Myths and Archetypes: The Hero’s Journey in Django Unchained

FACULTAD de FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS DEPARTAMENTO de FILOLOGÍA INGLESA Grado en Estudios Ingleses TRABAJO DE FIN DE GRADO Myths and Archetypes: The Hero’s Journey in Django Unchained María Gurpegui Palacios Tutora: Marta María Gutiérrez Rodríguez 2018-2019 ABSTRACT The Antebellum South has always raised interest in contemporary writers, as it is one of the most aching periods of American history. This is the reason it is a recurrent topic in American literature, in which some patterns are commonly followed in order to build a story. Myths and archetypes are a recurrent tool in order to frame those stories. Django Unchained is framed into those archetypes adapted to this moment in history. The present dissertation aims at analyzing the way in which the archetype of the hero and his journey is vital to understand this story. In order to do this, the different stages and phases of the hero’s journey will be confronted with the plot of the movie. Results aim to offer an insight into whether this pattern and archetype are more or less present in the movie. Keywords: hero, archetype, Django Unchained, slavery, journey, Shango. RESUMEN El periodo anterior a la Guerra de Secesión estadounidense siempre ha despertado el interés de los escritores modernos, ya que es uno de los períodos más dolorosos de la historia de Estados Unidos. Por eso es un tema recurrente en la literatura estadounidense, en la que se siguen algunos patrones para construir una historia. Los mitos y arquetipos son una herramienta recurrente para enmarcar esas historias. Django Unchained se enmarca dentro de esos arquetipos adaptados a este momento de la historia. El presente Trabajo de Fin de Grado tiene como objetivo analizar la forma en que el arquetipo del héroe y su viaje es vital para entender esta historia. Para ello, las diferentes etapas y fases del viaje del héroe serán contrastadas con la trama de la película. Los resultados buscan demostrar si este patrón y arquetipo están más o menos presentes en la película. Palabras clave: héroe, arquetipo, Django Unchained, esclavitud, viaje, Shango. Table of contents Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1. Theoretical framework .......................................................................................... 3 1.1. Django Unchained .................................................................................... 3 1.2. The Hero’s Journey .................................................................................... 4 1.2.1. Origin and influences ............................................................................ 5 1.2.2. Stages and phases .................................................................................. 7 1.3. Archetypes ............................................................................................... 16 1.3.1. The hero ......................................................................................... 16 1.3.2. The mentor ..................................................................................... 17 2. Analysis ............................................................................................................... 19 2.1. Django’s monomyth ................................................................................. 19 2.1.1. Stages and phases ........................................................................... 19 2.2. The hero and the mentor .......................................................................... 26 2.2.1. The hero ......................................................................................... 26 2.2.1.1.Yoruba cults: Shango ................................................................... 27 2.2.1.1.1. Django as Shango ................................................................. 27 2.2.2. The mentor ..................................................................................... 29 3. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 31 4. References ........................................................................................................... 33 1 Introduction The motif of the journey in American literature has been present since its beginning, in each of its stages: discovery, exploration, and colonization. America is a nation with a social base composed of foreigners and expatriates engaged in a search for fortune, identity, and freedom, which can still be perceived now. This has set the pillars of culture, literature and, consequently, American filmography (Barrio, 2004). Throughout the history of American literature, we find instances of journeys towards freedom, identity, adventure, initiation, friendship, as well as sociological and historical factors, following the history of the nation. In the historical factors, we find the case of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1851) by Harriet Beecher Stowe where she presents a journey of a black slave towards freedom. These literary predecessors lead to think that every story that has been written in American literature (and filmography) will follow this model. The following dissertation aims to probe how this pattern was followed in the development and writing of Django’s plot scheme, relating it not only to the hero’s journey as such but to other elements that Tarantino