Surviving the Journey

Manuscript pages 57-58

The idea of reading literature to discover what happens in the plot is quite different from spotting the narrative pattern as it unfolds in literature. Imagine a book about the life of an accountant. Suppose this accountant in chapter one of the book awakens, as he does daily, with the sound of his alarm clock at 7:00 am. He brushes his teeth, brews some coffee, showers, gets dressed, reads the newspaper, leaves for work at 8:00 am, and drives thirty miles to his place of business. At noon, after a morning of tax returns, the accountant takes a one-hour lunch break, and then resumes his work on the tax return preparations for the afternoon session. At 5:00 pm, the accountant returns home by driving the requisite thirty miles, prepares and eats dinner, watches some television, reads the evening newspaper, and retires to bed for the evening, after setting his alarm for 7:00 am. Suppose chapters two through thirty-two reveal exactly the same happenings. Finally, the last chapter once again recites the identical scenario, ending with the accountant retiring for the evening, after setting his alarm for 7:00 am. It is quite obvious we do not have much of a story here. In fact there is no story. We have nothing more than a boring recitation of routine. Just like in real life, literary characters have different experiences, even though they are born, they live, and they die. They must have unique experiences, because literature reflects the story of life.

Suppose, instead, in chapter four of our hypothetical book, just as our accountant is about to fall asleep, the President of the United States personally calls him by telephone and offers him a job with NASA training to become an astronaut in preparation of the first manned mission to the planet Mars. The accountant, the protagonist or hero of the story, now has a decision to make. His response may alter his life. This new action describes the heroic invitation to adventure. Depending upon the response of the hero, the heroic quest may or may not begin. Obviously, if our accountant friend hangs up on the President and falls off to sleep, there is no story. On the other hand, if he accepts the challenge, the circumstances of his mundane existence suddenly change. He has accepted the invitation to adventure. The archetypal narrative quest pattern begins with such an invitation or call to adventure as evidenced by the literature passed down through the ages. The pattern continues today.