The Call To Adventure’s Psychological Subtext
At the beginning of the story, the Protagonist is just making do. Then something happens which jumbles their life… and their journey…
At the beginning of the story, the Protagonist is just making do. Then something happens which jumbles their life… and their journey begins.
As part of my daily journaling, this year I’ve been reading “A Year With Rilke: Daily Readings from the Best of Rainer Maria Rilke.” It’s been an interesting ride thus far, considering his reflections in terms of my own life, but also in relation to Story and in particular the Protagonist’s journey. Here’s an excerpt from today’s reading:
Calling out, yet fearful
that my call will be heard
and destined to be drowned
in another’s life.
Of course, this brings to mind the Call To Adventure, what in the screenwriting trade many refer to as the Inciting Incident. Basically SOMETHING HAPPENS early-to-middle of Act One which jumbles the Protagonist’s ordinary life and sets into motion their departure into a New World (whether geographical in nature or not).
Here’s how Joseph Campbell described it verbatim in “The Power of Myth,” the wonderful interview series with Bill Moyers:
The call to adventure is about transformation and that’s terrifying.
The Hero has to confront fear.
Will the Hero survive?
Will they change for the Good or the Bad?
This is a good reminder: When we write about the Inciting Incident, bear in mind that no matter the seeming psychological status of the Protagonist, even if seemingly confident, there will always be some layer of fear at work.
Why? Because change is hard. Transformation is terrifying.
Will I survive?
Will I change for Good or Bad?
Will my call be heard?
Will I be drowned in another’s life?
The interesting thing is in order for Metamorphosis to occur, the Protagonist does have to be ‘drowned’ in another’s life. Their Old Way of Being has to give way to a New Way of Being. The former represents an inauthentic life, cobbled together behaviors and beliefs, what Campbell calls “just making do”. The latter is an authentic life, grounded in the Protagonist’s Core Essence, the seeds of change which already exist within who they are, and shaped by their coming to know, understand, and embrace that empowering inner dynamic.
If the result of their journey is a positive one, their transformation leads them toward a state of wholeness and Unity. That’s the arc we see in most movies, a key part of a ‘happy ending’.
But at the story’s beginning, when the Protagonist receives the Call To Adventure, they aren’t anywhere near that happy ending yet. They are just beginning their transformation-journey… and it’s a scary prospect.
Will I survive?
Will I change for Good or Bad?
Will my call be heard?
Will I be drowned in another’s life?
Those are the questions at work as subtext in the Call To Adventure. As writers, we should be aware of that. Those questions, that fear adds depth of emotional meaning to those key moments where the Protagonist begins their journey from an Old Life… to a New One.