Dave Eggers Zeitoun As A Hero Myth - Admission/Application Essay Example

?Essay Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun as a Hero Myth According to Joseph Campbell’s ‘The Hero with Thousand Faces’ Table of Contents Introduction 3 Is Zeitoun a Hero Story: from Joseph Campbell’s Perspective 4 Phase I: Departure 4 Phase II: Initiation 6 Phase III: Refusal 7 Conclusion 9 Works Cited 10 Introduction At times, when unfortunate disasters occurred, people were introduced with social characters that were quite generous, and kind enough to help them to overcome the stress. These characters have often been rewarded with the recognition of a hero in many instances as can be observed in mythological stories. The non-fiction literature by Dave Eggers in the year 2009 and titled as “Zeitoun” is also one of such creations. In this book, Dave Eggers brings together the two most influencing powers of the then United States political and climatic environments; the upset of terrorism and war along with the trauma of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. This literature is stated to be based on a real life story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun (Pilkington, “The Amazing True Story of Zeitoun”). In his writing, Dave Eggers showcases the entire scenario as follows. Abdulrahman Zeitoun was a Syrian-American living in New Orleans and the owner of a decorating company, a building and several houses that demanded continuous maintenances. At the day when Hurricane Katrina struck the coastal areas of New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun decided to help his neighbors and other people in need of rescue and treatment on a second hand canoe. However, on his mission he had suddenly disappeared. Later it was revealed that he was imprisoned as a suspected terrorist and was kept under custody for nearly 23 days (Rahim, “Zeitoun by Dave Eggers: Review”). It is of no doubt that the story character of Abdulrahman Zeitoun has been presented as a hero in this literature by Dave Eggers. It is in this context that Joseph Campbell identified three basic phases that would determine the character as truly heroic in mythologies, i.e. departure, initiation and return (Campbell, J. “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”). These three criteria as noted by Joseph Campbell in his study titled “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” will be considered in order to justify the heroic nature of Abdulrahman Zeitoun as figured by Dave Eggers. Is Zeitoun a Hero Story: from Joseph Campbell’s Perspective Phase I: Departure In his thesis concentrated on the acclamation of leading characters in mythologies as heroes, Joseph Campbell stated that every hero will have a certain indication of his departure. As stated by him, it is the “call of adventure” that leads to the departure of the character provided other constraints to the path are eradicated such as “the refusal of call” (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 43-57). Relating to the non-fiction story narrated by Dave Egger, Abdulrahman Zeitoun also witnessed a “call of adventure” that further led to his departure. As a generous and kind-hearted person, Abdulrahman Zeitoun sets off on the “call of adventure”, i.e. to help the surviving victims of Hurricane Katrina on a canoe. In this context, it is apparently observable that Abdulrahman Zeitoun did not “refuse the call” and thus moved ahead to enjoy the adventure (Eggers, D., “Zeitoun” pp. 102). Campbell further depicts that the next phase of departure of the character in mythologies on the journey to hero is again supported by a “supernatural aid”. As stated by him “for those who have not refused the call, the first encounter of the hero-journey is with a protective figure...” (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 60). However, in the narration of Dave Eggers, a description of such figure can be identified in the face of the missionary in the town of St. Gabriel (Eggers, D., “Zeitoun” pp. 265). In other words, there was a “supernatural aid” that helped Abdulrahman Zeitoun in continuing towards the “call of adventure”. However, he was assisted by his fellowmen which were eventually fishermen as well as other young hands who were struggling in the calamity to save people. Although this cannot be referred to as a typical “spiritual aid” as demonstrated by Joseph Campbell but from a realistic point of view, it satisfies the similar purpose of helping the heroic character. The next step to departure, as directed by Joseph Campbell is “The Crossing of the First Threshold”. As he states, every heroic character has to undergo several tests and at this step the character on his journey to become a hero is witnessed to cross the first threshold (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 74-75). In the case of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, his first threshold can be observed when he was being imprisoned with other three men by the guardsmen with the suspect of looting. Thus, Abdulrahman Zeitoun can be observed to cross the initial threshold and enter the “Belly of the Whale” i.e. the prison or custody. In the thesis of Joseph Campbell, “Belly of the Whale” is the unknown world where the hero witnesses final hardships for his initiation (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 81). Phase II: Initiation The next phase