Approach to the Inmost Cave and The Ordeal

Summary
In this section of Vogler’s text, he describes the “Approach to the Inmost Cave” and “The Ordeal.” The approach is the build up to the actually ordeal of the story. Therefore, both of these sections of the journey are full of action and emotion. Every hero has a different approach to the inmost cave, whether it is with brute confident force, careful planning, or accidental. The hero needs to be aware that because they are entering a new threshold, they might face more guardians or obstacles even before the ordeal. The ordeal is the biggest obstacle that the hero will face. Furthermore, the hero is often threatened by death. As the hero appears dead, the audience at an ultimate low, wondering if the writing will actually kill off their main character. However, as the hero awakes, the audience’s emotions bounce higher than they were prior to the apparent death. The excitement of the approach to the inmost cave and the ordeal leave the audience anxiously waiting to see if the hero will succeed.

Reaction
Because these two sections of the journey are exciting, Vogler’s text seemed a little livelier in this portion of the text. I found Vogler’s relationships to Campbell’s ideas interesting as they applied to film. However, I do wish he would relate his ideas to a film other than the Wizard of Oz. When he first began using Wizard of Oz, I found it helpful. During the previous section we read, I was beginning to tire of the film. During “The Ordeal” chapter, Vogler related every section of the chapter back to the Wizard of Oz. Although his explanations are helpful, I am really hoping for some more variety in the next section that we read.

Reflection
Vogler included a small snippet in “The Ordeal” chapter about change. For some reason, this portion of the text stuck with me. He states, “No one can go through an experience at the edge of death without being changed.” I related to this quote, because I started thinking of even lesser experiences than near death that leave an individual irreversibly changed. Sometimes even seemingly small events can cause great change. Our first project proved the changes that everyone had faced and hopefully overcome. In my hero’s journey, I described how moving around a lot as a child molded me into the person that I am now. I tried to demonstrate change by paralleling my story to the transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

Questions
How does “the elasticity of emotion” affect the audience during the hero’s near death experience? Have you ever felt this way?
Why do you think that it is important to understand that the villain is the hero in his/ her own story?
Why is it important that the hero undergoes great struggle during the ordeal?