Week of 10/7/19
Friday, October 25, 2019
Troll Bridge
Blog 6
Week of 10/7/19
For this week’s topic of Heroic Journey, I
read the short, Troll Bridge, by Terry Prachett. It’s a short
story that is not your average tale of a hero’s journey. Prachett’s story reflects some elements of a classic journey of a hero
but in other ways it does not. Cohen the Barbarian is called to do a final journey - defeat a
troll in battle. He’s been wanting to do this his whole life and had always
promised himself this journey before he dies. Since he is getting up in age
this pushes him to finally make the journey. This is quite different from your
average hero story. The main character is usually young or inexperienced in
what entails in a journey. In this case, Cohen the Barbarian is in his older
years and a very experienced journey man.
In heroic
stories, the hero is in denial at first and wants nothing to do with the
proposed journey ahead. In this case the Barbarian, is the one who instigates
the journey. For him, it is a rite of passage that has been passed down from
father to son for generations. Another aspect of a hero story is there are
usually obstacles throughout journey. Cohen and his horse get to the troll
bridge without anything going amiss. Once the main character reaches his destination,
he will experience a great battle. During this battle, the hero works out all
his external and internal conflicts. Afterwards, after almost dying, the world
is at peace and the hero finally knows his place in the world. In Cohen the
Barbarian’s case, he is dealt with a great let down. The troll and the
Barbarian alike have been waiting their whole lives to battle each other’s kind
but they soon come to conclusions as to why they backed out. He doesn’t fight
the troll because he and the troll realize the world they live in is not the
same as it once was. The world has changed in ways they don’t even recognize
anymore. This causes them to realize there is no need to always repeat others’
past actions. Just because things have always been done in a certain way,
sometimes a sign appears to show that it’s time for a change.
Week of 10/7/19
For this week’s topic of Heroic Journey, I
read the short, Troll Bridge, by Terry Prachett. It’s a short
story that is not your average tale of a hero’s journey. Prachett’s story reflects some elements of a classic journey of a hero
but in other ways it does not. Cohen the Barbarian is called to do a final journey - defeat a
troll in battle. He’s been wanting to do this his whole life and had always
promised himself this journey before he dies. Since he is getting up in age
this pushes him to finally make the journey. This is quite different from your
average hero story. The main character is usually young or inexperienced in
what entails in a journey. In this case, Cohen the Barbarian is in his older
years and a very experienced journey man.
In heroic
stories, the hero is in denial at first and wants nothing to do with the
proposed journey ahead. In this case the Barbarian, is the one who instigates
the journey. For him, it is a rite of passage that has been passed down from
father to son for generations. Another aspect of a hero story is there are
usually obstacles throughout journey. Cohen and his horse get to the troll
bridge without anything going amiss. Once the main character reaches his destination,
he will experience a great battle. During this battle, the hero works out all
his external and internal conflicts. Afterwards, after almost dying, the world
is at peace and the hero finally knows his place in the world. In Cohen the
Barbarian’s case, he is dealt with a great let down. The troll and the
Barbarian alike have been waiting their whole lives to battle each other’s kind
but they soon come to conclusions as to why they backed out. He doesn’t fight
the troll because he and the troll realize the world they live in is not the
same as it once was. The world has changed in ways they don’t even recognize
anymore. This causes them to realize there is no need to always repeat others’
past actions. Just because things have always been done in a certain way,
sometimes a sign appears to show that it’s time for a change.
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