Ordinary World Journey

When a character or characters go on a journey that eventually leads up to a life lesson, they are going through the quest cycle. It can also be referred to as the Journey of the Hero. The quest cycle has six stages that characters go through to achieve their primary goal. According to Vogler, the journey of the hero is a cycle with very recognizable stages that the hero must encounter. In Yuri Herrera’s Signs Preceding the End of The World, he describes the many stages the main character, Makina, encounters.
The first stage Vogler mentioned is called The Ordinary World. This is when the reader receives all relevant information and the background of the hero or the main character. During this stage the hero’s problems and conflicts are already established and are waiting to be activated. The Ordinary World is also a place to lay out the theme of the story to the
During this stage an event must happen to help the story evolve after the introduction of the main character is done. As Vogler stated, the call to adventure may come in the form of a message or a new event. A string of accidents or coincidences many be the message that makes the character go on an adventure. In Makina’s sense, her call to adventure would be her mother telling her bring the paper to her brother. In the discussion on therumpus.net it also gave an example of this theme. “Her mother and a warlord-type character named Mr. Aitch send her on a journey across the border with, respectively, a message and a mysterious “small packet wrapped in gold cloth,” and Makina obediently sets off on her quest.” Another example presented was when Makina went and met with Mr. Aitch. “You told my brother where to go to settle some business, said Makina. Now I’m off to find him.” (16). Mr. Aitch’s response also gave detail on the adventure she was encountering, “You gonna cross? He asked eagerly, though the answer was obvious. Makina said Yes.”