might have taken to build up his script, such as other archetypes as the mentor. If this hypothesis is confirmed we could argue that Django Unchained (2012) shapes a pastiche of already existing motifs and elements, blended together. Because of this expected mix, changes in the chronology of the phases and omission of some are expected as the director is free to build up the story with the already existing elements. To confirm this hypothesis, Joseph Campbell’s analysis of the hero’s journey will be evaluated and contrasted with the storyline drawn by Tarantino. Also, the main features of the mentor archetype will be taken into consideration. In general terms the dissertation will be organized in three main chapters: a theoretical framework, the analysis of the plot of the mentioned movie and, finally, the conclusions reached. The analysis will mainly focus on the stages and phases stated in Campbell’s work The Hero with a Thousand Faces (2004) that have been proved to appear in many of the stories that engage us nowadays, such as Star Wars (1977), Harry Potter (1997) and The Matrix (1999). From all these narratives we can extract the same pattern of the hero applied to different scenarios. 2 As African folklore may also have an effect in the development of the main character, an African-American, together with this analysis an overview of African folklore will be provided to contrast it with the character of Django as the archetypal figure of the hero. Taking into account how the portrayal of African deities influences our culture without being noticed. The reason for selecting this matter has to do with my personal interest in the way in which culture, literature, and history affect society, and how they are adapted to the screen, especially dealing with archetypes and the portrayal of these in modern-day culture, and how black characters are portrayed in relation with African folklore. 3 1. Theoretical framework 1.1. Django Unchained In the movie Django Unchained (2012) Quentin Tarantino presents the story of a former slave, Django, who partners with Dr. King Schultz, a bounty hunter, to rescue his wife who has been sold away from him to Calvin Candie, a sadistic plantation owner. The movie is set as a Spaghetti Western filled with violence and revision of American history, that reminds of the homonymous film Django (1966) by Sergio Corbucci. The director masters in portraying history from a different point of view in all his movies, as we can also see in Inglorious Basterds (2009). This time, he portrays a black slave that finds freedom and the possibility of avenging his cause, while this was not the common thing at the time, years before the absolution of slavery in the Antebellum South. This makes the figure of Django less reliable but more heroic, making the audience empathize with the protagonist and demanding his revenge, although it is not historically accurate. Tarantino breaks with the prototypical western movie by introducing as the hero an Afro-American character in 1858. As expected, the main character of a western will have some kind of aid, in the form of a counterpart. For Django, his counterpart and ally is the German bounty hunter that assists him and frees him from the Speck brothers. Although Dr. King Schultz does not act selflessly, as he expects Django to help him identifying some wanted men (the Brittle brothers) in order to obtain the bounties, he becomes his friend and decides to take the risk and help him to plot a plan to rescue his friend’s wife. Django will obtain his freedom as he accepts Schultz’s offer: to help him to identify the Brittle brothers. In exchange, he does not only obtain his long wanted freedom but also Schultz will share the bounty with him. The core theme of the plot is Django’s evolution. At the very beginning, Django is presented with a group of slaves that are going to be sold, he is wearing just a rag which he will later take off as soon as Dr. Schultz buys him. Visibly scared, as he does not understand Schultz’s real intentions, he enters a saloon and is offered his first beer, following the German tradition of offering something to drink to someone you have just met. After doing so, Django is encouraged to make his first decision as a free man, which happens to be choosing his own clothes. His outfit, blue satin jacket, knee britches, and 10 It is possible that the hero may actually be murdered during this part of the action of the myth, but by also returning he demonstrates that there is nothing to fear because he, accompanied by his mentor, is actually indestructible (Campbell, 83-88). STAGE TWO: INITIATION The stage of "initiation" represents the second stage of the Hero's Journey and the locus of the hero's most severe tests. Phase 1: The Road of Trials In the opening phase of the initiation stage, subsequently having crossed the threshold, the hero has landed in a new alien environment and atmosphere where he must overcome a succession of trials and ordeals. This phase has been profoundly employed in literature, being the one that is nearly always present in the literary heroic works. Once having traversed the threshold, the hero moves in a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he must survive a succession of trials. This is a favourite phase of the myth adventure. It has produced a world literature of miraculous tests and