towards the journey to heroism has been defined as initiation by Joseph Campbell. This phase instigates with the “road of trails” where the hero tends to struggle hard to conquer the challenges in his pathway. However, as noted by Joseph Campbell in his thesis, heroic characters are often assisted by fellowmen or the “supernatural aids”. In the case of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, as narrated by Dave Eggers, he was accompanied by three other men and not any “supernatural aid” to assist him to rescue from the “Belly of the Whale”, i.e. the prison (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 89). His “road of trails” was instead assisted by his wife and indirectly by the missionary that had witnessed Abdulrahman Zeitoun imprisoned with the suspicion of terrorist. The next step towards initiation is stated to be “the Meeting with the Goddess”. Here Goddess refers to as the most important female character in the story that plays a major role in motivating the hero for his struggle and his conquer. In this case, the Goddess can be apparently witnessed as Kathy, the wife of Abdulrahman Zeitoun who paid his bail relief against the suspicion of the guardsmen to loot in his own house. After the release of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, Kathy can also be regarded with the “Woman as the Temptress” with due consideration to the definition provided by Joseph Campbell in his thesis (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 111-113). The next step as depicted by Joseph Campbell emphasizes on the God’s decision of justice against the sinner and in favor of the hero being titled as “Atonement with The Father”. Here, father refers to as God. In the words of Joseph Campbell, “It is in this ordeal that the hero may derive hope and assurance from the helpful female figure, by whose magic...he is protected through all the frightening experiences of the father's ego-shattering initiation” (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 122). Abdulrahman Zeitoun also witnessed “Atonement of The Father” when he was being tortured by the guardsmen with the assurance that his wife Kathy shall be there soon to free him. Later when he recognized himself entering the town of St. Gabriel, he found “Apotheosis” (Eggers, D., “Zeitoun” pp. 240-242). This further led towards “The Ultimate Boon” when Kathy received the call from the missionary and approached for the rescue (Eggers, D., “Zeitoun” pp. 278-284). Phase III: Refusal According to the thesis of Joseph Campbell, “When the hero-quest has been accomplished... the adventurer still must return with his life-transmuting trophy” (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 178). Abdulrahman Zeitoun too can be observed refusing to recall his memory from the dark event from being victimized by Hurricane Katrina and then by the guardsmen seemingly to be his “Refusal to Return”. Even his return back to his beloved ones can be related with the description of “The Magic Flight” as described by Campbell (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 182-187; Eggers, D., “Zeitoun” pp. 290-291). Similar to the mythological heroes, Abdulrahman Zeitoun was also “Rescued from without”. He had nearly lost all his hopes of freedom when Kathy and Adnan emerged as supernatural aids to him and his freedom. It was only when Abdulrahman Zeitoun was back to his family and friends in his home town, he could return from his mystical adventure to the earthy world of humans quite similar to the explanation provided by Joseph Campbell regarding “The Crossing of the Return Threshold” (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 201-209; Eggers, D., “Zeitoun” pp. 290-291). At that very moment he was back to his own world, Abdulrahman Zeitoun could relate the two worlds, i.e. his prior and after Hurricane Katrina, without contaminating his experiences as a master in those worlds. As stated by Joseph Campbell, “…not contaminating the principles of the one with those of the other, yet permitting the mind to know the one by virtue of the other—is the talent of the master” (Campbell, J., “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” pp. 213; Pilkington, “The Amazing True Story of Zeitoun”). Thus, he can also be claimed as “The Masters of the Two Worlds” with consideration to Joseph Campbell’s thesis. It was at this moment when Abdulrahman Zeitoun realized the “Freedom to Live” with his innocence proved to the world (Eggers, D., “Zeitoun” pp. 302-321). Conclusion With due consideration to the above described facts, it is quite apparent that a few significant similarities exists between Dave Eggers’ narrated non-fiction story ‘Zeitoun’ with the explanation of the nature of mythological heroic adventures as depicted by Joseph Campbell. Thus, Abdulrahman Zeitoun can be regarded as a hero according to Joseph Campbell. In other words, based on his findings from “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, he could certainly notify Abdulrahman Zeitoun as a ‘hero myth’. Works Cited Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces Princeton University Press, 2004. Eggers, Dave. Zeitoun Vintage Books, 2010. Pilkington, Ed. “The Amazing True Story of Zeitoun”. September 19, 2011. Guardian News and Media Limited, 2010. Rahim, Sameer. “Zeitoun by Dave Eggers: Review”. September 19, 2011. Telegraph Media Group Limited, 2010. Read More