The Narrative Prism
Ramayana as seen through the Hero’s Journey
(Complimentary to our #BeyondMythologies module, this is Part 1 from the series ‘The Narrative Prism’ which explores how different models — Hero’s Journey and Collective Journey — with which mythological stories are expressed and framed have an effect on the way it can empower us.)
As someone who has been obsessed with mythology since childhood, I am always fascinated by the way stories were told. First, it began in simple reductive terms: there is a hero who has to defeat a villain. Then growing up more I was able to grasp more complex patterns of events, conflict, climax or consequences. It was only during my late teens, I was introduced to the works of Carl Jung, Mircea Eliade and Joseph Campbell that I found concepts that helped me find a way to articulate the narrative patterns or templates across the stories.
This got me wondering — How does storytelling work in making a story more relevant and providing meaning?
While there are many variants, primarily I came across two story models that we can explore a story through — The Hero’s Journey and The Collective Journey.
Just to be clear by storytelling or story model here I mean the framework that most stories follow or work under that results in a “narrative experience” for an audience. It is a structure employed in driving the plot and characters while developing the setting and the language.
Hero’s Journey (also called the Monomyth) is a model that was popularised by Joseph Cambell in his 1949 book ‘The Hero with a thousand faces’ where he looked at numerous myths across various cultures to find that most stories had a pattern of an archetypical hero going on a quest and returning back, having crossed certain milestones or “stages”. Some of the obvious examples that come to mind can be traced as far back as Iliad, Odyssey, Buddha and as recent as Star Wars, Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.
Collective Journey, on the other hand, is a more recent story model that got developed by Jeff Gomez (and Maya Zuckerman) as a way to explain and explore a complex non-linear pluralistic framework that is more relevant to the modern audience. While this can be seen in series like Game of Thrones, Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, it is reflected in real life movements like #MeToo and Arab Spring where the narrative emerges from the collective rather than just an individual.
The best way to summarise the difference in the two model is as Gomez puts it:
Hero’s Journey stories are about how the individual actualizes by achieving personal change, but Collective Journey stories are about how communities actualize in their attempt to achieve systemic change.
Now, at first, it may seem that the new model is trying to replace the previous one (and thus being dismissive), but in actuality, both bring out a unique perspective and distinct meaning to be derived from the stories. While the Hero’s Journey shows a circular path along which a singular narrative emerges, Collective Journey is a web with intersecting paths from which a grander cohesive narrative emerges.
To illustrate this, I thought of taking one story and see it through the lens of the two models (with a bit of modification).
The story I want to explore is one of the most famous epics from Indian mythology called Ramayana.
A quick refresher about the saga — It is primarily a narrative centering around Ram, the prince of Ayodhya who to fulfill his father’s promise gives up the right to the throne and ventures into the jungle for 14 years only to have his wife Sita abducted by Ravan, the Rakshas (demon-clan) king. Ram then with the help of his brother Lakshman, monkey-god Hanuman and an army of monkeys travels to Lanka, Ravan’s kingdom to rescue Sita.
While the historicity of the story is debatable (it was an oral tradition which got penned down and popularised by Valmiki who is attributed as the author), the popularity and cultural significance of this story cannot be overstated. This is because like most mythology, its evolving narrative framework has provided for a varying degree of engagement. And so throughout history, the world of this story has enormously grown, with different groups of people at different times (and era) adding new elements to the main story. This has led to the creation of refreshing psychological and emotional depths in characters and their stories which only enhance the reading of it.
In this post, we will start with the Hero’s Journey.
Intuitively, I see Ramayana align with many stages of Hero’s Journey.* For the purpose of mapping, I will be using a variant of the model created by Christopher Vogler (who modified Campbell’s monomyth model that got popularised in contemporary movies and TV series), but I feel that it may not fall as neatly as one might expect. The deviation (along with the context) is perhaps what gives the story its unique identity.
Still. Taking the definitions from Wikipedia, let’s test it out:
(1) The Ordinary World
The hero is seen in his/her everyday life
Ram has grown in the kingdom of Ayodhya with virtues that make him an ideal son. With his recent marriage, everyone expects him to lead a happy and prosperous kingdom soon after his coronation as King.
(2) The Call to Adventure
The initiating incident of the story
His father Dashrath’s second wife Kaikayi in an attempt to make her own son Bharat the king cashes in the two boons (promises) granted to her: Bharat who was younger than Ram, becomes the King and Ram has to be exiled for 14 years. Dashrath is devastated not only because he feels betrayed (Kaikayi loved and was loved by Ram, who was like a mother to him) but is bounded by his promise as King.
(3) Refusal of the Call
The hero experiences some hesitation to answer the call
When Ram gets to hear about it, he without hesitation chooses to give up his chance to become the king and accept the exile.
However, what he does not accept initially is the fact that his brother Lakshman and his wife Sita will join him. Only when they persist, he lets them tag along.
(4) Meeting with the Mentor
The hero gains the supplies, knowledge, and confidence needed to commence the adventure.
