Continuing
with the series on the Hero’s Journey, today we’re going to talk about stage eight
of the mythic structure: the Ordeal. To see all the posts I’ve done so far,
check out the “writing help” navigation tab at the top of the page.
So
here’s the biggie.
Everything
in the story so far has led up to this point, the Ordeal. The hero stands in
the deepest chamber of the Inmost Cave, facing the greatest challenge and the
most fearsome opponent yet. He has prepared for this moment, and he is ready
for the struggle he will surely face.
The
Ordeal has a single, specific function: death and rebirth. Certainly you don’t
want to kill off your main character. He’s made it this far, and we, the
readers, have been rooting him on from the beginning. Unless you’re George R.R.
Martin. Apparently he can get away with killing everyone and still sell books. This moment of death and rebirth is
the dramatic moment audiences enjoy most. It’s when we see the main character
at his darkest, and then we see him overcome that darkness.
In this stage, heroes must face death or something like it: their greatest fears, the failure of the efforts, the end of a relationship, the death of their former selves. The hero survives this death, and they are reborn. This is the main test for the hero. And he will not go unchanged by the experience. The hero emerges stronger, wiser, and unafraid. Usually a new understanding dawns on the hero, something that they just couldn’t grasp before their near-death experience.
In
classical mythology, the Ordeal is set up as a moment in which the hero is
expected to die. Many other heroes have made it to this point before and none
have survived. The remains of previous adventures lie at the mouth of the
demon’s cave, the evidence of failed attempts surround the hero, testing him.
The
most common kind of Ordeal is some sort of battle with the opposing force, the
Shadow. A good Ordeal pits every bit of negative strength against the hero. He
struggles and comes close to death. This resistance only makes him stronger,
and he overcomes the villain of the story. Usually, this means the Shadow is
put down, killed, maimed, destroyed, conquered, lobotomized… etc. A villain’s
death should not be too easy for the hero to accomplish. Death should be real,
and not a mere plot convenience. This moment needs to be difficult for the
hero, and it needs to really affect him.
Now,
the hero’s greatest threat (at the time of the Ordeal) has been disposed of,
but the hero may have other forces to deal with before the adventure is over.
The Shadow he killed in the Ordeal may have been an underling, or he may have
only wounded this chieftain of evil, who escapes to be fought later. He may
have to face a psychological or emotional struggle before he’s ready to go
home.
Now,
it’s true that everything in the story thus far has led to this ordeal, but
that does not mean that the Ordeal is the climax. No, no. The Ordeal is better
known as the crisis. The Ordeal is usually the central event of the story, the
point in the story when the enemy and hero are in the tensest state of
opposition. It’s the black moment, when all hope seems lost, when the hero
faces the enemy and loses. Whether it’s the battle, a love interest, a friend,
or the hero’s own confidence, the hero must lose something.
The
Ordeal is supposed to elicit an emotional response in the reader. Human emotions
have a weird elasticity to them… call them mood swings. When forced to live
through a depressing moment, the elation afterward is that much greater. In any
story, the writer is trying to lift the audience, raise their awareness, and
heighten their emotions. The structure of a story acts like a pump to increase
the involvement of the audience, lowering and raising the hero’s fortunes. I
wrote a post about this eons ago that you can read here. Emotions depressed by the presence of death
can rebound in an instant to a higher state than before. The Ordeal is one of
the deepest depressions in a story, leading to one of the highest emotional
peaks.
The
placement of the Ordeal or crisis depends on the needs of the story and falls
under the discretion of the writer. The traditional placement for the
death-and-rebirth moment comes near the middle of the story, falling at the
near perfect center of the narrative. This is known as the central crisis, and
it leaves plenty of room for consequences following the Ordeal. This structure
allows for another critical moment between the Ordeal and the climax. The
crisis at the halfway point signifies that the hero has reached the middle of
the story, the middle of the journey. Most tales naturally lend themselves to
this structure, focusing on a central event. Everything in the journey has led
to this moment, and everything afterward will be a return to normalcy. There
may be greater adventures to come, but the whole point of the story has
been to reach this central moment.
My
personal placement preference (alliteration!) is near the end. There is no
life-or-death moment in the middle of the story. Instead, there is a long
build-up to an even greater Ordeal. This is known as the delayed crisis, where
the central Ordeal is moved to about two-thirds or three-quarters into the
story rather than half. The delayed crisis structure matches closely with the
ideal of the Golden Mean (oh, how I love math!), and it allows more room for
preparation and the Approach. In this structure, the Ordeal and the climax
become a cluster of high-events, all building on one another to make an
emotional roller-coaster at the very end of the story.
Whether
the crisis is in the center or near the end, the story must have some form of
the Ordeal, a crisis moment that conveys a sense of death-and-rebirth.
Sometimes, this moment doesn’t happen to the hero. He may merely be a witness
to the death-and-rebirth of another character. He may also be the cause.
Now,
once the hero has been on the verge of death, he must go on to reap the
consequences and rewards of defying death. The story isn’t over yet.
If
you have any questions about the Hero’s Journey, don’t hesitate to ask. I know
a lot more about it than I’ve said here, and I would be happy to clear anything
up, if you need me to. This is a rather general overview, since I don’t want
you guys to have to read insanely long posts, but if you would like a more in
depth analysis as it pertains to writing, check out The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher
Vogler. If you are just interested in the Hero’s Journey in itself, check out A Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph
Campbell.
What examples
of the Ordeal can you think of from books or films you’ve experienced lately?
Would Gandalf's fall while fighting the balrog be an Ordeal moment?
ReplyDeleteOh, definitely. Though Frodo and the other characters have faced death before (especially when Frodo falls ill after his encounter with the Witch King), the supposed death of Gandalf is a special loss, since, to the characters, Gandalf seemed undying--too powerful and too important to die, especially since he is the Mentor figure of the story. That's an especially good example. :)
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