Karate Kid into the Hero's Journey.

The Karate Kid (2010)

• Hero: In this movie, the hero would be the kid, Dre Parker, because he is the principal character and he "sacrificed" himself separating from his ordinary world because he moved with his mother from Detroit to Beijing, (crossing first threshold). At first he refused to move to that new country but it was something inevitable, everything depended on his mom's job. According to Joseph Campbell, we can classify this part as the refusal of call. 

 

• Mentor: Han is the one that trained Dre for his combat against the rude boy. He taught him new strategies and movements, he also taught him kung fu. This is when Dre is located in the Belly of the whale, because he enter walked into a new world and we will have a transformation after his training. 

 

• Threshold guardian: Han would also be the threshold guardian, because at first he acts like a serious man and he didn't tell anything about himself to Dre. Because of his mysteriousness, Dre continues to be with him and to accept his training because he wants to win the combat.

• Herald: Sherry, the mom, is the Herald, because she made an important announcement in the beginning and even though she doesn't appear constantly, she plays an important role (because of his work, they moved to Beijing, and in this place is where the call to adventure started). 

 

• Shapeshifter: Mei Ying, because at the beginning you don't know what her posture is, she behaved as a serious but as soon as Dre started to talk to her, she accepted to escape with him and they made a tour because Dre wanted to know Beijing.

 

• Trickster: Cheng, is the mean guy that got jealous since Dre talked to Mei. Since then he started to see Dre as his enemy and he thought he had to destroy him. But because they cannot have a "dirty fight", their mentors organized a combat, in which they were able to have a fair fight. (Road of trials). After having a fracture during the combat, Han used his magical remedies and healed him (Rescue from without). At the end, Dre won. (The ultimate boon)

 

 

• Shadow: The snake that appeared when Dre and Han arrived to the mystic temple and Dre was afraid of it but Han taught him how to destroy that fear and finally Dre knew how to balance his chakra. (Master of two worlds). 

 

 

After winning the combat, Dre became a confident person and he felt free for being with Mei without someone interfering. (Freedom to live). He transmitted hope to people and faith that they can achieve everything they wish for, and Cheng, realized that Dre is a human and has the liberty to live in Beijing. (Crossing the return threshold).

 

 

  

Self improvement.

"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them."

-Albert Einstein

During this week, I discovered a lot of things, I realized that I have a lot of ideas but it is hard for me to express them using the correct words and format while writing an essay or story. I believe that if I can go far beyond, I just have to feel it. 

I realized that my classmates do not necessarily read the entire reading and they get a hundred in the exam, maybe that is because they know how to write their ideas in order to make them understandable for the teacher. 

I know I need to improve myself, I have to be more confident in my beliefs and express them no matter what others may say. 

This term we read Faust (which by the way I absolutely loved), and because of its grammar and vocabulary, I learned new techniques for writing and also new words. 

I enjoy reading and then having more imagination that makes you write anything. 

I believe that if I want to be an excellent writer, I need to be open-minded for me to read others stories and have more and more ideas and inspiration.

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” 

-William Faulkner

-Stay weird. 

Faust's characters...

 Faust: 

Along the reading, I realized that Faust is a man that wants to have limitless power and would do anything he can in order to achieve his goals. Faust is a very deceit person because he uses his power to cheat people for his benefit. He is really ambitious and selfish, he has everything, knowledge and power, but love. When he saw Margaret, he realizes that everything he was missing was love. He feels alive again, he is starting to love the Earth and the humans, and he would give everything for her lover, Margaret. One of his virtues is that he is really passionate, whenever he wants something he doesn't give up. One of his faults is that when he is doing something for achieving his goals, he can hurt people and doesn't care about it.

Mephistopheles:

He is the Devil, he is really evil and he is also very deceit. Because of his supernatural power he knows that he can do everything he wants, he can be tricky with people inducing them to do the bad things, he provoke people to temptations and guilty pleasures. The only thing he wants are their souls. One of his virtues is that he can give you everything you want if you ask for it. But the fault is that he only gives if he receives. He will give you anything if you give him your soul.

 

 

 

Margaret:

She is the most innocent woman in the story. Throughout her life she had suffered lots of losses. She has learned how to be strong enough to live by her own, but her innocence makes her vulnerable, Faust can easily manipulate her and she instantly fell in love with him. One of the virtues she has is that she is really caring and she worries about everything she loves. One of the faults is that she can easily be manipulated. 

As for myself I can say that I'm similar to Faust, because whenever I want something I am able to give everything I can for achieving it. The only difference is that I do care about people, I don't care if I know them or not, I always try not to hurt people, because I have empathy with them. I try to give my 110% always, and I don't give up easily on things I care about. 

 

 

 

...And you, which character describes you the most?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Stay Weird.