Adventures in Babynapping

H.I. McDunnough’s Hero’s Journey

When thinking of 12 steps the first thing that usually leaps to mind is the AA Twelve Step Program. However, there is another journey that can be made in twelve steps—the “Hero’s Journey.”

Joseph Campbell, the historian and folklorist, first founded the twelve steps. However, Andrew Glassner makes Campbell’s original presentation of the twelve steps a bit more user-friendly in his book, “Interactive Storytelling.” Glassner uses The Matrix, Sling Blade, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to illustrate the steps on the hero’s journey. Here, I will illustrate the hero’s journey using one of the quintessential epics of our time—the Cohen brothers’ film Raising Arizona.

Step 1: The Ordinary World. According to Glassner, this is the starting point, the place where we find the hero in everyday life, the place where he exists before starting out on the hero’s journey.

The ordinary world of our hero, H.I. McDunnough, known as “Hi”, begins in prison where Hi is known as a “repeat offender”. While in prison he meets the “desert flower”, Edwina, who he marries. They spend their lives in relative peace watching sunsets over the desert and attempting to procreate.

Step 2: Call to Adventure. In the hero’s journey something occurs that disrupts the natural balance of the ordinary world. The hero must respond to this occurrence in order to restore order to his ordinary world.

The peace of the desert trailer and daily procreation attempts of Hi and Edwina are completely thrown into chaos when Edwina’s doctor explains that “this woman who looked as fertile as the Tennessee Valley” could not conceive. The McDunnoughs are unable to adopt due to Hi’s “checkered past.” All of this throws the childless Edwina into a state of complete despondence. Then the news arrives that Florence Arizona, the wife of the owner of a chain of furniture stores, Nathan Arizona, family has had quintuplets—which are, in the words of the joking Nathan, “more than we can handle.” Edwina and Hi plot to assist the Arizonas in their plight by taking one of the tots off the hands of the Arizonas.

Step 3: Refusal of the Call. In this portion of the story the hero, while recognizing that action is needed to correct the imbalance in the ordinary world, nevertheless attempts to avoid taking that action.

While Edwina waits outside in the car, Hi climbs a ladder and enters the Arizona nursery on the second floor of the house. Hi, though initially in accord with Edwina on the baby relief plan, changes his mind once he sees the babies face-to-face. He returns, baby-less, to the waiting Edwina.

Step 4: Meeting with the Mentor. The mentor, who may be someone the hero has known all his life, pushes the hero to act.

Edwina demands that Hi get out of the car and to “go back in there” and get her a baby. Hi understands that returning with a baby is the only way to placate Edwina. He returns to the house and retrieves a child. He and Edwina then go home to celebrate.

Step 5: Crossing the Threshold. At this point in the story, the hero travels into a “special world.” (Glassner, 61) The special world can be a different place or a different state of mind.

Hi and Edwina’s celebration of their new family is interrupted by Gale and Evelle, two of Hi’s prison buddies who tunneled their way out of prison via a sewer line. Gale and Evelle ultimately realize that the McDunnough baby is actually the Arizona baby and that returning the child to the Arizona family brings a hefty reward. The baby is then re-kidnapped—this time by Gale and Evelle.

Step 6: Tests, Allies, Enemies. The hero meets those who attempt to thwart him on his quest as well as those who attempt to aid him.

Hi, in attempting to retrieve his twice-stolen baby, encounters several enemies. His friends, Gale and Evelle, are now his enemies having stolen what Hi stole first. Hi also encounters the mysterious biker Leonard Smalls who steals the twice stolen Arizona baby from Gale and Evelle. Edwina remains faithful to Hi, accompanying him on the quest to retrieve their pseudo-son. Hi is tested on the quest by not only Gale and Evelle but by the biker as well.

Step 6a: Meeting With the Goddess. At this point in the story the hero meets with an archetypal mother figure.

In Raising Arizona this step seems to be introduced early on when Hi meets Edwina in prison.

Step 6b: Atonement with the Father. Here the hero meets with an archetypal father figure who “tests and judges the hero”. (Glassner, 63)

Hi learns that the biker, Smalls, now has possession of the Arizona baby and sets out to confront him. The biker seems to do double duty here, serving not only as a figure of judgment but as a shadow type figure as well having the exact same tattoo as Hi in exactly the same place on his body.

Step 7: Approaching the Cave. The hero continues on his quest as the stakes get higher and the tests more challenging.

Hi tracks down Smalls and realizes that he will have to physically fight the giant in what will be a battle not only for the retrieval of the baby but for Hi’s very own life itself.

Step 8: The Ordeal. The hero enters the cave to “face the ordeal” (Glassner, 63) that awaits him. This is the “final obstacle before the attainment of his goal”. (Glassner, 63) This is not the end of the story, but the set-up for the climax.

Hi battles Smalls for the baby and for his life.

Step 9: The Reward. This is when the hero finally “attains the overt goal of his quest.” (Glassner, 64)

Hi defeats Smalls and he and Edwina retrieve the Arizona baby.

Step 10: The Road Back. Even though the hero has attained his goal, the story is not yet over. Now the task is to return to the ordinary world with that which he has attained.

Hi and Edwina, realizing the folly of their plan, decide to return the baby to the Arizona family.

Step 11: Resurrection. This is the final showdown between the hero and the villain. This is where the villain is destroyed either physically or psychologically.

Having defeated Smalls, Hi now faces the challenge of the enemy within—himself and his propensity toward crime and engaging in less than intelligent endeavors. He is facing the loss of his family as Edwina has stated that she believes that not only are they unfit parents but they are unfit together, period.

Step 12: Returning with the Elixir. When the hero returns home triumphant with the object of his quest in hand it is the end of the journey. This is the stage that Joseph Campbell “refers to as returning with the elixir.” (Glassner, 65) This return, while sometimes joyful, can also sometimes elicit less than excited reactions from the folks in the ordinary world.

Hi and Edwina return the Arizona baby to its rightful parents. Nathan Arizona, the child’s father, is initially overjoyed at his son’s return but soon realizes that Hi and Edwina are the people responsible for his loss in the first place. Hi has realized his goal but at the cost of possibly losing his marriage. However, upon the advice of Nathan, Hi and Edwina decide to sleep on the idea of divorce and during the night Hi has what appears to be a prophetic dreams outlining a happy future with Edwina replete with children all their own.

As Glassner says, the Hero's Journey "is not a formula, in the sense that following it does not guarantee a great story, and deviating from it does not guarantee a bad story" (Glassner, 66) but it is a helpful guide to use when analyzing stories--from classical to contemporary works.