Just Keep Swimming

Journeys and quests can be defined as travelling from one place to another. These voyages take up a significant amount of time and are filled with obstacles and lessons to be learned. One Disney movie that features the qualities of a quest or journey is Finding Nemo. In this movie, Nemo does not listen to his dad, Marlin, when he tells him not to go "touch the butt" which is actually a fishing boat. As Nemo swims over and disobeys his father he is caught in a fishing net beginning the journey of Marlin and Dory finding Nemo.

Throughout this journey, both Nemo and Marlin learn important information about each other that they did not see before. Nemo is stuck in a dentist's fish tank with other various fish who help him devise a plan to escape and go back to the ocean. Nemo realizes that even though his father was over protective he was just trying to keep his son safe. As Marlin searches through the ocean with Dory, he faces sharks and jellyfish that make their journey harder than planned. Marlin discovers that some times parents just have to learn to let go and give their children some freedom so that they can grow.

Finding Nemo is just one example of a story about a quest out of many. These types of stories are so popular because everybody goes through some sort of journey throughout their own life. Facing fears and overcoming obstacles to get to your destination, whether it being a physical or mental one, occurs every day. Quests and journeys are a learning experience that teach people about themselves and the other people surrounding them. Just like Dory's annoying song that she sings to Marlin, in order to get to our final destination we must "just keep swimming."

A 17-Year Journey

Quests are some of the most famous stories of all time. Stories with a hero, an antagonist, a destination, a reason to go there, and challenges along the way. These types of stories are always appealing, but why? Maybe because the hero typically overcomes an evil character? Nah. Maybe because the hero overcomes some bad-ass feats and destroys the antagonist in some epic battle? Yes, that's got to be it.

Harry Potter is definitely my all-time favorite quest. It's pretty popular so I won't waste time giving you a synopsis. Basically, what makes it a quest is that it has a hero (Harry), an antagonist (Voldemort), a destination (well, more like a feat, which is defeating the person trying to murder him), a reason to go there (ending evil in the wizarding world), and challenges along the way (his friends dying, fighting off Voldemort, and tasks like retrieving the sorcerer's stone, slaying the basilisk, freeing an innocent prisoner, fighting Voldemort, fighting Voldemort, watching another friend die, and eventually defeating Voldemort). That's about as questy as it gets for any readers.

Quest story

Journey and quest stories have become wildly popular because they allow for people to use their imaginations. When people or characters are taken outside of their element the reader gets to see what lies deep down in the heart of the character. This intrigues people because often time’s people spend their whole lives without ever knowing what they are made of and to what limit they can be pushed. Typical elements of journey stories often include a longing for home or just the opposite, a desire to stay away. There are often trials faced by the main character that he or she could not have imagined. One of my favorite quest stories is the Lord of The Rings. What makes this story a quest story is that it is built around the goal to return the ring. A less obvious example of a quest story is the story, A Beautiful Mind. The main character is taken out of his element and into a new world. He struggles with finding a place in just one world. Eventually he conquers his scitsofrenia efficiently ending his quest for sanity. Quest stories are so intriguing because they go above and beyond a normal story.

Archetypal Journey

The hero's journey is a pattern that can be found in myths, stories, and legends from a range of cultures and time periods. Ancient hero's journeys were not created with an awareness of the pattern. Modern hero's journeys are created with an awareness of the pattern and have been criticized for following the pattern too closely.

Nonetheless, there's a reason that this archetype keeps reappearing. Both the ancient and modern hero represent an able-bodied being that is capable of dealing with situations that "normal" people feel they cannot. As humans, we generally desire all stories to have a so called happy ending because it makes us feel optimistic about life. Whether it be unrealistic situations, such as movies like Star Wars, or even movies involving talking animals such as Finding Nemo, there is always a protagonist and the end almost always has a resolution. The one exception I have found is in horror films, which are meant to leave the audience feeling uneasy and continually scared after the film is over. That is often why the end result is not always the death of the antagonist and why horror films often have sequels.

The most prominent element, other than a physical journey, is quite obviously the spiritual or emotional journey that the main character makes. Whether it's finding love or finding yourself, the character almost always makes some sort of discovery or else the plot line would be essentially flat. These stories also have intended lessons and moral teachings, though most people perceive plots at face value.

My most favorite journey story is Match Point. Although somewhat atypical, it still can follow along the archetype.

Protagonist : Chris- Comes from poor background
Conflict: Affair with Nola & her pregnancy with his child
Solution: Remove Nola from the picture
Theme: Luck


Trailer


Opening Scene


Final Scene

Antigone

In literature, a journey serves as a “plot device” used to further develop the storyline. What is it about a story that stimulates our interest in journeys? What is it about a journey that leaves readers itching for more yet leaves readers discontent if a story lacks one? In some cases, readers simply want to be encouraged. There lies deep satisfaction in a storyline wherein a character, removed from his known world, must venture into the unknown to demonstrate inspiring courage, spirit, and confidence to confront his own personal hardship. The reader observes how the journey has shaped the character’s growth and admires his ability to persist in the face of difficulty. Now able to empathize and identify with the character, the reader feels more inclined to journey toward his/her own hardships and, like the character in the story, is motivated to survive and prosper despite all odds.

In other instances, readers crave a storyline that explores the dark side of a journey and introduces emotional conflict so intense that it keeps the reader turning pages. Some types of these “quest texts” encompass tragic journeys wherein the protagonist, though of a good heart and of likeable character, is slayed for performing actions and holding beliefs that contradict those of authorities/ society.

My favorite “quest text” is a play called Antigone, a tragedy written by Sophocles in 442 BC. This play centers on the Theban princess, Antigone, who goes against Creon’s authoritative proclamation stating that her brother, Polynieces, must lie unburied and open to desecration by the vultures and the dogs. Caught in a precarious dilemma, Antigone must decide where her loyalty lies: with her King or with her kin. Although fully aware that defying Creon could result in her death, she surrenders to her moral obligation to honor her brother and performs the burial procedures allowing his soul to cross over to the underworld. In doing so, she has sacrificed her life for that of her brother’s eternal well-being in. As she walks to her death, Antigone’s journey ends with an inspiring nobleness and spiritedness as she holds firm in her belief to protect her kin.