Hubris, Hamartia, and Other Hero-Related Things with Shawn

An early subversion of the Hero’s Journey that we see in As I Lay Dying begins in the first chapter when we see Cash constructing a coffin for Addie. Darl describes the fine craftsmanship of the box, noting that the boards are “yellow as gold, like soft gold, bearing on their flanks in smooth undulations the marks of the adze blade” and repeatedly mentions that Cash is “a good carpenter” (Faulkner 4, 5). Darl frames Cash’s actions as honorable, even heroic. He states that “Addie Bundren could not want a better one, a better box to lie” in and that “It will give her confidence and comfort” (Faulkner 4). Even this description seems to focus more on the quality of Cash’s work than the nobility of the deed he is accomplishing. The testimony of Jewel sheds further light on whether Cash is just pursuing his own self-interest. Jewel complains that Cash is in fact hastening his mother’s death by always showing off that he is making the coffin. Jewel thinks he’s saying, “See. See what a good on...

In Quicksand , Helga Crane's disillusionment with and departure from Naxos represent a "departure from the feminine" as described in Murdock's mode of the heroine's journey. Crucially, the "toxic femininity" that Helga rebels against has an aspect of productive and supportive labor, but it is also that which has been subjugated and commodified for the benefit of those at the top of various gender, racial, and class hierarchies. The environment of Naxos is one in which Helga seeks to offer support, in fact, an idealized version of it in hopes of serving her community as a teacher, a typically feminine role. However, Helga’s service is constrained by the presence of a number of hierarchies. The school follows the model of Booker T. Washington, a Black reformer who championed the education of Black people in industrial trades, so that they could develop themselves economically without threatening the racial hierarchy of the South. A sermon given by a White ...

Let’s begin with the concept of the ordinary world, the place where the hero starts his journey and is accustomed to but that will ultimately become a site of dissatisfaction. In Siddhartha, this takes the form of his life at home, where he occupies an inherently hierarchical position as a Brahmin, the Hindu caste that possesses a monopoly on religious knowledge (the text states, “The Brahmins and their holy books knew everything, everything”) with the ostensible responsibility of adhering to a life of study and asceticism to transmit these teachings to the other castes that are too busy engaging in worldly activities to pursue spiritual quests (Hesse 6). However, it seems that not all Brahmins take this spiritual responsibility seriously, as Govinda mentions that Siddhartha would not become “an avaricious dealer in magic sayings” or “a wicked sly” priest.  To understand the position of these corrupt Brahmins, it would be helpful to bring in the Marxist theory of commodity fetishi...