blog entry 4.1 final project update replacement

      Since I missed blog entry 4.1 for project update, I am going to write what I did in the research project for substitution.
      I got the "outline" of "Howl's Moving Castle" after I watched it one time. I watched it another time and wrote the plot. Then, I briefly explained what the monomyth is, and I went back to watched it again to find out how the pattern of monomyth was applied in the film. When I was analyzing how the form of monomyth was incorporated in the film, I watched it once again for taking notice of details. Then I watched it all over again to make out how the Howl's archetype was depicted. Finally, I did research on Magician archetype and incorporated it in Howl's character to explain.

final take home essay

        To be honest, I hate writing because it is a weak point of mine. Since I'm poor in vocabulary, it takes pretty much time to writing an essay. We write essays basically depend on the materials, so I need to understand those materials first. If there are plenty of words that I don't know the meaning, I look them up one by one. If I use the same word in one essay over and over, the reader must be bored. Therefore, I have frequent recourse to a dictionary for consulting the synonyms and some different expressions so that I can avoid using the same word or the same expression as possible as I can. Hence, I spend a lot of time working on essays. However, I have taken a fancy to this course for reason of the theme which is the supernatural. People are usually interested in a field of mystery such as supernaturality, and I am, too.
         I have learned how to analyze poems or fiction novels with symbols and how to interpret adventure films by applying the pattern of monomyth. I have gotten a clue about archetypes as well. For example, I couldn't positively catch the motif of "Goblin Market" at first, but I had a proper understanding of it after searching for those symbols. To comprehend the meaning of symbols is the crux of understanding the poem. Also, I could realize those patterns of hero's quest and identify the archetypes when I was watching "Spirited Away". Those I had learned in this course have deepened my understanding of literature.
         I like June's Coraline essay,which is our another classmate's, for reason of her point of view in describing the differences between "Coraline" and "Spirited Away". She indicates how the virtue of life in Asian culture and Western culture are different by explaining the character from each.

final project

         Since I had decided to write a research paper related to Hero’s quest, I chose a film named “Howl’s Moving Castle” that was directed by Hayao Miyazaki who also directed “Spirited Away”.

         The heroine of this film is a young girl whose name is Sophie. When she was going to her sister’s bakery shop, the protagonist Howl helped her out of the perplexing situation that two soldiers were trying to strike up a conversation with her. Sophie was touched by Howl’s behavior despite the rumor that Howl ate the heart of beauties. The Witch of the Waste, who had directed her efforts to obtain Howl’s heart, got angry at that occurrence, so she altered young Sophie into a ninety-year-old woman by using an incantation. Sophie had decided to leave home since she was warned that she couldn’t tell anybody about the curse. Sophie got acquainted with a scarecrow that she called it as Turnip Head on her way. Sophie witnessed Howl’s moving castle and stepped in. She met Howl’s young apprentice, whose name is Markl, and the fire demon Calcifer who “powers the castle and recognizes that Sophie has been cursed”. “Calcifer offers to break the curse in exchange for Sophie’s help in breaking the spell between him and Howl, which keeps Calcifer prisoner in the house.” (Wikipedia) Sophie started to work in the castle as a cleaning lady. At that time, the country Sophie lived was waging a war against its neighbor because the other realm’s Crown Prince Justin had disappeared mysteriously. The king commanded Howl to take part in the war. However, Howl disguised Sophie as his mother and sent her to the Palace to refuse his participation since he was afraid of Madame Suliman who was “the royal court’s magician and his former mentor”. Sophie encountered with the Witch of the Waste who also received a call from the king on the way to the Palace. The Witch of the Waste thought this is the chance that she can recover the royal house’s patronage, but Suliman turned her into her original appearance in which a senile old woman by using magical powers as a punishment. Suliman perceived the truth that Sophie was actually not Howl’s mother while she and Sophie had a conversation. When Suliman annoyed Sophie, Howl came to rescue Sophie, and they flew from the Palace with the Witch of the Waste and Suliman’s lapdog Heen. In order to got out of the pursuit from Suliman, Howl changed their residence to “Sophie’s old home as well as Howl’s childhood residence”. However, Suliman’s followers found and intruded their house soon owing to Sophie’s mother who brought the ‘peeping bug’ unavoidably because of the Suliman’s threat, causing Calcifer to turn too sick to protect the castle after eating the ‘peeping bug’. The Witch of the Waste realized that Howl’s heart was actually within Calcifer then she took it avariciously since she was looking for Howl’s heart for a long time. Sophie soused water over Calcifer inevitably so that it couldn’t burn the witch. Since Calcifer had gone out, the castle was collapsed, and Sophie and Heen were thrown over a cliff. While Sophie was weeping for her mistake that she thought she had killed both Calcifer and Howl, the ring that Howl gave her before she went to meet Suliman pointed the gate of the castle. She walked through it and reached the time of Howl’s youth. She witnessed the young Howl had caught a falling star and swallowed it, then he coughed up Calcifer that his heart within it. Sophie found Howl was in front of the castle’s door that had disappeared after she returned to the present time. She let Howl bring her to meet with Calcifer. She requested the Witch of the Waste eagerly so that can get back Calcifer, then she put Calcifer in Howl’s chest. Finally, the spell between Calcifer and Howl was broken. Since Calcifer flied away, the remains of the castle couldn’t move favorably, so it slid down the cliffs. “Turnip Head is forced to almost sacrifice himself to stop the fall”.(Wikipedia) Sophie kissed it to express her thanks, and the Turnip Head turned into its original identity that is the missing Prince Justin. He said that he would stop the war. Since then Sophie, Howl, and the others lived together in the castle.

