5. Tests, Enemies and Allies

"Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going." 

Chantal Sutherland

________________

Once the hero crosses the threshold into the new, special world of the journey, the adventure really begins. It is here in the special world that the hero faces their biggest tests, forms essential allies and tries to defeat their enemies. 

Focus your attention on ONE of these as they connect to the main character in your novel by answering the prompt associated with this stage of the journey. Start your response with the quotation given to you in the prompt. 

Make sure that you provide a direct quotation to help you support your thinking. Always include an in-text citation following every direct quotation. (Author, Title page)

___________________

TESTS 

"Our ability to handle life's challenges is a 

measure of our strength of character." 

Les Brown. 

The hardest challenges are yet to come for the hero once they have accepted the call to adventure and crossed the threshold into the new and special world of the journey  Tests can come in a physical (man vs man), mental or emotional (man vs self) form. Each test creates a conflict or complication for the hero in that many of the tests have to be overcome in order for the hero to progress (physically and emotionally).  Which specific test has been the most challenging to overcome for your character so far in the novel? What have you learned about your character's 'strength' from how they have overcome this test?

ENEMIES 

"When somebody challenges you, fight back. 

Be brutal, be tough." 

Donald Trump. 

On the journey, there are many people who will get in the way of the hero meeting their goals. They might be jealous, spiteful or just plain bad. Regardless of their motivation, the 'enemy' or antagonist works against the hero and makes life challenging for them. Who in your novel has challenged your main character? How? How has your character displayed their 'toughness' in fighting against this person or this force?

ALLIES

"Together we can face any challenges as 

deep as the ocean and as high as the sky." 

Sonia Gandhi. 

An important step in the journey is to find a good mentor who will lift you up and help guide you through the challenges of the journey. The mentor is not the only person who helps the hero conquer their fears or find the strength of character to meet the challenges they will face on the journey. Many other people can become important allies on the hero's journey. Who is one person that your main character depends upon (except the mentor)? How has this person helped to guide your character through the challenges they have faced on their journey?


A set of student samples is below:

TESTS

"Our ability to handle life's challenges is a 

measure of our strength of character." 

Les Brown. 

  There can be all kinds of different tests in the Hero's journey such as a physical challenge, an emotional challenge or a mental challenge. In my novel, Alex faces a couple of challenges along his way to save his friends. For example when Alex had to rebuild an entire village filled with magical creatures, when he had to take the thorn necklace out of the silent girl's, and her brothers, neck and when they had to escape an island that was about to sink. A test that was the most challenging for Alex and his crew was when they had to save Samheed and Lani from a silent island. This was the toughest challenge because this plan needed the most intelligence and courage. They needed lots of people to succeed in this test or else they would all join Lani and Samheed in being captured for good. I have learned that Alex has a lot of strength physically and mentally. In the novel, when they were saving Samheed and Lani, Alex had accidentally killed one of his men in an attempt to free Sam Heed from the thorn necklace sown into his neck. 

"Just as he breathed the dangerous magical word, a Warbleran grabbed a squirrelicorn from the air and threw her at Alex. The squirrelicorn's horn hit Samheed's neck jolting them all. And as the thorns vanished, so did the creature." ( Lisa McMann, The Unwanteds. 327-328) Alex had to have lots of mental strength to move on from this experience of killing his own people.

ENEMIES

 "When somebody challenges you, fight back. 

Be brutal, be tough." Donald Trump.

   
In my novel, there are many characters that have challenged my main character. As Jin is the only Asian-American in the school, I guess a lot of other kids found it "funny" and found ways to bully him. "My momma says Chinese people eat dogs" and "What the hell is that?! Stay away from my dog!" (at lunch) (Yang 31-32) are some things kids said to him on the first couple days of school.  Even all his teachers mess up his name and just expected him straight from China, even though Jin lived in San Francisco for a couple years. He is alone most of the time until Wei-Chen moves to his school. Their friendship developed quickly. School is now okay for Jin until he falls in love with Amelia, an American girl. He daydreams about her, dreams about her, and thinks about her every second of his life, and she seems to like Jin back. He is having the time of his life until Greg, one of Amelia's best friends comes up to Jin and asks him to not hang out with Amelia again. He then gets jealous and changes his hair into the same hair Greg has. An afro. Jin gets teased even more by other kids at his school.

Jin has displayed his toughness to the world by continuing to like and hang out with Amelia, who is one of the most popular kids in the school. An unpopular kid dating one of the most popular girls in school? Even right after Greg (also popular) told Jin not to hang out with Amelia, Jin found the confidence to ignore Greg and go for the girl he likes. "Can you do me a favour?"((Greg) repeatedly in Jin's mind) "No." "NO!" "HELL NO!" "YEAH-THE FAVOUR OF A PUNCH IN THE FACE!" (Yang 182) is what Jin fantasizes about all day regretting how he said "yeah sure" the day before to Greg when he was asked not to hang out with Amelia. Kids that have always looked at Jin as a minority started considering him as one of the"cool kids".

ALLIES

"Together we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean 

and as high as the sky." - Sonia Gandhi.

      In Not Suitable for Family Viewing, as soon as Robin enters Port Minton she realizes there is little to nothing there. After making a brief visit to the high school her mom went to, trying to get some answers, she is hit with a massive rainstorm. She has no idea where she is going, no place to stay, and no idea who anybody is. Until she meets Levi, Levi is kind enough to give her a ride to a hostel in a nearby town near Shelton where she stays and is looked after by Kay. Robin tells us, "The guy goes, 'C'mon. Get in!' He reaches over and lifts my suitcase" (47).Both of which help her look for answers and show her around the town. Robin is still unsure whether or not to trust anybody in the town, especially Levi. But, they soon become friends, involved and he helps introduce her to others that may be able to help her on the quest for answers about her mother. Levi was able to help support Robin in more ways than her own mother had been able to. A big challenge that made Robin’s journey much harder was that she didn’t believe in herself. So, when Levi came along and made her feel strong, confident, and welcomed, she was able to complete the task she set out to do and even realize how beautiful and amazing she was as a person, and not just when she is compared to her mother.