ordeals. The hero is covertly aided by the advice, amulets, and secret agents of the supernatural helper whom he met before his entrance into this region. Or it may be that he here discovers for the first time that there is a benign power everywhere supporting him in his supernatural passage (Campbell, 89) From this statement, we can assume that the hero must put aside his pride, life, virtue, beauty, etc. so that these things do not gain power over him. The hero must face putting his ego to death. In doing so, he sees glimpses of the wonderful land in small trivial victories (Campbell, 89-100). Phase 2: The Meeting with the Goddess When all the trials have been conquered, the ultimate adventure is often represented as a mystical union between the hero and the “Queen Goddess of the World”. This is the zenith point and can be played out on various physical stages or in the depth of the heart. 11 Campbell understands that the goddess is the final test of the talent of the hero, by their meeting the hero is able to win the boon of love. This goddess can be both a mystical or supernatural being or an ordinary woman with whom the hero gains support and synergy. It is a representation of the feminine side of the hero that gives him a sense of wholeness when they join by their unconditional and perfect love. This feminine figure also represents beauty and is a reply to the hero’s desires, symbolizing creation, birth, and nurture. She is a mother, sister, mistress, bride, etc. she is the incarnation of the promise of perfection. She can also be understood as the ‘universal mother’ that gives the new unknown world feminine attributes of protection and nourishment. (Campbell, 101). However, there is also the possibility that this goddess might be absent, hampering, forbidding, clinging or desired but forbidden. Whether present or absent, the goddess requires of the hero a 'gentle heart'. The meeting with the goddess (who is incarnate in every woman) is the final test of the talent of the hero to win the boon of love which is life itself enjoyed as the encasement of eternity. (Campbell, 109) Phase 3: Woman as the Temptress The moment the hero reaches this stage, he finds himself in his father’s place and is one with him, not being only at the same physical point but at the same point in the course of life but having acquired the same knowledge. This figure may well be a person in high authority or someone who has significant power (a god or immortal in some kind) in some way in the world or over the hero. The father figure may even be something symbolic, such as an ideal or concept which acts as a directive to the hero (Campbell, 116-139). At the same time, he has to acknowledge his temptations and limitations. Humans need to get to the essence of their evil nature instead of justifying or blaming someone else. This is the reason why along the way, the hero may face temptation, often in female form. The temptress main purpose is to test and consequently demonstrate the integrity of the hero, offering and granting an easy gratification or gain in his path. She portrays, in contrast with the goddess, material things or the physical flesh, usually associated with passions and desires. When the hero refuses her and her gifts, he demonstrates his values and how he is fully devoted to the achievement of his primary goal. By testing his strength, he develops his capacity to make difficult judgments. 12 This is the main temptation that the hero must address but this realization can produce revulsion. When the hero experiences revulsion, the world, body and especially woman become symbols of defeat and sin. The hero "Meets with the Goddess" for additional strength and resolve, but to be faithful to the goddess he must face down the "Woman as the Temptress" and then achieve "Atonement with the Father" (Campbell, 111-116). Phase 4: Atonement with the Father At this point, the hero must confront his father, abandoning what he thought to be good and what he thought to be sin. One important reason is that the hero endures initiation at the hands of the father which shatters his ego, often with the help of the female figure. The hero finally discovers that the father and mother are in essence the same as they reflect each other. When the hero meets the father, they open themselves to the understanding of the pain and suffering in the world, but now it is validated in the deity, they both have God’s mercy. The difficult relationship between the father and the hero has been restored, achieving his ‘father’ approval. By understanding, the hero is atoned. For those who know the father, there is the comfort of everlasting 'Presence' (Campbell, 116-139). The problem of the hero going to meet the father is to open his soul beyond terror to such a degree that he will be ripe to understand how the sickening and insane tragedies of this vast and ruthless cosmos are completely validated in the majesty of Being. (Campbell, 135) Phase 5: Apotheosis After having overcome the Road of Trials, resisting the Woman as a Temptress and the reconciliation of Atonement with the Father, in this phase, the hero is upgraded to a divine, god-like, status. This is a point of realization in which a greater understanding is achieved. Armed with this new knowledge and perception, the hero is resolved and ready for the more challenging part of the adventure. The