Ed’s Hero Journey

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Ordinary Life

0Taxi Driver with a dog > Doorman019> Driving illegally0Australian0Cards with his friends in his spare time. 0Marv, Ritchie and Audrey0Shy, pushover, sexual midget0Not really overly thrilled with life0Family problems: mom hates him, siblings are better

than him.

The Call to Adventure

0Ace of Diamonds> three addresses0Save the day> deliver messages0 “I let my fingers hold the card gently, three addresses

are written on it in the same handwriting as on the envelope”

0Receives it in the mailbox0Mysterious

The Refusal of the Call

0He doesn’t why he was chosen0Doesn’t think he is good enough0Edgar st> really bugs him and makes him refuse the

call0Milla and Sophie keep him going

Supernatural Aid

0Darryl and Keith> lets him know he has to keep going and that he is doing a good job so far.

0Provides Ed with a gun to complete the task0Darryl and Keith are in this with him and will

reappear when he needs a push to keep going.

Crossing the First Threshold

0Edgar st acts as the first threshold0Before this stage he could still stop his journey0The fact he almost killed a man shows that the rules of

the outside world no longer apply to him

Belly of the Whale

0 Picks up unknown man in cab0 Man gives Ed his jacket and tells him to keep driving0 They drive down to the rocks and the man jumps out of the

cab and starts running0 Ed chases him into darkness, abandoning his cab0 Man disappears and Ed reflects that he is/always has been

the underdog and these messages are making him into something

0 “Nearly a decade later, here I am again, still chasing someone faster, stronger, better.” (p. 131)

0 ED DECIDES TO CHANGE

The Road of Trials

0The multiple messages that Ed must deliver become his road of trials.

0Ed not only has to deliver the messages but first figure out who the messages are meant for

0Each message that Ed delivers helps change his outlook on life “sometimes people are beautiful…”

The Meeting of the Goddess

0 Ed meets his goddess before he begins his messages; Audrey0 He spends the whole book trying to win her love and show

him he is capable of loving her. 0 “You could kill a man with those words….”0 Ed knows by the end of the book that he will love Audrey

forever and she will love him forever. 0 “I’m looking for you and me, together.” (p. 357)0 His quest for her love allows him to deliver all the messages

including hers. He can tell he needs to do this journey before she will love him.

Woman as Temptress

0Having a normal life tempts Ed0Not being able to fully communicate this journey to

his friends makes him feel like an outsider at times0 Its clear that if he didn’t have to deliver these

messages he could be happy

Atonement with the Father/Mother

0 Ed finally confronts his mother and finds out why she hates him.

0 He realizes she wants him to be better and make better choices with his life and that’s why she hates him,

0 “I just want you…to make something of yourself.” (p. 245)0 “It takes a lot of love to hate you like this” (p. 245) 0 He accepts her answers at first but then realizes he needs

to send her a message that it’s the people she surrounds herself with that make life unhappy, not the places she lives. “It’s not the place, I think. It’s the people.” (p. 245)

Apotheosis

0Ed delivers all the messages but still doesn’t understand who sent him on this journey and why.

0 “Twelve messages have been delivered. Four aces have been completed. This feels like the greatest day of my life.” (p. 336)

The Ultimate Boon

0Ed finds out why he has been sent on this journey0Finds out who sent him and the true message he

delivered to everyone 0 “And if a guy like you can stand up and do what you

did for those people, well, maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what we’re capable of” (p. 353)

Crossing the Return Threshold

0Ed remembers the wisdom he gained on this journey and is now capable of living his life and spreading the message

0 “I’m not the messenger at all. I’m the message” (p. 357)

0Ed has shown his friends that they are not stuck in this life, they can change and find better things, they can be happy.

Class Task

0Using your books, find two quotes to support each stage in the journey.

0Reference them as follows: 0 “Now you’re somebody, Ed. I don’t know everything

about what you’ve done and what you’ve been through but I don’t know—you seem further away now.”(p. 231)