he also gives a little more that what was previously read so that people can get an understanding of how this structure can fit any story or movie, etc. in the end of each chapter, he shows the stage going on in the wizard of Oz.. this really helps with putting the stages into context to get a full understanding of what he is trying to portray.

Questions

Can the Mentor be evil?

Is there always a secret door?

does the adventure always have to be risky?