godlike being is the pattern of the divine state to which the hero attains who has gone beyond the last terrors of ignorance...This is the release potential within us all, and which anyone can attain - through hero-hood. (Campbell, 137) 13 The image of creation stands at the beginning of the cosmogonic cycle and at the conclusion of the hero-task. The divine form is found and remembered and wisdom is regained. Phase 6: The Ultimate Boon At this stage of the adventure the hero has two possibilities: having encountered little opposition, then he is a 'superior man, a born king'; or facing tests, then he is a usual hero. Any oppositions that the hero may face at this stage are the guardians or bestowers of an indestructible life. This indestructibility is the concept of an eternal soul which cannot be afflicted. “The supreme boon desired for the Indestructible Body is uninterrupted residence in the Paradise of the Milk that Never Fails” (Campbell, 162). The hero is after his grace, the power of his sustaining substance. Myths designate this sustaining substance energy, fertility, consecration, and illumination. If the gods do not release the gift, the hero may actually need to trick them out. If the hero is able to gain the ultimate boon, not only are they annihilated, but the Father as well. The masks are thus removed (Campbell, 159-178). STAGE THREE: RETURN Although we find many narratives where the hero never returns, as in many modernist writings as in Henry James or Ernest Hemingway, where the return would imply emotional chaos, alienation and a disroot of the hero, it is an important part of the archetypal journey of the hero and it tends to be followed in many stories. The hero’s return in a series of phases that end in the transfer of the “Ultimate Boon” to society, as well as to the hero’s conquest of his own internal psychological barriers. Phase 1: Refusal of the Return When the hero-quest has been accomplished, through penetration to the source, or through the grace of some male or female, human or animal, personification, the adventurer still must return with his life-transmuting trophy. To complete his adventure, the hero must return to the ordinary world, the realm of humanity, with his boon, once it has been obtained. Return, wisdom, blessing or another such gain renews the community, 14 nation, planet or universe. The hero, however, can refuse to return, especially if he doubts that the boon will be well received upon his return (Campbell, 179-182). Phase 2: The Magic Flight At this point the hero has two possible options: if he has gained the boon through the support of the gods or his helper, his return will be fully supported by the supernatural powers. On the other hand, if he has gained it by stealth or trickery, the pursuit is the result, often with obstruction. Sometimes the hero can leave items behind to speak for him, thus delaying pursuit. At other times the hero can put his own delaying obstacles in the road of the pursuer, but the hero should not challenge the opposing powers lightly (Campbell, 182-192). Chase games are a common pattern after the climax of the Ultimate Boon. They combine the emotion of fear of being caught with the hope for escape and salvation. Therefore, the hero does not always succeed in his flight from the opposing powers, and then he fails The myths of failure touch us with the tragedy of life, but those of success only with their own incredibility. And yet, if the monomyth is to fulfill its promise, not human failure or superhuman success but human success is what we shall have to be shown. That is the problem of the threshold of the return. (Campbell, 192) Phase 3: Rescue from Without The hero may need help from his own world in order to return from his supernatural adventure by assistance from without. This means that the world may have to come and get him. He might be rescued from an unexpected source, or someone who had previously abandoned him (Campbell, 192). As the hero is brought back from without, the final crisis arises. His miraculous excursion to the unknown and his adventure as a whole has been a prelude, an anticipation for what is to happen. Whether he has been rescued from without, driven from within, or simply carried along by the guiding deities; he needs to re-enter. With his newly gained boon the long-forgotten scenery where humankind and man in general believe in him as a complete being, while, in fact, is a being fractured that conforms the wholeness. The 15 hero will face this new environment and confront it with his boon to shatter and them redeem them (Campbell, 201). Phase 4: The Crossing of the Return Threshold Though there are two worlds, the divine, and the human, the hero discovers during his journey that they are in fact one. The realm of the gods is a forgotten dimension of the world we know. And the exploration of that dimension, either willingly or unwillingly, is the whole sense of the deed of the hero. The values and distinctions that in normal life seem so important to disappear with the terrifying assimilation of the self into what was formally otherness. (Campbell, 201) There is tension and inconsistency between the wisdom achieved in the divine world and the prudence that is found in the natural, which can result in the degeneration of the human existence. The boon is 'rationalized into nonentity' and