Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey
Stage Eleven: The Resurrection
&
Stage Twelve: Return with the Elixir
Just when you thought you had the Hero’s Journey all figured out, we’re back with a surprising twist! In our previous episode, we confidently declared that the “Road Back Home” stage was the climax of the journey. But according to Christopher Vogler’s “The Writer’s Journey,” we may have jumped the gun. It turns out that the true climax lies in the “Resurrection” stage.
Confused? Intrigued? You’re not alone! Join us as we try to untangle the differences between the two stages. We’ll explore what makes the “Resurrection” stage so pivotal and how it serves as the ultimate test for our hero.
But the journey doesn’t end there. We’ll also shed light on the final stage, the “Return with the Elixir,” where our hero comes full circle, bringing back their hard-earned wisdom and rewards to share with the world.
The Resurrection
Just when you thought your Hero has battled their last monster, villain, whatever in the Ordeal and you could send your Hero home safe and sound, here comes one last obstacle: death. For real. Apparently, you have to kill your Hero (metaphorically and/or literally). According to Vogler, the true climax is actually the Resurrection stage. This is where your hero faces their final test and emerges transformed – think Tony Stark in Iron Man, going from weapons dealer to hero with a (metaphorical) heart.
Now you may be saying, ‘Hey, I thought y’all said the Ordeal was the climax??’ To which we’d reply, ‘Hey, do you want to read through Vogler’s maze of ideas he calls a chapter? How about this 467 page Behemoth he calls a craft book? We thought not.’ Anyhoo, now that we’re all on the same page, let’s tackle these last two chapters already…
A New Self (supposedly not the same as the old self)
The confusion surrounding where the climax in a story goes isn’t the only idea that gave us pause. According to Vogler, in the “Resurrection,” heroes have to “shed their old selves to enter the Special World, they now must shed the personality of the journey and build a new one that is suitable for the Ordinary World.” Never mind In “The Road Back,” the Hero was already on their way home. Like a snake shedding its skin, we suppose, it’s not enough to almost die defeating a villain in the Ordeal. The Hero also has to take a metaphorical shower, shave their metaphorical legs, and apply their metaphorical eyeliner to make themselves presentable to the rest of us. I don’t know about you, but readers, apparently, don’t like their Heroes scruffy.
You Mean There's A Test AFTER the Final?
Well that’s what it feels like…Vogler says the Hero has to take/pass one more test before they finish the quest. There’s lots of ways to do this (even if you killed off your villain in the Ordeal stage). Here’s the list below (again, you’re welcome, although Renee thinks it robs you of the experience of note taking. What a dweeb).
While there’s lots of ways to go about it, Dear Writer, make sure during your climax:
- The stakes should be at their highest
- Your hero must be an active participant (no deus ex machina saves!)
- It can be physical, mental, or spiritual (or all three if you’re feeling ambitious)
- The change must be visible – even in “thinker” books, readers need to see the transformation through actions or decisions
Physical Test
This is the kind of climax you’d see in an action film, like 007 or Jason Bourne or Die Hard. Your Hero has quite the workout to before they make it to the end. In the case of Die Hard, the Resurrection is not so much the clever hidden gun taped on John McClaine’s back. It’s the exasperated – ‘I did all of this bad ass $#!^ because I love you please take don’t divorce me’ – kiss (Ist Ihnen Alan Rickmans falscher deutscher Akzent aufgefallen?! LMAO!)
Showdowns
So, like, there’s a listener out there who assumed we’d use the scene from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to illustrate the showdown. And then there’s our other listener who assumed we’d use Inigo Montoya’s final showdown from The Princess Bride? I mean, we couldn’t leave either listener hangin, could we? I mean, if the movie fits (and it has to because books don’t fit so neatly into Vogler’s plot formula. . . but we digress).
In Memoriam/Catharsis
Someone’s gotta die and sometimes it’s your Hero. If your hero dies, they don’t really. They live on the memory of the survivors (awwwwww), those for whom they gave their life.
RIP Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (good movie). RIP Tony Stark (good job getting out while the franchise was still interesting). RIP V from V for Vendetta (Alan Moore, you’re our hero). RIP Logan (awww yeah). The list goes on!
