E104: Fairy Tales, Myths, and Other Archetypal Stories


The Hero's Journey in "The Matrix" DEPARTURE
The Call to Adventure	According to Campbell, the typical hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has been taken, or who feels there's something lacking in the normal experiences available to the members of his society (Power of Myth 152). Neo's life is certainly lacking in experience. He lives alone in a run-down apartment, spending sleepless nights in front of a computer terminal. He has a rather mundane job working as a programmer for a large software company, where he spends his days sitting by himself in a tiny cubicle. In his own words, he is a "nobody." He suspects that there is something wrong with the world, something to do with the Matrix, but he can't quite figure out what it is. Later, Morpheus articulates what Neo always felt: "[Y]ou are a slave, Neo. Born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind." Neo's first call to adventure comes in the form of a strange message on his computer screen telling him to "Follow the white rabbit." This leads him to a seedy nightclub where he is approached by a dark, mysterious woman named Trinity, who warns him of impending danger. This is the all-important signal heralding the hero's need for departure. She lures him further toward the abyss by hinting that she knows the answer to the one question that has been "driving [him] mad": What is the Matrix? "The answer is out there," she tells him. Though confused at this entire turn of events, Neo begins to suspect that in order to find his answers he is going to have leave the relative safety of his world and venture out into the dark unknown.
Refusal of the Call	"The time has come to make a choice, Mr. Anderson," scolds Neo's boss after Neo arrives at work late. Neo receives a telephone call from a mysterious man named Morpheus, warning him of immanent danger. This quite literally is Neo's second "call" to adventure. Morpheus safely guides Neo to an empty office where he his offered the first of several life-altering choices: either cross the threshold by climbing dangerously out onto the ledge of a window, or be captured. Neo attempts to cross the threshold, but loses his courage. "I can't do this," he says. Neo is taken off by agents to be interrogated at which time he becomes what Campbell describes as a "victim to be rescued" (The Hero... 59).
Supernatural Aid	Having finally accepted the call to adventure, Neo meets Morpheus, the enigmatic "father" of the "resistance." Morpheus's "supernatural" abilities have already been demonstrated to Neo by Morpheus's seeming omniscience in predicting future events. "How do you know all this?" asks Neo in the film's opening scenes. Trinity confirms Morpheus's omniscience by cautioning Neo to "be truthful. [Morpheus] knows more than you can imagine." Morpheus offers Neo amulets to protect him in his journey. The first of these is in the form of a red pill, symbolic of the truth. As his mentor, or guide, Morpheus trains Neo in the skills he will need to conquer the Matrix. Most importantly, Morpheus helps Neo to "free [his] mind." This spiritual amulet is the most important for the hero's success. According to Campbell, the figure of the mentor represents "the protecting power of destiny" (The Hero... 71). Three times during the film Morpheus asks Neo if he believes in destiny or fate. Each time Neo, unwilling to give up the illusion of ego and abandon himself to the mystical powers of fate, replies that he does not. Neo also receives supernatural aid from a woman known as "the Oracle." She represents Mother Nature (they meet in a kitchen where she is baking cookies) and the powers of fate (she predicts the future). Once again, Neo is told that he is going to have to make a choice: either save his own life, or sacrifice himself to save the life of Morpheus. This is the ultimate test of the true hero.
The Crossing of the First Threshold	Before he crosses the threshold, the hero first encounters the "threshold guardians" (The Hero... 77). For Neo, these are the "agents" of the Matrix, sentient programs whose purpose it is to maintain the status quo and stop the hero from crossing the all-important first threshold. As Morpheus explains, "They are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors, they are holding all the keys." Neo crosses the first threshold when he swallows the red pill, radically and forever changing his life. He soon learns that once the first threshold has been crossed there can be no return, except in death.
The Belly of the Whale	Once the first threshold has been crossed, the hero begins what Campbell describes as "a transit into a sphere of rebirth" as symbolized by the "world-wide womb" (The Hero... 90). Neo's "rebirth" into the "real world" occurs literally when he breaks out of the artificial womb that has enslaved him his entire life. It literally is a "world-wide womb," enslaving all of humanity.