another hero is needed to refresh the natural world. The biggest trial for the hero then is actually trying to teach the inhabitants of his world the wisdom of the divine, when those around him have 'unlearned' it on previous occasions. One of the first steps for the hero, in order to do this, is to accept the reality of the world he has returned to, despite the supernatural experience they have just had. In other words, the hero must 'survive the impact of the world' and must 'knit together' the two worlds of their experience (Campbell, 201-212). Phase 5: Master of the Two Worlds If the hero is able to integrate the two worlds, he has then the freedom to pass back and forth across the two, but not contaminate one with the other’s principles. He is the master of both worlds fully recognizing the virtues from one in the other (Campbell, 212). Phase 6: Freedom to Live The intention of the hero’s adventure is to discharge the need to either justify one’s sin or to sink into despair at the meaningless of life. If the hero is able to do this he enjoys powerful insight, is free in action and able to communicate the Law to others (Campbell, 221-226). 16 The hero is the champion of things becoming, not of things become, because he is [...] He does not mistake apparent changelessness in time for permanence of Being, nor is he fearful of the next moment (or of the "other thing"), as destroying the permanent with its change. (Campbell, 225). In this diagram there is a visual representation of the three stages and the seventeen phases of Campbell’s monomyth: Image 1. Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth (Harris) 1.3. Archetypes 1.3.1. The Hero The figure of the hero is the archetype that is most frequently used in literature being the principal piece of the narrative, appearing not only in stories but in ancient myths. It represents the process of overcoming obstacles and difficulties to achieve specific quests or goals. From a mythical perspective, the hero’s main objective would be to find a hidden treasure, save a princess, and return with the elixir of life. In his work Archetypes and Collective Unconscious (1981) Jung states that: “The hero’s main feat is to overcome the monster of darkness: it is the long-hoped-for and 17 expected triumph of consciousness over the unconscious” (Jung,167). The hero’s quest can be taken as metaphor’s for the hero’s true feelings and potential. The hero suffers a process of individuation where he must assimilate unconscious contents as opposed to being overwhelmed by them. Jung introduced the term and explains in the following quote: The pathological element does not lie in the existence of these ideas, but in the dissociation of consciousness that can no longer control the unconscious. In all cases of dissociation it is therefore necessary to integrate the unconscious into consciousness. This is a synthetic process which I have termed the individuation process. (Jung, 40) Jung theorizes that dissociation is the natural necessity for consciousness to operate which consists of the ability of the mind to keep separate parts that should be united whether they are perceptions, feelings, thoughts or memories. 1.3.2. The Mentor The figure of the mentor is one of the archetypes that we encounter more frequently in dreams, myths, and stories. Generally, it is a positive figure that helps and instructs the hero, protecting and gifting him in his journey. He also offers dramatic functions to the story. The mentor archetype has two major functions: teaching/guiding and gift-giving. The one that stands out the most is the training, the hero needs to learn and train, and the mentor is the one in charge of his instruction. The call of the adventure having being successfully met, heroes can count on supernatural aids that may provide them with charms or talismans to help them along the way. This is the Mentor archetype, which primitive societies usually identified with an old woman or a fairly godmother. Higher mythologies developed the role of the helper in the figure of a teacher, a guide, a conductor of souls to the afterworld. The archetype really stands as a benevolent, protective power of destiny, supporting the present, helping and guiding the hero into the future. (Ancarani, 41) The mentor supplies the hero with an object or a gift. According to Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale (1928), we can identify that the function of the donor or provider (as he called this figure) is to proportionate a gift to the hero. The hero must gain this reward. He must prove his value, either by learning, sacrifice or compromise. Campbell states that mentors may be “protective and dangerous, motherly and fatherly at the same time,” uniting in themselves all the ambiguities of the unconscious, this making evident the “support of our conscious personality by that other, larger system” 18 (Campbell, 67). Because of this, mentors are enigmatic, and they may sometimes lead the hero into trouble. According to Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers (2007), the mentor is there to protect the hero and to help him discern between right and wrong. More often than not, the mentor is teaching the hero lessons he has learned from his own experience. Mentors are often former heroes who have survived the quest and are now passing the lessons they have learned to the