The idea of Zeitgeist says that people are the product of their culture. Any "hero" of a society would have developed as a reflection of their environment. An opposing idea, the The Great Man Theory, posits that these heroes are actually the shapers and makers of their culture rather than a passive consequence. The latter seems to align with heroes of myth and fiction. How do you think these ideas apply to Star Wars?
Friday, January 30, 2015
my third blog post about heroes for class
Joseph Campbell says in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, "And in so far as the hero's act coincides with that for which his society is ready, he seems to ride on the great rhythm of the historical process." It suggests that the hero is a product of some omniscient force. In Star Wars this functions as The Force and Luke's destiny, but "historical process" implies that a similar kind of force has manifested in reality-- the way we have looked back on and digested events of the past, how we perceive history as taking a linear course, functions in the same guiding and prophetic manner.
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Two very interesting insight. I see two different points in your post, and I'm not sure how they fit together. Can you clarify how a historical force - the force of events in history - suggests an omniscient force? I think the quote is saying that the hero brings about change when society is ready for it. Do you think the direction of society is maintained by something supernatural?
ReplyDeleteYour two comments on how heroes are viewed also comment on how we view the history of our world. Do we view people such as Napoleon and Alexander the Great as shapers of the world or just products of their culture that would have been replaced regardless. The interesting thing about the force in Star Wars is that it suggests something out of the realm of human logic, yet something that humans can control. In real world, this is not always the case with religion.
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