Compare and Contrast Thomas Becket and Job According to the Hero Journey

The archetypal hero journey, Joseph Campbell states, is a typical series of heroic actions. Four stages form the hero journey: departure, trials, epiphany, and return (the stages do not necessarily occur consecutive with the listing). Death and resurrection of lifestyle and beliefs, spiritual journey, and finally rebirth form hero journey’s motif. An archetypal hero pattern is the transformation of the character’s conscience through trials and revelations. Lust, fear, and social duties tend to …

…characters journey through are distinctly different. Both Becket and Job fit Campbell’s hero definition: one who overcomes his trials and gives himself to a superior being. Both Job and Becket overcome their trials and give themselves to God. The two characters are categorized as spiritual heroes because they return sharing their spiritual findings with others. Job and Thomas Becket are spiritual heroes who successfully fulfill every phase of the hero journey Joseph Campbell outlines.