hero who is just starting out. The last main function of the mentor that we will deal with in this section is to motivate the hero in his quest and help him to overcome fear. There are very reluctant and fearful heroes who need a mentor to push them into the adventure. Therefore, the mentor will be a key part in their journey, even if he does only encourage him to take the risk and does not give him any marvelous or supernatural aid. 19 2. Analysis 2.1. Django’s monomyth In this section, I am going to focus on the story beneath Django: Unchained (2012) under Campbell’s Hero’s Journey conception and its particular stages and phases. Before getting into the analysis we have to point out that the director of the movie has mixed the order of the steps already explained in the previous chapter. Even though Django embodies an alternative type of hero, he embarks on the archetypical heroic journey to save his wife Broomhilda. Django’s evolution throughout the film is a core theme of the plot, this is the main reason why I have decided to analyze Django as the hero of the story although other analysis may take Dr. Schultz as the hero and not Django’s mere mentor. 2.1.1. Stages and phases STAGE 1: DEPARTURE In the very first scene of the movie we are introduced to the protagonist, Django. He is presented in his “ordinary world”. He is brought onto the screen in a line of black men, all chained together. These men are slaves that have been purchased at a recent auction. They are in a slave-trade caravan lead by the Speck Brothers in Texas. Django seems to have been whipped repeatedly, as we are allowed to see the noticeable scars on his back. For the character, this is his ordinary world where he is sold, bought and mistreated for his “condition”. Phase 1: Call to adventure At this point, we are introduced to Dr. King Schultz Django’s future mentor. In this scene, Dr. Schultz is coming towards the group of slaves and their owners. First, he introduces himself as a dentist but later we will find that this is to be not completely true, as he is, in fact, a bounty hunter. He starts inquiring about a slave from a certain plantation. By inquiring them, he is proposing a quest to Django, even though this remains hidden. This adventure is a metaphor for Django’s freedom, which will only be fulfilled with Schultz’s help. 26 to the ordinary world once he has mastered both worlds and is free to live away from slavery. In the following chart, we can see an overview of Campbell’s stages and phases in comparison to the ones that appear in the movie. CAMPBELL DJANGO I: Departure The call to adventure The call to adventure Refusal of the call Refusal of the call Supernatural aid Supernatural aid Crossing the first threshold Crossing the first threshold The belly of the whale II: Initiation The road of trials The road of trials The meeting with the goddess Temptation away from the true path Atonement with the Father Apotheosis (becoming god-like) The belly of the whale The ultimate boon The ultimate boon III: Return Refusal of the return The magic flight The magic flight Rescue from without Rescue from without Crossing the return threshold Crossing the return threshold Master of the two worlds Master of the two worlds Freedom to live Freedom to live Table 1. Campbell’s monomyth compared to Django’s storyline 2.2. The hero and the mentor 2.2.1. The hero Taking as a starting point Campbell’s analysis and study of myths and stories from a huge variety of sources, which include tribal groups, animistic worshippers, eastern mysticism, polytheistic religions and the three mainline monotheistic religions, in this section we will approach the character of Django from the point of view of the African culture and its different religions in order to attempt to make a link connecting his figure in the movie and the main traits of deities that may resemble the highlights of his personality and actions. 27 2.2.1.1. Yoruba cults: Shango The Yoruba are one of the larger African societies, counting well over 10,000,000 in Nigeria. That they are people of great antiquity in this region of Africa is implied by the tendency of linguists to agree that their language has been spoken, as a separate member of the Kwa group, for several thousand years (Fagg, 25). In this African area they worship deities known as orishas that conform the Yoruba cult. For this undergraduate dissertation having a brief background on Shango’s worship, a very powerful orisha will be necessary for the following sections. The worship of Shango, the deity who images his power in thunder and lighting, is largely found in the central and southwestern areas of Yorubaland, which were once part of the Oyo empire of the eighteen century. Wars with Dahomey and the involvement of Oyo’s kings in slave trade with Europeans resulted in the transmission of Shango worship to Dahoney and to the Americas. (Fagg,196) Shango is the legendary fourth King of ancient Oyo; his rule was marked by a brilliant but capricious use of power. This powerful reign ended as he brought devastation upon his city and the royal family. This misfortune would have had not happened if he had not misused his magical powers to raise severe thunderstorms. This fatal event was followed by shame, Shango was ridiculed by his chiefs, who had long suffered under his ability to create divisions among them. Shango was