You Can Never Go Home Again: The Fold Kills or Banishes the Hero
Part 5: The Fold Kills or Banishes the Hero
The last way a hero can return at the end of the story is to not return at all. In tragedies, the system kills or permanently kicks out the hero while maintaining its crushing control. Let’s see some different ways this can work:
The hero is murdered by the system. In Malcolm X (1992 film), Malcolm is assassinated by some members of the Nation of Islam because Malcom has broken with the group and its teachings to form his own Muslim group. This is the most common pattern found in the endings of tragedies and makes the hero a Tragic Hero. The murder is in response to noble changes the hero is trying to create in the system or for defying the system in some way.
Other examples: Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan (1998 film), Nameless in Hero (2002 Chinese film), and Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web (1952 book), sometimes, especially in children’s tragedies, the system is nature/life and death.
The hero is banished. Marjane in Persepolis (2007 animated French Iranian film) grows up before and during through the revolution in Iran. Life becomes so controlled and dangerous, that she permanently leaves her family and country. While she lives, the leaving is a deep tragedy. This is also common in tragedies.
Other examples: Wikus in District 9 (2009 South African film), Edward in Edward Scissorhands (1990 film), and in Manchester by the Sea (2016 film), Lee banishes himself. Note that he starts the film as banished and doesn’t choose to change, effectively re-banishing himself. This also gives the film a return to the same fold dynamic.
The hero is transformed and no longer alive in the same sense as before. This is a common motif in Greek and Roman Myths, such as Arachne. As punishment for her hubris, Archane is transformed into a spider by Athena. Zeus was famous for punishing people (or covering up his infidelities) by turning people into cows, constellations, swans, etc. This is also a tragedy pattern.
Other examples: The original Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Mermaid is turned into sea foam (1836 story), Ofelia in Pan’s Labyrinth dies, but becomes a mythical princess in another realm (2006 Spanish Mexican film), and in the Buddhist folktale, Rabbit in the Moon, Rabbit is awarded for his right conduct by being placed in the moon where he can be viewed by all.
The hero receives a fate worse than death. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975 film) is an interesting example. Despite being a disruptive catalyst within the system of a mental ward, his journey did not affect his system one bit. One could say the system killed or banished him by giving him a lobotomy—a kind of death. This pattern is often found in some form of Modern Tragedies.
Other examples: Winston in 1984 is brainwashed by Big Brother (1949 book), Leonard in Awakenings (1990 film) has a medical condition that takes away most of his abilities returning him to a catatonic state, and Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886 book), where the good doctor gets taken over by Hyde and driven to suicide.
Why would an author bring his hero to a tragic end? What purpose does it serve and how does it affect the audience?
This ends our commentary on the Return to the Fold Dynamic. The patterns we’ve presented are by no means exhaustive, but merely a sample of some of the most common we find in stories. The ending to a story is the most important part. What kind of hero emerges? How is the day won or lost? And what is the ultimate fate of the hero? These questions can help writers finetune their story and its impact on their intended audience.