Joseph Campbell's Monomyth is a story which has an introduction the body and the end. In his story, the Hero's Journey, the Hero undergoes three critical stages which are often reflected in many stories written by other authors. The hero first stage is initiation and in this stage or what is referred as the departure by others. This is a stage where the Hero is called into the adventure; they tend to hesitate to agree to the call until they get a motivating factor, which can be an issue, story or a person. The second face is initiation where the hero has to be tested to the limit. This is the stage where the hero has to show the strong spirit which will make them know the right people to trust and those whom they should not grant their trust. This is the stage of the obstacle where the hero will be faced with a lot of challenges as they strive to achieve their mission in the adventure (Campbell, 2008). The final stage as per Campbell is the return. This happens after the hero has undergone the challenges and has successfully pulled the mission. This is the point where the hero gets recognition from the masters and other people in the society. Based on these stages, it is critical to note that the two short stories that are Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon and the Silver Blaze by Doyle are an accurate reflection of the Campbell's criteria for the Monomyth Heroic patterns.
In the story, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon, the Hero of the story Christopher John Francis undergoes the three stages or the three criteria’s of a hero as stated by Campbell. His departure or the separation is marked by his curiosity to uncover the murder of his neighbor poodle. He discovers the slain body of his neighbor’s poodle, Wellington, on the neighbor’s front lawn one evening and sets out to uncover the murderer. This is the stage where Christopher prepares to venture into the adventure. This is the adventure which will reveal to him the true person he calls his father. In this novel, the second phase or the initiation phase is marked by Christopher’s struggle to investigate the murder. As Campbell states in his story, this is the step where the hero is faced with a lot of challenges in their adventure. Christopher undergoes this stage. After his arrest in the murder incidence, Christopher is given a stern warning by the policy not to investigate the case. His further later and even constantly create a big obstacle for him in his quest to reveal the truth with constant threats. Also, his dream of passing math’s exam is an obstacle which he has to surpass. In his own words, he says, "I think I would make a very good astronaut. To be a good astronaut, you have to be intelligent, and I'm intelligent. You also have to understand how machines work and I'm good at understanding how machines work. You also have to be someone who would like being on their own in a tiny spacecraft thousands and thousands of miles away…" this shows what kind of challenges he undergoes, he has a lot of pressure that makes him dream of becoming an astronaut so that he can escape living under his father’s authority (Haddon, 2007). The end returns for Christopher as Campbell's criteria dictates. He helps in discovering his fathers' wrong side and thus strengthens their relationship at the end of the story. He also helps in uncovering the Wallington's murder, and this is a credit. Further, he finds his mother and lives with her a happy life, and lastly, he passes his exams and joins the university.
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In the short story, Silva Blaze by Conan Doyle, it is the same criteria's as dictated by Cambial that are followed by the hero of the story. The hero of the story, in this case, is Sherlock Holmes. In the separation stage, the hero seems to be admitting that it was all his fault in taking the case of the missing horse and the death of the trainer slightly. Motivated by the fact that he doesn’t want to fail again in the investigation, he ventures into the task of investigating the case and finding the missing Horse (Doyle & Paget, 1892). In the book, it is indicated that "Ross is more concerned with the disappearance of the horse, as it was the favorite for the prominent Wessel Cup and associated prize money than with the murder of his trainer." This is quite which shows what motivate the Holmes even more to find the horse. In the initiation, Holmes had to undergo different challenges to make his mission true. He has to prove why he believes that people like Simpson whom most people suspect to have a hand on the death and the missing horse is not guilty. He thus has to look for hard evidence to justify his case, among them, are the knife which was used in the scene and others. Another challenge is how to report the missing to the owner who is extremely anxious and angry with him. At the end of the story, the horse is discovered, and Holmes is all a smile.
In summary, the two books that are Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon and the Silver Blaze by Doyle are a true reflection of the Campbell's criteria for the Monomyth Heroic patterns. In both stories, the heroes both undergo the three criteria that are Departure, initiation and return as dictated by Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth.
References
Campbell, J. (2008). The hero with a thousand faces (Vol. 17). New World Library.
Doyle, A. C., & Paget, S. (1892). The adventure of the silver blaze . Mary McLaughlin and M. Einisman for the Scotland Yard Bookstore.
Haddon, M. (2007). The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time . National Geographic Books.