condemned to ostracism and journeyed to Koso where he finally died. Although the arguable king had left the city and his rule, troubles continued to plague Oyo. Meanwhile, while chaos ran over the city, his worshippers declared that Shango had not died, but had become an orisha and was avenging himself upon those who had usurped his legitimate throne (Fagg,196-197) 2.2.1.1.1. Django as Shango First of all, to understand the approach of this section, we have to take into consideration that this is not the first movie to take as a starting point a protagonist with the name of Django. In 1966, the movie Django, an Italian Spaghetti Western movie was released. Although the protagonist of this movie is not an Afro-American slave, as, in Django, both movies have a similar motif in general terms: Spaghetti Western. Also, it is noticeable that Tarantino himself admits to have been inspired by this film by including a small paper for Franco Nero, who was the protagonist in Django (1966). However, it 28 was not the only movie with a similar title, in 1970 another Italian Spaghetti western was released by Edoardo Mulargia: Shango. The name of both figures, Shango and Django, have a phonetic similarity that not only suggests a relation between them but a link to something more remote, to the West African god of fire, thunder and lightning, masculinity, and justice: Shango. As Tarantino’s protagonist is an Afro-American figure it is easy to connect these two figures at first. Ancient African heroes have been remixed or versioned through time, embedding themselves into a modern narrative with or without the knowing collusion of the author. Shango is the legendary fourth king of Oyo-Ile. He passed tragically at Koso but was redeemed by his followers when they proclaimed him an orisha, a deity, whose powers were imaged in thunder and lighting (Fagg, 74). His power is a dangerous force and must be carried with great care as it can give birth and create empires, but as Shango is constantly suffering the temptation to exceed its proper limits he can destroy everything, not only what he has created. To worship the thunder god meant not only to be possessed by a seemingly capricious and violent power, but to have to strive for composure beneath the weight of the explosive thunderax, edun ara. Thus, the dance wand, oshe, of the Shango worshipper images the religious stance that must be taken in the face of the reality of violence and death in human experience, which Shango embodies (Fagg,166) We can establish a comparison with Django’s character in the sense that Django, while being a slave (chained), has also his power and violence under control, but the moment he is freed (unchained) his power and violence can flow. Although Django is not a capricious character, as he is a hero that seeks justice, he wants to end with the institution of slavery. In those terms, they are similar, as Django is tempted, whether by having the opportunity to recover his wife or to blow up the plantation that symbolizes his suffering. He lets his violent power flow and destroys everything that gets on his path with fire, just as Shango, as god of fire and lighting, would have done. Both personalities are powerful, persuasive and feared, Shango by his worshippers, Django by white men that are uncertain of how to act in front of a black man that is no longer a slave. Django may be a representation of Shango, a kind of embodiment of his mystical African past, or just a mere worshipper that follows his doctrine, as the Yoruba cults were already established in America at the time this possibility is also strong. In both cases, 29 Django Unchained presents reminiscences of the Yoruba culture and Shango, in one way or the other. 2.2.2. The mentor Schultz is clearly, as stated in previous sections, Django’s mentor in the sense that he does not only train him but he gifts his freedom. But their relationship is not the one we are accustomed to. Schultz occupies a two-fold position: he is Django’s mentor and at the same time his sidekick. Schultz does not only free Django, but he teaches him how to be a bounty hunter. These instructions will help Django to keep himself alive as the story flows. It must be noted that Schultz, just like Django, is a character created as an archetype and not based on an amalgamation of stereotypes. As there are not widely spread narratives of white men that abhorred slavery and befriended slaves, even participating in their freedom, Schultz comments on his sense of obligation to Django since he is the first human he has ever freed and it is not a common practice. From the very beginning, Django trusts Schultz. Although their first encounter was dishonest, Schultz opens up and offers him a way to escape his current state and therefore Django follows him and his advice. Schultz can be taken as a paternal figure that knows everything about the ordinary and the new world that is presenting him: freedom, and is willing to guide Django. In his conquest to track down the “bad” men that he is looking for, he takes Django on his journey with him because he is in need of his help. In this relationship both have interests to fulfill. In a way, Schultz is controlling Django as he knows that he needs him to make a living and to get his wife back. He has freed him, but at the same time, he is manipulating him for his own interests. Schultz