The Giver: Memory, The Wasteland, and The Hero

Introducing people of all ages to mythology... in pre-college educational curricula, youth orgs, the media, etc. Share your knowledge, stories, unit and lesson plans, techniques, and more.

Moderators: Clemsy, Martin_Weyers, Cindy B.

Locked
JamesN.
Associate
Posts: 2187
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:46 am
Location: Nashville, Tn.

The Giver: Memory, The Wasteland, and The Hero

Post by JamesN. »

Hey everyone.

The movie version of the well known book: " The Giver " has been recently released; and among certain issues it addresses are the subject of " Memory " and it's relevance to " The Wasteland " and " The Hero " along with many others that it raises such as the lack of " Myth " and ( imprinting on the young ) to name but a few; and it's metaphorical references for me are unmistakable. I think one of many things that is very important to consider from the standpoint of what Joseph Campbell's work represents is the bringing forth of an authentic life from an inauthentic wasteland. It seems to me an almost " mystical " coincidence in a sense; ( if that application can be used ); that this movie should arise so close to the tragic suicide of Robin Williams for it raises in my mind the relationship not only of the wasteland but also of the ( Hero's Task ). Joseph illustrates this in the hero's journey through life's various stages and the assimilation and integration process that must be undergone to accomplish the self-realization necessary for the individual's consciousness to awaken to their own sense of authorship. I think there are also certain Jungian themes such as the relevance of a personal myth to an individual's awareness of self-identity that could be added here; ( like the idea of ownership in the service of writing of one's own personal adventure or story ); that could be illustrated within this particular motif as well. This story may be familiar to many people already but if not; to me many of these issue's contained within this work are ones that Joseph has brought up in other various contexts; and after conferring with Clemsy he seemed to think this would be an excellent fit within the motif of the " Hero's Journey " as well.

One of the things that struck me immediately upon seeing the movie was the societal system that mirrored many aspects of today's modern life; and by that I mean the pressure to conform to a set of value's that had no relationship to the individual's sense of himself; nor any access to any emotional connection that would serve to inform his sense of meaning. As to the movie's utilization of the concept of memory if it does nothing else it puts one in touch with the sense of timelessness of an eternal timeless ground; so that an individual is given a connection of participating in something that has gone before and will continue after they have died; ( a kind of dance with time in which they are invited to participate and can leave their mark ). Memory in this sense also provides a vehicle of identity while informing them of their place in the larger cosmic order and a role of their chosing that they may be allowed to play. The idea that a person has a past and has connections to a place as well as being an emotional creature as well is another central theme here.

The understanding that the modern individual is more and more left to their own devices to work out their place within the social order without the individual's own volition being acknowledged as having value is a critical realization. And the understanding that the authorship of an individual's life story is molded to serve that particular system instead of the ( heart-life ) from which " meaning and meaningfulness " are evoked is a stark reminder of the issue that Joseph illustrates. He reminds us this is something we all have to deal with in living within a system. He states this is the crisis that we all must face: " Is the system going to eat you up and relieve you of your humanity; or can you utilize the system to human purposes? " And to me this represents where the element of ( " The Call " of the Hero ) springs forth.

( There are to me many different issues that this story addresses that I knew I had to begin with one so I started here. But if there are others that you also find important you want to speak to by all means please feel free to jump in and perhaps some interesting discussion may emerge from this. )


http://www.npr.org/2014/08/16/340170478 ... emory-loss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJNNugNe0Wo
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

Locked