In this paper, I will explore the re-visioning of the mythological short story Tiogar and the Tunnel by Colin Sean Teatro (bibliofaction.com) where Tiogar was a young man who discovered his true identity and power while on a journey in the hidden tunnel. He and his family belonged to a community that had been under the oppressive regime of Barun and Namhaid for a very long time and that achieved freedom only after Tiogar’s transformation. During Tiogar’s journey, a white tiger also served as his mentor or guide towards self-discovery.
In utilizing my re-visioned hero archetype for the hero’s journey, I propose to first define the general image of the hero (Allison and Goethals 73), which includes information about the hero’s schema or what the hero is like. This would also include the heroism narrative or script, which contains information about what the hero does and how he does things. For that matter, I would put more emphasis on how the hero does things as opposed to what he does as the former is what forms the archetype’s character. For example, just because the hero is a king and leads a kingdom (what he does) doesn’t mean that he’s a good leader or a hero. However, if he rules with benevolence, courage, and wisdom (how he does things) then he may be characterized as a good leader and a hero.
I will then try to determine how my hero archetype can be combined with other
archetypes (Allison and Goethals 73). For example, will the hero archetype be combined with the mentor archetype to form a divine hero? Will the hero archetype be combined with the villain archetype to create an antihero (Marino 19)?
Next, I will put my hero into the hero’s journey (Campbell, Cousineau and Brown) and determine how he will go about this journey. This will be based on the type of hero he is – a tragic hero, a post-modern hero, or an antihero among others. Having established this, the way he acts in each stage of the journey will be based on his character. For example, a tragic hero will be noble in his ways and will mostly be a pacifier whereas an antihero may resort to violence. On the other hand, a post-modern hero may have a slight indifference towards the journey and may be subjective in his ways.
While determining how the hero is to go about his journey, I will also identify how the hero interacts with the other characters or archetypes while in the journey. For example, will he be alone in his journey? Will there be a damsel in the distress that he will have to save? Will he have external or internal conflicts as his enemies?
I will apply the reflexive methodology of the Cultural Schemata by applying my own interpretation of the world, particularly those that are directly related to me, such as my own personal experiences, religion, and culture. In addition, I will use my interpretation of the world that may not be exactly related to my life per se, but which is situated in a manner that enables me to observe it and thus, provide an interpretation of this observation. For example, this can include the information I gather from the news, over the Internet, and from other people, which somehow affects and influences my beliefs and perceptions of things. In particular, I greatly value the family, and just like Tiogar, my re-visioned hero will also place great importance to the family
I will use literature as the medium for this project as I am most familiar with it. I have always been an avid reader where I have been reading since I was a small child. I also greatly enjoy reading stories and the way that the characters’ lives evolve within the stories. I believe that they always have a message to convey and I take these messages to heart. In particular, I will use Olivia Butler’s Wild Seed and Linda Hogan’s Power as references. Just like in the story Tiogar and the Tunnel where the white tiger played an important role in Tiogar’s transformation, the animal is also used to represent Anyanwu’s transformation and power in Wild Seed. As well, the panther in Power played a big role in shaping Omishto’s character and personality as she grew into adulthood.
However, another medium I may choose to use is the film. A lot of literature now is being converted to films, and although the stories are basically the same, it would be interesting to be able to put a face or an image to the characters that I’ve read about. Just as interesting is seeing how other people interpret the stories and characters, which would enable me to compare their interpretation with my own. In particular, I will use the movie The Book of Eli where just like Eli (“The Book of Eli”), Tiogar also went about his journey on his own. I will also use the movie Skins where the main characters, just like Tiogar and his family, were being oppressed by the rich and powerful people in their community. As well, I will try to research on other writers’ analyses of some of the myths and characters I plan to use for creating my response for this project. Since I plan to make my main character female, I will use the analyses made by authors such as Madhu Dubey, Lewis Hyde, Ingrid Thaler, Jacqueline de Weever, and Marilyn Jurich. This would again allow me to gain an insight on other people’s interpretation of these myths and their characters, which I can then either compare to or integrate into my own interpretations.
Works Cited
Allison, Scott T. and Goethals, George R. Heroes: What They Do & Why We Need Them.
Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
Bowers, Kristen. Julius Caesar Literature Guide. Secondary Solutions, 2006. Print.
Butler, Octavia E. Wild Seed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company Inc., 1980. Print.
Campbell, Joseph, Cousineau, Phil and Brown, Stuart L. The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell
on His Life and Work. Singapore: New World Library, 2003. Print.
Dubey Madhu. “Becoming Animal in Black Women’s Science Fiction.” Afro-Future Females:
Black Writers Chart Science Fiction’s Newest New-Wave Trajectory. Ed. Marleen S.
Barr. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2008. 31-51. Print.
Hogan, Linda. Power. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. Print.
Hyde, Lewis. Trickster Makes this World: Mischief, Myth and Art. 1998. New York: North
Point-Farra, 1999. Print.
Jurich, Marilyn. Scheherazade's Sisters: Trickster Heroines and Their Stories in World
Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1998. Print.
Marino, Kelli Rae. "Someone, Anyone": Contemporary Theatre's Empathetic Villain. Ann Arbor,
MI: ProQuest, 2008. Print.
Skins. Dir. Chris Eyre. Perf. Eric Schweig, Graham Greene, Gary Farmer, Noah Watts, Lois Red
Elk. Look Pictures, 25 Mar. 2003. DVD.
Teatro, Colin Sean. “Tiogar and the Tunnel.” bibliofaction.com. Bibliofaction Publishing
Limited, 2011. Web. 8 June 2012
< http://www.bibliofaction.com/read/ViewStory.aspx?story=c3d0959a-9a99-4a98-b16c-
ce084fd18c69>.
Thaler, Ingrid. Black Atlantic Speculative Fictions: Octavia E. Butler, Jewelle Gomez, and Nalo
Hopkinson (Routledge Research in Atlantic Studies). New York, NY: Routledge, 2010.
Print.
The Book of Eli. Dir. Albert Hughes. Perf. Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson,
Jennifer Beals, Frances De La Tour, Michael Gambon. Warner Bros., 2010. DVD.
Weever, Jacqueline de. Mythmaking and Metaphor in Black Women's Fiction. Hampshire,
England: Palgrave Macmillan, 1992. Print