knows how to use every situation to his advantage and only frees Django when they captured the Brittle Brothers. Schultz would kill anyone, anywhere, in front of family, in front of a crowd, in any circumstance (which we see in the movie as he kills a man in front of his own son, or kills the sheriff in front of the whole town) and he always finds a justification; he is only doing what is right because he is killing “bad” men. Schultz is teaching Django lessons he has learned from his own experience and these, although they can be understood as not moral, are the ones that keep him alive. From this, we understand that the figure of the mentor, still a morally unaccepted figure, is there to protect and help the hero to discern between 30 right and wrong for the hero’s benefit. And only for the hero’s benefit, even though it may cause an impact in society. As the action progresses, Schultz moves from the realm of the mentor into the realm of the sidekick as Django comes into his own as a bounty hunter and a strategist, thanks to his training. Mentors usually are misfits of society, even though Schultz is supposed to work for the system as a bounty hunter, he enjoys the process of “hunting” and being alone far from society and its established strict rules. This is why the mentor lives separately from the other characters, like an outcast as he does not live among them. Although the mentor lives outside of society, everybody seems to know him, if not to respect him. We can see this in the figure of Schultz as in how Candie behaves around him. He does not know him but, because of his appearance and his knowledge, he trusts him, unaware of his real intentions. From these “lies”, we can assume that the mentor is not very reliable as, from the very beginning, he is wearing a façade of a dentist, and there is no way that the audience can discern among his words truths and lies. Schultz’s main duty as Django’s mentor is to keep him alive, and he feels this sense of obligation as he has freed him. At the same time, he is training his pupil and encourages him to improve his talents not only by the gift that is given to Django but by guiding him morally to become a true bounty hunter and a true freed man. 31 3. Conclusion After having carried out an exhaustive analysis of the stages and phases presented by Joseph Campbell, applied to Tarantino’s work, we can extract some conclusions regarding the way the pattern has permeated into this storyline and many others. In general, we can see how some of the phases are presented, and as expected, appear in the plot, while others have been omitted or disregarded in the composition of the movie. It makes sense that not every phase has been included, as the author introduces elements from other genres, as it is a Spaghetti Western movie and that some do not have a place in modern times, such as the “Woman as the Temptress” phase, because as we can observe women do not play a significant role rather than the damsel in distress. As the director decides only to focus on racist issues, leaving aside the role of women, they appear neither as temptation or salvation. Women appear as any other character, not being any crucial role rather than the “ultimate boon” in the case of Broomhilda. This is the reason we find the omission of the phases “The Meeting with the Goddess” and the “Woman as the Temptress”. Related to these two phases we had “Temptation Away from the True Path” which has also been omitted by the director, centering the plot over racial issues and Django’s revenge. Tarantino also decides to omit the phase related with the deity, “Atonement with the father” as it had nothing to do with the actual storyline. As we anticipated we did not only find omission but altered order, the order of the different phases has been altered to make the narrative more dynamic, appearing "The Belly of the Whale" much later than in Campbell's scheme. Regarding the results obtained in this dissertation, we can see an example of how in American filmography we can still find the presence of myths and archetypes adapted to contemporary times. This makes us believe that every story has the same pattern and characters but with different places and names. Everything is a pastiche of something already existing, which does not imply copying but rather a post-modernist way of creating. As everything has been already created, authors have to play with already existing forms. Nevertheless, there are many other elements that can be analyzed as to how the movie portrays racism not through the entity of slavery itself but through the character of Stephen, the black minion that hates black people and behaves like a slaver. This character seems to be a reinterpretation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1851). In the original, Stowe 32 presents a white person’s idealized vision of how a slave should respond to persecution. This time, Tarantino presents a black slave who does not respond to persecution but acts as the persecutors themselves abusing and punishing other his equals. Stephen behaves as he was a white slaver himself, even though he knows that in the hierarchy he is below the whites. 33 4. References Ancarani, Marta. Herzog: The Return of the Mythical Hero. Editorial Universitaria Villa María, 2010. Barrio Marco, Jose Manuel. 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