The story of Bob Dylan and his journey from small-town boy to folk and rock legend in many ways fits Campbell’s pattern of the hero’s journey. Director Martin Scorsese’s documentary, No Direction Home, minutely details the journey Dylan took to reach fame as a musician. However, the 60s were also an era of chaotic social change. Young people were seeing themselves, the political events of the decade, their sexuality, and their rights in new and unprecedented ways. Music, protest songs in particular, was one way that young people found a voice for themselves. Dylan may have followed a hero’s journey pattern, but if he had been born in a different time or place, his journey may have been far different. His development as a musician reflects the events and culture of his times as much as he helped to contribute to the changes.
The first steps of the hero’s journey consist of a call to adventure, refusal of the call, supernatural aid, crossing the first threshold, and the belly of the whale (“Hero’s Journey Reference”). Dylan always seemed to feel that call to adventure, for example, his friend Joan Baez describes him as being always moving (No Direction Home). It seems unlikely he ever tried to refuse this call. However, the idea of supernatural aid is brought up later in No Direction Home as one of his co-performers describes him as being full of “the Holy Spirit.” Perhaps the finding of the abandoned guitar in the house his family moved into during his childhood was the beginning of supernatural aid for Dylan, which makes perfect sense with his status today as a “born-again Christian.” Crossing the first threshold and entering the belly of the whale came quickly for Dylan as he changed his surname from Zimmerman to Dylan and left his hometown for good, heading for New York City.
Dylan’s path follows several other steps of Campbell’s hero’s journey as well. His constant playing in small-time venues can be considered his road of trials. The meeting with the goddess and the woman as temptress is seen in his artistic relationship with Joan Baez. At first, her fame was much greater than his was, but he came to eclipse her; when he realized that always bringing her on stage to sing with him was holding him back, he resisted the temptation for the sake of his own ambition. Atonement with the Father can be seen in his meeting with Woodie Guthrie, the inspiration behind much of his own work. Apotheosis and the ultimate boon arrive as Dylan becomes truly famous and recognized for his work. However, the final stages of the hero’s journey are something Dylan has always appeared to resist. Even though in some ways he says he has always been traveling towards home, there is no real “return” for him on his journey. The title of Scorsese’s documentary, No Direction Home, aptly shows this attitude.
Other aspects of the 60s, such as the draft, created a tide of conflicting emotion in America, often reflected in the music of the time. No Direction Home mentions a U.S. Army publication that described how to spot a communist, including the idea that “he may sometimes play a guitar,” and Pete Seeger said the question was always, “What side are you on?” The emotions created by the draft were anger, desperation, helplessness, and other such negative feelings. The protest musicians of the time were often considered to be suspicious because of their reputation as being politically on the left and their frank lyrics criticizing the institutions of the time. Although Dylan seemed to enjoy an appearance of detachment regarding anything but playing his songs, most people seemed to see him as a sort of leader behind the protest singers. He preferred to appear as apolitical as possible, which may be one reason he was not at Woodstock. It appears that as a protest singer, Dylan much preferred to let his songs speak for themselves. Maybe this was easier, because rock musicians are often not taken seriously as are others such as scholars, clergy, and politicians who speak for social change (Townsend).
As the 60s came to a close, it appeared the prominence of folk and protest music was being usurped by new rock musicians like The Byrds and Neil Young who were producing their music in Los Angeles (Walker). Dylan’s attempts to incorporate rock into his concerts were not always met with a favorable response from audiences who pigeonholed him as a folk musician (No Direction Home). However, the effect of his music influenced the newer musicians who were taking over the top of the charts as they made hits with new versions of Dylan’s music. The changing culture in society, including its music, continued to challenge current social concerns about youth, social change, and sexuality; however, it relied on the daring attempts by musicians of the past as inspiration in creating a new and different future.
Works Cited
“Hero’s Journey Reference.” Maricopa Community Colleges. 11 Nov. 1999. Web.
No Direction Home. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perf. Bob Dylan. Apple. 2005. Film.
Townsend, David. Changing the World: Rock ‘n’ Roll Culture and Ideology. Web.
Walker, Michael. (Don’t Go Back to) San Francisco. The New York Times, 9 June 2007. Web.
