Vogler Bib

Jasmine Soule’
Professor Robinson
Analyrical and Persuasive Writing
04 October 2008

Vogler, Christopher. “Refusal of Call” “Meeting with the Mentor” The Writer’s Journey:
Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd Edition. Studio City, California: Michael Wiese Productions,
2007. 107-125.

Summary:
Once the hero’s has realized the call to adventure, sometimes he or she is hesitant to actually go through with the journey. The hero may sometimes first avoid the call because she or he claims that they have already been through that journey. However, this reluctance draws the audience even closer to the story. Vogler continues to say that, he or she may bring up excuses on why they are unwilling to accept the call to adventure. There are other types of refusal like: “Persistent Refusal Leads to Tragedy”, “Conflicting Calls”, and “Positive Refusals”. Another positive refusal is “Artist as Heroes”, this is when the hero invokes him or her artistic expression and refuses the power of the call to the world. On the flip side, there are “Willing Heroes” which are heroes that accept and are eager for the journey. Other characters like the “Threshold Guardian” might bring into play fear and consequences but the hero will still go through with the journey. Moreover in every story, “The Secret Door” comes into play, this is when a hero violates a set of rules that the mentor gave to he or she. Stage four is where Vogler talks about “Meeting with the Mentor.” The mentor is there for the hero to guide, give knowledge and confidence to the hero, they help the hero along the journey. Mentors can be seen as a “Source of Wisdom” and a “Chiron: A Prototype” a “Critical Influence” and in “Folklore Myths.” Stories often try to avoid “Mentor Clichés” by making the mentor fresh and surprising. Mentors can often lead the hero in the dangerous adventure or in harms ways; this is called “Misdirection.” The mentor and hero relationship can be a positive or negative relationship. The mentor could possible turn against the hero. When all is said and done once the story is built, there is no need for the mentor presence anymore. Lastly, his or her job is done and can go on their way.

Reaction:
These two sections are very interesting because I didn’t know there were so many different types of “Refusal of Call” or that there could be positive refusal. I did realize that having the refusal of the call does bring the audience closer to the story. Having the refusal of the call makes the audience want the hero ever more to pursue the journey. The next section talked about the importance of the mentor. Finally, I like that Vogler talked about the origin of the mentor and how it came from The Odyssey.

Questions:
1) Would a story not be interesting if the story didn’t have a “Refusal of the Call?”
2) What exactly is the artist as a hero? How do you see that in a recent movie?
3) How can you avoid mentor clichés without taking away from the meaning of a mentor?