Fitting As I Lay Dying into the Hero’s Journey Departure Stage William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying follows the Bundren family and their neighbors in their separate lives as the Bundren mother, Addie, dies. Each character has a different personality and a different way of processing their grief, and thus provides a unique perspective on their family and the storyline of the book. As I Lay Dying is written as a stream-of-conscious interior monologue, with each character providing their own thoughts and perspectives on the story in each chapter. It often goes through the same event multiple times, allowing the reader to see multiple perspectives on the same event. While this might be helpful in some readings of a book, through the lens of the Hero’s Journey, this book makes it hard for the reader to understand the true storyline and decide which step a certain part of the book may fit with. It also leaves a reader wondering who the main character might be, since each character believes t...
The ‘Eye of the Storm’ Stage of Quicksand Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s Heroine’s Journey is a 9-step template for stories with a female main character going through a change in perspective, identity, or understanding. In Quicksand , this template follows Helga’s journey finding her place in the world as a biracial woman with no family. She has never felt support or security, and this often led to her isolating herself when she had the opportunity to join social situations in the past. But in the middle of Quicksand , Helga takes a jump into the unknown and surrenders herself to new, shiny opportunities. She has a good job in Harlem and a support system, she finally begins to feel like she belongs. Helga’s journey through the ‘Eye of the Storm’ in Schmidt’s Heroine’s Journey is an important part of the book that shows Helga’s naivety and ignorance to her own actions. Helga’s ‘Eye of the Storm’ moment first happens when she comes to Harlem for a job. Despite still being a little uncomfor...