INITIATION
The Road of Trials	The succession of trials the hero must face are an essential and significant part of the hero's journey. They are tests designed to determine if the potential hero is truly a hero. Is he really a match for the task? Does he have the courage, the knowledge, and the character it takes to overcome the dangers? The hero is aided along the way by the advice of the supernatural agent he met at the threshold (Campbell, The Hero... 97), but he ultimately must overcome each challenge alone. As Morpheus explains: "I can only show you the door; you must walk through it." Campbell notes that along the road of trials the hero will have "a multitude of preliminary victories" (The Hero... 109). Neo's successes in the sparring program and in rescuing Morpheus stand out as two such examples. However, the hero's ultimate challenge is the destruction of his own ego; the voluntary death of the self. To conquer the road of trials, the hero must first conquer death. He must quit thinking about his own self-preservation, and give himself over to some higher end (Campbell, Power of Myth 154). He must die to his old life and old ways of thinking, so that he can be reborn a new man (a "neo-man"). It is with this complete annihilation of the self that Neo has the most difficulty. Despite Morpheus's injunctions to "free your mind," Neo can't let go. While attempting to master the jump program, for example, Neo becomes afraid and falls hard into the asphalt. He shows signs that he might be letting go when he battles agent Smith in the subway station, but his old ways of thinking -- his fears -- again take hold and he is forced to flee. "...It looks like you're waiting for something," the Oracle tells him. "Your next life, maybe." Indeed, for Neo the death of the self is not a symbolic act, but occurs quite literally. While fleeing the subway station, Neo is surprised by agent Smith and shot point blank in the chest, over and over. Neo is killed. He has met the ultimate challenge. And by his willingness to sacrifice his own life so that another may live, he proved that he has the high moral character required of the true hero.
The Meeting with the Goddess	With his ego destroyed and death conquered, the hero faces one final conquest: the conquest of life. Campbell describes this step in the hero's journey as "the meeting with the goddess." According to Campbell, it is a "mystical marriage" that represents the hero's "total mastery of life" (The Hero... 109, 120). It is the hero's final challenge: "to win the boon of love ... which is life itself" (Campbell, The Hero... 109). As with most heroes, Neo's "marriage" occurs at the peak of crisis, at the moment he his killed by agent Smith. With Neo dead and immanent destruction upon them all, Trinity offers Neo the breath of life itself in the form of a kiss. Metaphorically, their souls merge and goddess and hero become one. Neo returns from the abyss reborn. His final transformation is complete. He has become (the) "One."
Atonement with the Father	The hero atones with the father when he finally achieves his full potential, thus justifying not only the father's faith in him, but the sacrifices he's made for him as well. Morpheus, who is described by Tank as being like "a father" to them, sacrificed everything for Neo, even offering up his own life so that Neo could live. At first, Neo didn't completely trust Morpheus. He didn't want to believe what Morpheus told him about the war with the machines and the true nature of the Matrix. He was reluctant to follow Morpheus's advice to "free [his] mind." Nor did Neo accept Morpheus's faith in his destiny. But Neo atoned with Morpheus when he finally accepted his destiny and achieved his full potential. Neo atoned with Morpheus when Neo truly became "the One."
Apotheosis	An apotheosis is the elevation of an individual to divine status. It is bestowed upon the hero when he finally is able to abandon the last remnants of self and thereby transcend the limitations of mortal life. Neo's apotheosis begins when he visits the Oracle. There he meets a mystical young boy, seated in the lotus position, bending spoons with his mind. The boy offers Neo an amulet in the form of a mantra: "There is no spoon." At this moment, Neo begins to understand what sages throughout history have understood -- the only true reality is that of the mind, all else is illusion. With this fundamental truth now firmly implanted, and armed with the powerful mantra, Neo is able to overcome the powerful forces arrayed against him. His apotheosis occurs when he transcends death itself and takes control of the Matrix. He has achieved enlightenment. He has become an immortal, the redeemer of the world.
The Ultimate Boon	Neo's journey is a spiritual quest. His goal is the salvation of mankind. The dragons he must face are of the mind. His weapons are clarity of thought and strength of character. Thus Neo's ultimate boon, or gift, will also be of a spiritual nature. That gift is Neo's enlightenment. Once achieved, Neo became truly free, with the power to control even time and space itself. It is this "grail" that Neo must return for the benefit of his people.
RETURN
The Crossing of the Return Threshold	When asked to describe nirvana, the Buddha responded that it was not something that could be described in words, but that had to be experienced first hand. Now that he also has achieved enlightenment, Neo faces perhaps his most difficult task: to bring his hard-fought knowledge of the Matrix back for the benefit of his people. "Unfortunately," says Morpheus, "no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself." What makes this task so difficult for the hero is not just the problem of describing something that for all intents and purposes is indescribable, but more the resistance he encounters from the very people he is trying to save. "Most of these people are not ready to be unplugged," Morpheus explains to Neo, "and many of them are so interred, so hopelessly dependant upon the system, they will fight to protect it." Nevertheless, like the countless heroes that have come before him, Neo too crosses the return threshold so that he might bring his message of salvation back to his people. "...I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see," he says to the machines controlling the Matrix. "I'm going to show them a world, without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible."
WORKS CITED Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1949. Campbell, Joseph (with Bill Moyers). The Power of Myth. New York: Anchor Books, 1991. The Matrix. Dir. Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. Screenplay by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss. Warner Bros., 1999.