Ed’s Hero Journey COPY AND USE FOR ESSAY!

Ordinary Life Taxi Driver with a dog > Doorman 19> Driving illegally Australian Cards with his friends in his spare time. Marv, Ritchie and Audrey Shy, pushover, sexual midget Not really overly thrilled with life Family problems: mom hates him, siblings are better than him.

The Call to Adventure Ace of Diamonds> three addresses Save the day> deliver messages “I let my fingers hold the card gently, three addresses are written on it in the same handwriting as on the envelope” Receives it in the mailbox Mysterious

The Refusal of the Call He doesn’t why he was chosen Doesn’t think he is good enough Edgar st> really bugs him and makes him refuse the call Milla and Sophie keep him going

Supernatural Aid Darryl and Keith> lets him know he has to keep going and that he is doing a good job so far. Provides Ed with a gun to complete the task Darryl and Keith are in this with him and will reappear when he needs a push to keep going.

Crossing the First Threshold Edgar st acts as the first threshold Before this stage he could still stop his journey The fact he almost killed a man shows that the rules of the outside world no longer apply to him

Belly of the Whale Picks up unknown man in cab Man gives Ed his jacket and tells him to keep driving They drive down to the rocks and the man jumps out of the cab and starts running Ed chases him into darkness, abandoning his cab Man disappears and Ed reflects that he is/always has been the underdog and these messages are making him into something “Nearly a decade later, here I am again, still chasing someone faster, stronger, better.” (p. 131) ED DECIDES TO CHANGE

The Road of Trials The multiple messages that Ed must deliver become his road of trials. Ed not only has to deliver the messages but first figure out who the messages are meant for Each message that Ed delivers helps change his outlook on life “sometimes people are beautiful…”

The Meeting of the Goddess Ed meets his goddess before he begins his messages; Audrey He spends the whole book trying to win her love and show him he is capable of loving her. “You could kill a man with those words….” Ed knows by the end of the book that he will love Audrey forever and she will love him forever. “I’m looking for you and me, together.” (p. 357) His quest for her love allows him to deliver all the messages including hers. He can tell he needs to do this journey before she will love him.

Woman as Temptress Having a normal life tempts Ed Not being able to fully communicate this journey to his friends makes him feel like an outsider at times Its clear that if he didn’t have to deliver these messages he could be happy

Atonement with the Father/Mother Ed finally confronts his mother and finds out why she hates him. He realizes she wants him to be better and make better choices with his life and that’s why she hates him, “I just want you…to make something of yourself.” (p. 245) “It takes a lot of love to hate you like this” (p. 245) He accepts her answers at first but then realizes he needs to send her a message that it’s the people she surrounds herself with that make life unhappy, not the places she lives. “It’s not the place, I think. It’s the people.” (p. 245)

Apotheosis Ed delivers all the messages but still doesn’t understand who sent him on this journey and why. “Twelve messages have been delivered. Four aces have been completed. This feels like the greatest day of my life.” (p. 336)

The Ultimate Boon Ed finds out why he has been sent on this journey Finds out who sent him and the true message he delivered to everyone “And if a guy like you can stand up and do what you did for those people, well, maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what we’re capable of” (p. 353)

Crossing the Return Threshold Ed remembers the wisdom he gained on this journey and is now capable of living his life and spreading the message “I’m not the messenger at all. I’m the message” (p. 357) Ed has shown his friends that they are not stuck in this life, they can change and find better things, they can be happy.

Class Task Using your books, find two quotes to support each stage in the journey. Reference them as follows: “Now you’re somebody, Ed. I don’t know everything about what you’ve done and what you’ve been through but I don’t know—you seem further away now.”(p. 231)