The Hero's Journey is a theory discussed in Joseph Campbell's non-fiction book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. At its most basic level, this theory states that most stories and myths are divided into three parts: the hero's departure, initiation, and return. In this essay I will divide Robert Zemeckis' classic Back to the Future into these 3 acts and indicate the phases of each of them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The first act of the hero's spiritual journey is called Departure. Usually at the beginning of the story “the protagonist departs from the known and journeys into the unknown” (as stated in the class slides). In Back to the Future, we see a clearly established domestic culture: the protagonist, Marty McFly, lives with his family, attends a high school and lives a relatively normal life. However, a call to adventure soon interrupts his normal routine: Marty's friend Dr. Emmet Brown invents a time machine and shatters the conventional image of this world. Things quickly go awry and Marty is forced to cross the first threshold by traveling 30 years back in time, all alone. This is where the second act, the Initiation, begins. As discussed in class, this is the part where the protagonist's world changes forever and he must embark on a physical and spiritual journey. In the first minutes of his time in the past, Marty begins his Road of Trials. He must find a way to return home and make his parents fall in love with him. Since this is not a task he can complete alone, Marty seeks the help of Dr. Brown, 30 years his junior. Doc explains the need to reunite the teen's parents and pushes Marty to succeed. In this way, he establishes himself as the Soul Mate that the protagonist meets. However, Marty is faced with an important task. He must overcome temptation and accept his supporting role in this particular story. Marty guides his father and helps him lure his mother (god, he's so confused, who cares), thus saving his own existence and achieving an ultimate goal. Eventually, Doc and Marty find a way to bring the teenager home and so begins the third and final act: The Return. As usual, things don't go as they planned and Dr. Brown must come to Marty's rescue by fixing things before it's too late. In the end, he succeeds and the protagonist returns safely to his time. In this way, Marty becomes the Master of Two Worlds: he has successfully traveled through time, saved the future, and seen time before he was even born. Marty realizes that his past actions saved Doc's life and must adjust to some other changes he unknowingly made. The teenager finds freedom in these facts and is confident enough to time travel and change the future once again, this time with his girlfriend Jennifer and Doctor Brown. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay To summarize, Back to the Future is a great example of Joseph Campbell's hero's journey. It has a clearly defined Departure, Initiation and Return, as well as the phases that define each of these acts.