Stage Eight: The Ordeal

“The simple secret of the ordeal is this: Heroes must die so they can be reborn.” (159) This is a familiar theme in adventure stories, but when it’s done well, that makes it more powerful rather than less. I have a theory about why this is the case, but I’ll make you wait until the end of this post to find out what it is. (Hey! No skipping ahead.)

Defining the Ordeal

Last week we watched as our hero approached the Inmost Cave—the place of the most dangerous faceoff thus far. Now we see the hero facing what Christopher Vogler calls The Ordeal. He defines the Ordeal as “the moment the hero faces his greatest fear. For most people this is death, but in many stories it’s just whatever the hero is most afraid of.…” (175) It could be Indiana Jones being locked in a tomb with venomous asps, Luke Skywalker discovering his own face inside Darth Vader’s helmet, or Winston Smith facing torture by rats in 1984.

This is no small task; in fact, the Ordeal often does bring death, at least in some form. The hero doesn’t literally have to die at this stage in the story. He or she may appear to die, may witness someone else’s death, or may cause someone else’s death. The death may even be even emotional or symbolic. The point is that the Ordeal will be costly, and the audience needs to see that.

Crisis vs. Climax

So what, exactly, is this Ordeal? One clarification that Vogler points out is that “[the Ordeal] should not be confused with the climax of the Hero’s Journey…. Let’s call it the crisis to differentiate it from the climax, (the big moment of Act Three and the crowning event of the whole story).” (160-161) In other words, the crisis and the climax aren’t necessarily the same thing.

If that just threw you for a loop, then don’t feel bad; I’m right there with you. I think there are many stories that do combine the crisis and the climax, but Vogler is simply depicting one common version of the adventure storyline. He is also quick to remind writers and readers alike that the steps of the Hero’s Journey are not immovable laws but flexible guidelines. If you want to tell a story that combines the hero’s death and resurrection with the climax of Act 3, then go for it!

Example from The Hobbit

For example, in The Hobbit, I feel like the crisis and the climax do coincide. Tolkien doesn’t make a big deal about the slaying of Smaug (unlike Peter Jackson’s movie). Instead, he focuses our attention on Bilbo’s plight and the Battle of Five Armies for the treasure under the mountain. During this climactic battle, Bilbo puts on his ring of invisibility but is knocked unconscious. The battle ensues, and tragic losses are sustained on all sides. When it’s finally over, no one can find Bilbo. They have almost given him up as lost when Bilbo wakes up and calls out to a man who was sent to look for him. Bilbo, the burglar-hero, is alive again!

Why Death and Resurrection?

So why is it important for the hero to experience death, whether her own or someone else’s? There are many reasons, but I’ll mention two: first, death and resurrection change the hero. “Heroes don’t just visit death and come home. They return changed, transformed.” (160) Most heroes are flawed at the beginning of the adventure. Maybe they’re slowed down by fear, tainted by bitterness, or shackled with selfishness. They may battle these flaws throughout the story, but sometimes flaws can be eliminated only in death. An author may choose to purify his hero in this way, resurrecting her to a future and a heart that have been refined by fire.

The second reason it’s important for the hero to experience death is that death and resurrection resonate with every audience.

Consider, for example, Gandalf, the Blue Ranger, and Jesus. That may seem like a scandalous or sacrilegious list, but hear me out.

In The Fellowship of the Rings, we watch Gandalf plummet to his death, the whip of a Balrog wrapped around his ankle. In the new Power Rangers movie, the Blue Ranger is killed by the villainess, Rita Repulsa. (I do realize the name is corny and the movie is meh. I’m just going for variety of example.) But, as you probably know, these heroes are resurrected later on in the story, to the shock and delight of characters and audience alike. I’m sure you can think of countless more stories with a death/resurrection sequence, so my question is this: why is it so common and yet so powerful?

My answer is Jesus. Consider this story: in Act 1, a Child is born to a virgin mother, grows up to do miracles, and is loved by some and hated by many. In Act 2, differing opinions about His deity reach a crescendo, and He is nailed to a Roman cross to die as a heretic. But in Act 3—oh, in Act 3—Jesus steps out of His tomb, not with a little extension added to His finite years of life but as the embodiment of eternal life itself. And, as is true in all good adventures, this victory is not His alone but ours as well. He has willingly gone through death and has come out the other side, opening the door and leading us through our greatest fear and into glory. Hallelujah!

Tolkien’s Eucatastrophe

Now, I plan to write a post about Tolkien’s On Fairy Stories all by itself in the near future, but for the moment, let me simply reference his idea of eucatastrophe. He coined this word to mean a “good catastrophe, a sudden joyous ‘turn’” of events. (22)

He observes that “the Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy….There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own merits.” (23)

This, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, is why the theme of death and resurrection is so common and yet so moving. Eucatastrophe has been etched on our hearts since Adam and Eve, and all stories that contain it are pointers and tributes to THE Death and Resurrection story.

Conclusion

There is MUCH more I could have said about this stage of the Hero’s Journey. In fact, I probably should have made this a two-part article, but I didn’t want to test your patience. If you do want more information about the “elasticity of emotion,” the hero fighting his own shadow, the hero “cheating death” with the help of Allies, or even the supposed psychological side of this stage, feel free to read The Writer’s Journey. It will be time well spent, I assure you.

Regardless, I think the best takeaway from the Ordeal stage is the link between our desire for stories with resurrection and the Gospel, or Evangelium, itself. We all long for a happy ending not just in stories but in reality, and because of the Gospel, we can have it. As Tolkien says, “The Evangelium has not abrogated legends; it has hallowed them, especially the ‘happy ending.’” (24)

Today’s Question: Can you think of an example of a powerful death and resurrection Ordeal in a story you know?

Sources:
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, Second Edition. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998.
Tolkien, J.R.R. On Fairy Stories.  http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2004/fairystories-tolkien.pdf