Mono Myth of The Step Not Taken free essay sample

Turning toward the noise, I was astonished to see the young man drop his briefcase and burst into tears. † A common feature of a separation stage within a monomyth is the beginning of the quest. The narrator is separated from his previous life the moment he realizes the man has began to cry. From this moment on, he is thrust upon a personal quest to explore the proper action of responding other’s suffering. In another monomyth, â€Å"Star Wars†, the protagonist Anakin Skywalker is thrust upon his quest to rid the universe of evil when Qui Gon Jin and Obi Wan Kanobi are stranded on the planet of Tatooine. They recruit Anakin’s help to leave the planet, which both willingly and unwillingly changes the life of Anakin forever. Secondly, the narrator is introduced to his guide, the conscience. He explains â€Å"What I did next shames me. The elevator stopped at the 10th floor and, without looking back, I stepped out. † Through this statement it is apparent that his conscience intervened a short while after his decision to leave the elevator, as he began to feel guilty. The introduction of such a guide is another defining characteristic of the separation stage. The benevolent guide convinces the narrator to accept the quest, and prepares him for the difficulties ahead. Without the conscience, the narrator would not be able to ask the crucial questions that would eventually lead to the answer. Since this monomyth is a personal quest, the conscience is an appropriate guide. In conclusion, Paul accepts the quest and thus moves on to the struggle stage. The narrator within â€Å"The Step Not Taken† also undergoes a struggle stage as part of the monomyth. Firstly, the narrator begins to test himself and scrutinize his behavior soon after leaving the elevator. He frequently asks himself questions such as â€Å"Should I go up to the 15th floor and make sure he’s okay? Should I search him out from office to office? Should I risk the embarrassment it might cause him? † A large part of the struggle stage during the monomyth is obviously the struggle. With the help of his conscience, the narrator struggles when examining his decision of leaving the man in the elevator without comforting him. He debates with himself what the proper action would have been, and contemplates further action. During the â€Å"Inheritance Cycle†, another successful monomyth, the hero Eragon is often tested and tests himself. Eragon would eventually attempt to overthrow the tyrant kind of his homeland, and such testing is meant to prepare him. Secondly, the narrator also experiences an epiphany during the struggle stage. Paul notes that â€Å"The few people I have told about the incident all say I did the right thing† but then he realizes â€Å"they were wrong. † Perhaps the most noticeable characteristic of the struggle stage is the epiphany the hero experiences. He realizes that ignoring the man was the wrong thing to do. He left the man to his sorrows in the elevator, and if he was a parent of the grieving man he would have wanted someone to comfort him. Paul is sorry, and as a result he knows the action he will take the next time he experiences such an event. Therefore, the struggle stage in â€Å"The Step Not Taken† is completed by the narrator. Lastly, the short essay â€Å"The Step Not Taken† is concluded while the narrator endures the reintegration stage. Firstly, the narrator has acquired new insights and skills through the experience of his epiphany. After his epiphany, the narrator theorizes that he â€Å"should have thrown caution to the wind and done the right thing. † The epiphany has led the narrator to conclude that he was wrong. He knows now that in a situation where a stranger is grieving he should comfort him rather than ignore him. During the critically acclaimed series â€Å"Harry Potter†, Harry’s encounters with the evil wizard Voldermort have helped him realize that people are the strongest when they stand together. This skill then contributes to the victory over Voldermort and the rebuilding of Hogwarts. Thus, the narrator, enlightened, shares his new knowledge with the public in â€Å"The Step Not Taken. † The narrator admits â€Å"that he was wrong, dreadfully wrong, not to step forward in his time of need. That he was sorry. † Paul hopes that the readers of this essay will realize the same thing he did, that people should not ignore other people in their time of need. The fact that Paul D’Angelo wrote this essay is evidence that he has shared his new found knowledge with society. Therefore, the narrator has completed the reintegration stage and has completed the monomyth as well. Throughout the story, the narrator explores the answer of how to respond to other’s suffering. The hero concludes that he should not have ignored the pained man in the elevator, but should have done the right thing, the human thing, and comforted him. The author has therefore completed his journey. His conclusion was based on the fact that he should have â€Å"thrown caution to the wind. † If the author had interacted with the man, he knows he would have risked reprisal. Paul reflects to himself â€Å"Would he have turned on me? Cursing me? Telling me to mind my own business? But in the end he did not care; he would have appealed to his insight no matter the man’s reaction. The author’s opinion would not have changed because in his eyes, he was doing the right thing. The insight the author developed is extremely relevant in today’s world. Too many people are left to their grievances with no one to lean on, and no one to ease their suffering. Societ y has developed the mentality of â€Å"every man for himself. † People consider life a competition. If everyone had experienced a similar epiphany, such views would change. The world would most definitely be a friendlier place.