Annotation # 5

Vogler, Christopher. The Writers Journey. Third. CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998. Pgs. 107 -125
Summary:
In this Section, Vogler speaks about two very important steps within the journey: The “Refusal of Call” and “Meeting with the Mentor.”
The refusal makes the character appear more likeable because it makes him more human. The fact that this character is not ecstatic about this sudden and drastic change in his life shows that there is a more human quality about him. He should question his journey and be uncomfortable with this change because the audience can relate to that. We as humans like remaining in our comfortable lives and to jump right out of that comfort zone for what seems like no reason would seem odd and make the character seem phony. This time should be a difficult one for the hero, not easy.
The Refusal of Call is present in almost all stories. Even for what Vogler calls the “Willing Hero’s” there is still a sense of refusal displayed. Even if the refusal is small it still should exist within a story to show the importance of the journey in general. Of course eventually after refusing, either the threshold guardian, the heroes “natural curiosity”, the need for a change in his life or the influence of a mentor often pushes the hero to take on his journey.
Meeting with the Mentor plays a huge role in influencing the hero to begin his quest. This character also adds a lot of depth and realism to the hero as well because the audience can relate to a person who has greatly influenced them in their own lives.
For the most part, its hard to make a radical change in our lives without the ideas and support from others, someone is usually present in our lives to stress the importance of our adventures and point us in the right direction. The Mentor is so important that there are even entire movies based upon the mentor and his relationship to the hero.

Response:
The thing I liked about this section is that the “Refusal of Call” and the “mentor” are not set in stone to create “cookie-cutter” boring stories for the audience. Instead there are various amounts of ways to refuse the adventure as well as many different types of mentors.
The refusal of call was something I never really realized existed but now looking back at almost every movie I watched its present in every single one. There is always that time, even for just a moment, where the hero wishes to avoid the adventure all together.
I also understand now that the mentor can be a lot of different types of people. The “wise old man” and “wise old woman” don’t have to exist in my story in order for a mentor to exist. The mentor can have flaws, the hero might not like the mentor, the mentor can sometimes turn against the hero, and the mentor might not even be physically there but may come from within. The mentor in general can be viewed at from a lot of different angles.

1. What was a “Refusal of Call” you had in your life and who was the “Mentor” that influenced you to take on the journey instead of ignoring it?
2. In Remember the Titans is Denzel Washington’s character a mentor or a hero or is he both? How does that movie relate to the hero/mentor relationship?
3. Who is the mentor in Fight Club? Was this mentor a positive mentor?