A Choice (Romantic or Otherwise)
Here’s some scenes from a film which represents the Romance Climax/Resurrection: Before Sunrise. If you didn’t catch it when it came out in the 90’s, you’re truly missing out. It really cuts into the heart of the promise of the train ticket Euro-pass. Talk about the fantasy of traveling alone in Europe! And it even includes the Ordeal and Resurrection stages! Damn, I love this series . . .
The Call to Adventure
The couple meets on a train and decide to have a fun day/night in Vienna knowing they will never see each other again.
The Ordeal
By the end of the night, they have fallen in love and make love in a park, knowing the train will take her away at sunrise.
Romantic Resurrection
They decide that can’t just walk away from what they started. They decide to meet 6 months later at the same train station.
Rolling Climaxes 😏😏😏
So he’s basically it’s when you hit mind, body, and spirit one after another. This kind of ending would make sense if you’ve got more than one main character, like in Game of Thrones. Each character (arc) gets its own climax, which can be extremely, emotionally satisfying, like at the end of Return of the King, but unlike the ending of GoT. (We’ll just never get over that dumpster fire of a last season, will we. . .)
Welcome to the Worst Sentence in the Book!
What makes this sentence the ultimate champion? Stand back as Renee dissects the core of the sentence (the subject, verb, noun phrase) as one would a frog in Freshman science class. Drumroll please! 🥁🥁🥁
possibility may be choice
Just look at it in all its glory! “Possibility may be a choice among options.” Um, yeah, redundant much? Therefore, we hereby congratulate Vogler for this profound tautology and blame his editor for this stylistic error. If this sentence doesn’t earn this award, we don’t know what does.
Translation?
“Your climax happens when your hero makes a choice, and if they make the wrong choice, everything is for naught. So you’ll know they’ll make the right choice, because this is the kind of story most people get.”
Thank you, Kim.
We Made It! We Survived to the Last Step in the Journey!!!
Yep. . . that’s what it feels like.
The Return with the Journey Swag, I mean, Elixir
Sometimes, they literally do go home (like the hobbits in Return of the King and Bilbo from The Hobbit). Or the hero faces a similar challenge they failed from the beginning. Now a Hero, they succeed where before they failed. Whatever or wherever the Hero returns to a metaphorical or physical location, they also come back with Journey Swag. Do they return with Wisdom? Self-Esteem? The Golden Fleece? Is their home now safe? Whatever they bring back manifests the change they underwent. It “proves” they’ve changed, like wearing the death metal t-shirt you bought from the concert last night.
Iron Man vs Captain America Endings
On the episode, we discuss the two options Vogler gives us for an ending: closed and open-ended, which could be renamed an Iron Man ending or a Capt. America ending (we’re talking first films here).
Closed (Iron Man) Ending: Like a loop, the hero returns full circle. They get the girl and live happily ever after. They get the gold and save the town. They attend a press conference and declare themselves Iron Man.
Open-Ended (Captain America) Ending: The fate or conclusion for the Hero is ambiguous. They walk away into the sunset. They defeat one boss but there’s a greater evil still looming on the horizon. They crash into a snowy mountain which would most certainly kill a normal person, but Captain America is anything but normal.
Essentially, there will be a emotional release from the audience. Are we attending the Hero’s wedding, awash in dopamine when they kiss the bride? Or are we borrowing our Hero’s bravery, when they commit to a larger quest? Or, as is the case with literary fiction, the ending mirrors the real world: it’s messy, unresolved, and satisfies nihilists like Renee.
Some Last Thoughts
Have you checked out our Hero’s Journey Study Guide? Do you appreciate the Snark Notes (aka, show notes but written under the influence)? Words to Write by is a two woman passion project. A little support goes a long way. You could also drop us a line and let us know how you’re enjoying the podcast.
Four Horsemen of Story “Punctuation”
- Period: Clean, clear ending
- Exclamation Point: Big, dramatic finale
- Question Mark: Did the villain really die?
- Ellipsis: To be continued…
Common Pitfalls to Avoid:
- Too many endings (looking at you, Handmaid’s Tale)
- Unresolved subplots (Vogler finally tells us each subplot needs three beats – would’ve been nice to know 259 pages ago!)
- Abrupt endings that leave readers hanging (don’t forget about that dopamine release!)
- Forgetting to show how your hero has changed
Pro Tip: If you’re struggling with your ending, remember Vogler’s “perfection through a man” advice… actually, maybe don’t. That might be actually the worst sentence in the entire book. If not, it’s def the runner up.
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