Ram seeks advice from his teachers Vashisht and Vishwamitr, both of whom had a tremendous influence on his worldview and skill-mastery. It is probably because of their teachings, Ram accepts the situation and the role he is expected to play.
(5) Crossing the First Threshold
The hero commits wholeheartedly to the adventure
The moment they step into the jungle, leaving all the material comforts of the palace behind, they seek to stay and survive the exile.
(6) Tests, Allies, and Enemies
The hero explores the extraordinary world, faces trial, and makes friends and enemies
In the jungle, the three are always on the guard as it is dangerous but time and again they do come across certain characters who befriend them and give them advice.
One trail was by a Rakshasi (female member of Rakshasa clan)named Soorpnakha who while aimlessly wandering through the jungle, sees Ram and gets enamored by him. She tries to seduce him (by first imposing as Sita), but when she is caught, she decides to attack Sita to get rid of her. Lakshman stops her by mutilating her.
Another trail (as the consequence of the first one) is when Ravan hears about the assault on Soorpnakha, who happens to his sister. He pledges to take revenge, making an elaborate plan where he gets Ram and Lakshman distracted only to come to Sita in disguise as a hermit just to abduct her as she steps out of her house.
One ally that stands in the way is a vulture Jatayu who fights Ravan only to be wounded. He just lives long enough to tell Ram and Lakshman about the incident when they return.
In their frantic search for Sita, Ram and Lakshman meet another ally Hanuman (who is a monkey). He takes them to meet Sugriv and bunch of other monkeys. In exchange for helping Sugriv win back his kingdom from his brother Bali, Sugriv offers the Vanar Sena (monkey army) to help find Sita.
(7) Approach to the Innermost Cave
The hero nears the center of the story and the extraordinary world
Once Sita is located (in island kingdom Lanka by Hanuman), Ram along with the Vanar Sena builds a bridge to get there.
(8) The Ordeal
The hero faces the most significant challenge yet and experiences death and rebirth
The battle in Lanka begins between Ravan’s Rakshasi Sena (demon-clan army) and Ram’s Vanar Sena, ultimately culminating to combat between the two itself. However, Ravan seems impervious to any weapons almost to the point of being immortal. In the darkest moment, Ram gets to know his weak spot (navel) by Ravan brother Vibhishan, hitting which Ravan dies (but not before repenting for his sins and imparting knowledge to Ram — he was after all a Brahmin scholar).
(9) Reward
The hero experiences the consequences of surviving death
Ram reunites with Sita and makes Vibhishan the king of Lanka, who promises to be a ‘Dharmic’ (a concept in Hinduism about social conduct that in this context roughly translating to ‘just and moral’) king.
(10) The Road Back
The hero returns to the ordinary world or continues to an ultimate destination
The people of Ayodhya are excited to see Ram return and celebrate it (giving the festival of Diwali in India). He is restored as the king with Sita as queen and both lives happily (for a brief period).
(11) The Resurrection
The hero experiences a final moment of death and rebirth, so they are pure when they re-enter the ordinary world
(Not sure if Ram goes through this but) Sita had to do an Agni-pariksha (Trial by fire) to prove her chastity after being rescued in Lanka because (many) people did not believe that she was “pure” having lived in another man’s place. She succeeds in doing so, as the Agni (the fire-god) could not touch her or find any sins.
(12) Return with the Elixir
The hero returns with something to improve the ordinary world
When certain subjects in his kingdom do no accept Sita as their queen because a question on her chastity had been raised (despite the Agni-pariksha). He is forced to banish Sita, despite being reluctant to do — a decision he makes as a king and not a husband. While there are a lot of controversial aspects to this decision, what he — in his capacity as a being with certain principles bring out is that the traditions and welfare of the kingdom (as relevant during in that period) has to be prioritized over personal happiness.
Perhaps, that is why in the story he is considered to Maryada Purushottam (Ideal man as bound and revered by society)
Now, I know this isn’t the end of the epic. There is a whole new story (Uttarakhand Ramayana) which explores the Ram abandoning Sita followed by the birth of Luv and Kush who eventually meet and confront their father. If seen from their perspective, this can be seen as another round around Monomyth. But if we extend the narrative about Rama itself, the story then can be seen as a hero who while having gone through a transformation, ended in tragedy for himself.
It’s important to remember that focus and perspective of a story being told does play a significant role in making a character be perceived as a hero, heroine, ally or villain in the context of that story.
Next time, we will look at mapping (and maybe even retelling) the epic of Ramayana on the Collective Journey model to see how same stories can brings out new meanings in a different light.
- Slight disclaimer though – I do have to admit though that Ramayana itself may have been seen to have contributed to the development of the Monomyth, though Campbell primarily stuck to Western mythologies (ranging from Greeks to American stories) to check for patterns. This exercise is done more so explore how well it maps out and use as a baseline for the comparison with Collective Journey model.
About the Author:
Anupriy Kanti volunteers as a content specialist at Cobalt Blue Foundation, a non-profit knowledge reservoir working in the field of Storytelling, Narrative & Expressive Arts.
