Vogler - The Writer's Journey/Stories are Alive

Emily Wiemken
Analytical and Persuasive Writing
Prof. Robinson
Annotation

Annotation for Vogler’s “The Writer’s Journey/Stories Are Alive”

In the writer’s journey, Vogler summarizes the journey writers and audiences go through in a story. He explains that this isn’t just a journey through stories, but a journey throughout life as well. “The boundaries of space and time and even the limitations of death can be transcended (239)”. Vogler then goes on to explain how Disney came to remaking and reanimating old stories from The Brothers Grimm and Perrault. He explains how he got to examine the same story from many different cultures, and examining the inner and the outer journey the hero goes through. He then talked about Rumpelstilskin and how powerful the element of wishing is to a story claiming it gives the story a strong “throughline…organizing the forces in and around the hero to achieve a clear goal” (304). Also sometimes the hero wishes for something he or she really wants at the moment, but the journey they go through forces the hero to look beyond to what he or she really needs. It is also important to think about what the audience wishes for in a story. In the end, the wishes of the audience usually are granted and achieved by struggle, overcoming obstacles, and by reconsidering them. Willing is quite different from wishing. While a wish can evaporate at the first setback, the will endures. The will is a wish that is concentrated and focused into a firm intention to achieve a goal step by step, that becomes more and more resilient and accustomed to conflict and opposition.

I thought this final Vogler was very interesting, especially the aspect of wishing and willing, and feeling unsatisfied at the end. When the hero receives awards proportionate to his struggle, and the villain receives his appropriate fate depending on what heinous crime he or she committed. If the lessons and punishments don’t add up to what we expect or wish for, then we leave feeling unsatisfied. Thinking about it, I feel this must be very tricky for a writer to do. They want to keep the audience on their toes, but can’t deviate too far from what they expect or the audience wont enjoy it as much.

1. Are there any movies you can think of that didn’t satisfy because you feel the hero or villain didn’t get what they deserved? Which and why?
2. Is there another popular fairy tale where wishing is a major underlying principle?
3. Do you personally think the story needs to start out with wishing to set a tone, or do you feel most stories tend to satisfy without wishing?