         Joseph Campbell’s term monomyth, refers to a basic pattern which includes departure, initiation, and return. First, the hero will be given a mission that forces him/her to adventure. Once the hero accepts the call, he/she will explore the unknown world that may embarrass him/her with any kinds of difficulties. Finally, the hero will overcome all trials and accomplish the mission, then the hero can return to the ordinary world or can stay as well if he/she wishes.

         Based on Campbell’s terms of monomyth, the first step is departure. In “Howl’s Moving Castle”, Sophie had lived an ordinary life as a hatter before she received a call to adventure. On the way to her sister’s bakery shop, Howl saved her from an awkward situation, causing the Witch of the Waste’s envy. So, the witch transformed Sophie to an old woman by a curse and told Sophie that she couldn’t talk to anybody anything about the curse. It forced Sophie to depart from the ordinary life, and she had to seek somewhere that she could live. At first, Sophie helped a scarecrow get out of the ground as it was stuck. Then the scarecrow reached out a helping hand to Sophie many times along her journey. For example, the scarecrow led the castle to Sophie after he heard she said “I’ll be thankful if you can incidentally find a place I can sleep tonight”. In addition to that, the scarecrow stopped the remains of the castle from sliding down the cliffs. The scarecrow plays a role as the supernatural aid that is defined as the hero’s magical helper.

         The next stage is initiation. The hero starts to explore in the unacquainted circumstances and will be confronted with tasks. Once Sophie had entered the castle, she met Calcifer who offered a contract that if Sophie can find and break the spell between him and Howl, he will break the spell on Sophie as well. Finally, Sophie untied the spell between Calcifer and Howl and set them free. However, the one who actually broke the curse of Sophie’s was not Calcifer but Howl. Sophie felt in love with Howl while she was in the castle. For Howl Sophie went to the Palace and argued with Suliman bravely. When the enemy bombed the city, Sophie decided quickly “pulls Calcifer out of the castle to destroy the magic and cut off all ties to the city, so that Howl would not be continually forced to defend them”. In this scene, Sophie turned into her young appearance. Love for Howl changed Sophie from a girl who had walked through life as a hatter to a girl who can struggle against fearful odds for her lover. Her transformation of the character might release her from the spell. That’s why Howl is the one who broke the curse of Sophie’s.

         The final step of the monomyth is return. The hero can stay or back to former life when he/she achieved the goal. After Sophie had completely turned into her original appearance, she stayed in the castle because she was in love with Howl.
          One archetype that can be easily identified in the film is magician. Magician is one of the primary archetypes. Magicians use their power of which intellect and the spiritual were blended prudently with the intention of achieving their own needs. In this film, Howl was depicted as a wizard who had a mighty energy but utterly indifferent to a draft call from the royal house, nearly hanging around doing nothing. He was timid at first. However, once he had obtained assistance from Sophie, he finally discovered what he wanted to protect that was Sophie. In the scene of the city was bombed, Sophie had arrested Howl to participate in the war, but Howl answered :"I've finally waited for someone whom I want to protect even if I die". In order to protect Sophie, Howl transformed into a feathered creature and defended the castle against the attack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl%27s_Moving_Castle_%28film%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

http://mrob.com/pub/std/archetypes.html