Hero's Quest: Tracing the traditional's hero's quest through Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

As outlined in Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces, part of the tradition in literature is the archetypal heroic quest, that begins with the hero’s journey away from home, a `separation’ form his community to enter a new world. On this journey of initiation, the hero often faces trials and unusual adventures that prompt a transformation. Often the reader sees the emergence of heroic qualities such as courage, self-confidence, and endurance against the odds. The quest becomes not only a journey to achieve a physical goal but also one of self-discovery and an opportunity to overcome an inadequacy or character flaw. Through Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one can see the unfolding of ‘epic quest’ and trace the transformation of the hero before the return to society.
As a knight of the legendary Camelot, Sir Gawain lives by the code of chivalry and supposedly has many of the qualities of a hero. His journey beg...