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MonicaCruz
Mrs.Petty
Eng.101
17October2014
WesleysJourney

TheHerowithaThousandfacesbyJosephCampbellisamonomythinwhichhe
explainsthethreephasesoftheherosjourney:thedeparture,theinitiation,andthereturnofthe
hero.Eachofthethreephasesisbrokendownintostepsthattheheromustgothroughasthey
progressintheirstoryline.ManymoviesfollowJosephCampbellsHerowithaThousandFaces
whenmakingthescreenplayfortheirmovies.ThemovieWantedfollowstheherosjourney,
althoughthemaincharacterwouldntnecessarilybeconsideredahero.Wantedisaboutaman
namedWesleyGibsonwhofindsoutthatheisthesonofaprofessionalassassin,andisbeing
recruitedtofollowinhisfathersfootsteps.WesleyGibsoninWantedfollowsJoseph
Campbellsmonomythoftheherobyseparationfromhisdeadendjob,brutallytrainingto
completehisfirstmissionasanassassin,andfinallycomingupwithaplantokillSloanafter
findingoutthetruthabouthisfather.
Wesleygoesthroughthefirstofthethreephases,whichisthedeparturephase.Thefirst
stageisthecalltoadventureinwhichhegetstrappedinanaltercationatapharmacy.Thenext
dayhegoestowork,hefeelsfineandthenhismanagershowsupandgivesWesleyahardtime.
Hehasfinallydecidedhehadenoughandgivesherapieceofhismind.Sheisonesingleiota
oftenuouspower.Shethinksshecanpusheveryonearound(Wanted).Therefusalofthecallis

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whentheherorefusestotakethecall.Originally,Wesleydecidedagainstbecominganassassin,
butafterhavingenoughofhisbosshedecidedtofollowthroughwiththetraining.Wesleys
supernaturalaidisfox.AsJosephCampbellstates,Thefirstencounteroftheherojourneyis
withaprotectivefigurewhoprovidestheadventurerwithamuletsagainstthedragonforcerheis
abouttopass(63).ShetrainsWesleybrutally,questioningwhyhesintheloomingfactoryuntil
hefinallygivesFoxtheanswersheslookingfor.InaquotefromHuangMingChang,hewrites
aboutwhatamentorarchetypeis.
Thementorarchetypetypicallyappearsandrepresentstheknowledgethatisneededto
crossthethresholdswhentheheroisinahopelessordesperatesituationfromwhichhecannot
extricatehimselfalone(Chang8).
WhatChangmeansisthatthewaythesupernaturalaidhelpstheheroisthroughexperiencesshe
hasgonethroughherselfinlife.Foxtellsherstorytowesleytogivehimalittlehelpinactually
succeedinginhisfirstkill.WiththeguidanceWesleyhasfromFox,heisabletocrossthefirst
threshold.Whenwesleyhitsthebellyofthewhale,hehasfoundhisfatherssecretroomand
startsplottingrevengeagainstSloan.
Theroadoftrialsistheseriesoftasksthattheherogoesthroughwhileonhisjourney.
OneofthetrialsthatWesleygoesthroughisactuallycompletinghisfirstmission.Hehassecond
thoughtsastowhytheyhavetokillinnocentpeople.FoxsharesherstoryandtellsWesleythat
alltheydoisjustfollowthemottoofthefraternity.Whileontopofamovingtrain,Wesley
curvesabulletrightintothechestofhisfirstvictim.InWanted,FoxisthegoddessthatWesley
getsintroducedto.Theirfirstencounterwasinthepharmacystorebeforecrossstarted
shootingatthem.Wesleygetstoldthathisfatherwaskilledbycross.Hewantedtomake

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crosspayforkillinghisfather.Theapotheosisisthecalmbeforethestorm.ItiswhenWesley
realizesthatSloanwaslyingtohimfromthebeginning.AsPekwarskyandWesleyaretalking
inhisfathersapartment,thetruthcomesout.Wesleysfatherwasonlytryingtosavehim.
TheultimatebooniswhenWesleydiscoversthatSloansnamecameupandfatewantshim
dead.ThatswhenWesleyalsodiscoversthesecretroominhisfather'sapartment.
AfterPekwarskytellsWesleythetruthaboutwhathisfatherwasdoingthewholetime,
heplanshisrevengeagainstSloan.PekwarskyhandsaplanetickettoWesleytellinghimto
leaveandstartanewlife.Wesleyrefusesandleavestheplaneticketonthetable.The
rescuefromwithoutiswhentheheromayhavetobebroughtbackfromhissupernatural
adventurebyassistancefromwithout(Campbell192).Theherogetsrescuedorsavedby
someonehewasntexpectingtosavethem.Hewasnttryingtokillyou,hewastryingtosave
you(Wanted).CrosssintentionswerenevertokillWesley.Crosswasonlyprotectinghisson
fromthelifeheendedupliving,whichwasthelifeofanassassin.Thecrossingofthereturn
thresholdiswhenWesleyreturnstohisnormaleverydayworldanduseshisknowledgeto
comeupwithaplantokillsloan.WesleyhasadecoysetupinhiscubicleandSloanappears
behindthedecoythinkingitsWesley.ThedecoyturnsaroundandlooksdownandSloan
realizesthatWesleysethimupandhegetskilled.Wesleymasteredhistwoworldsandisa
skilledassassinandhasfullcontrolofhisownlife.Hisfreedomtolivestartswhenherecaps
thelastsixweeksofhislifeandwhathewentthrough.
WesleysJourneyfollowseachofthestagesoftheherosjourney.Wesleystartsoffas
anobody,workingadeadendjobandnotknowingwhohisfatheris.Hegoesthrougheachof
thestages,fromthecalltoadventuretothefreedomtolive,andbecomesatrainedassassin,
whoknowswhohisfatherisandwhohisenemieswere.Wesleynotonlybelongsbackinhis

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everydayworld,healsobelongsintheworldofassassins.Hewasabletofindhimselfand
managedtohavefullcontrolofhislife.

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WorksCited
Campbell,Joseph.HerowithaThousandFaces.NewYork:PantheonBooks,1949.Print.
Chang,HuangMing,etal.FromMythologytoPsychology:IdentifyingArchetypalSymbolsin
Movies.TechnoeticArts:AJournalofSpeculativeResearch11.2(2013):99113
AcademicSearchPremier.Web.19Oct.2014.
Wanted.Dir.TimurBekmambetov.Perf.JamesMcAvoy,AngelinaJolie,andMorganFreeman.
2008.DVD.