Haste Makes Waste

[his] shattered self.” The child of a zoo owner, Pi is intrigued by both the similarities and differences between humans and animals, and when discussing the lack of interest animals have in escaping the zoo, explains that if there is one thing an animal hates above all else, it is the unknown. In The Alchemist and Life of Pi, we find examples of where humans are comparable to other animals and where they differ. While both show apprehension in leaving their seemingly protective cages, what separates humans is the possibility of receiving and accepting the call to do so.

The objective of The Hero’s Journey is to remove ourselves from the effortless life one has been living (The Waste Land) in lieu of an experience that will lead to enlightenment. Popularized in the Arthurian legends and more recently found in the poetry of T.S. Elliot, mythologist Joseph Campbell explains, “The Waste Land is a world where people live not out of their own initiative, but out of what they think they’re supposed to do. People have inherited their official roles and positions; they haven’t earned them. This is the situation of the Waste Land: everybody leading a false life.” There is no spontaneity in The Waste Land. Like the clans of faceless Stormtroopers, Foot Soldiers, and Peacekeepers we find in popular fiction, many individuals follow the orders of whomever it is that is in charge be it on a conscious or subconscious level. But in many of the best examples of characters occupying The Waste Land, we find that thing  aren’t necessarily so black and white. Sometimes there can be a legitimate reason as to why a potential Hero could be keeping themselves in this seemingly undesirable land as opposed to moving in the direction of their dreams.

In Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke Skywalker articulates how it might feel to be living in the Waste Land when asked by Threepio on which planet it is that the droids find themselves. Answers Luke, “If there’s a bright center to the universe, you’re on the planet that it’s farthest from.” Luke yearns for a life greater than the one he is living working on a moisture farm (the equivalent in many ways to being a shepherd), but even after intercepting a message intended for Obi-Wan Kenobi denies himself the opportunity to follow his dream to become a pilot by proclaiming that he can’t get involved because he’s got work to do. It is only after his uncle and aunt are killed and there is literally nothing left for him on Tatooine that Luke finally joins Obi-Wan on his mission to rescue Princess Leia. In The Mythology of Star Wars with Bill Moyers and George Lucas, the Star Wars creator discusses the purpose of myth as well as how Luke Skywalker is a personification of the struggles many of us deal with in our personal lives by explaining, “(Myths) try to show us our place. Myths help you to have your own hero’s journey, find your individuality, find your place in the world, but hopefully remind you that you’re part of a whole, and that you must also be a part of the community and think of the welfare of the community above the welfare of yourself.” It’s why even in a galaxy far, far away, we understand the dilemma facing one whose destiny is so inevitable that he bears the last name Skywalker.

But it is essential for us in the real world to realize that one’s perception of how they are living their life does not need tobe as extreme as Luke’s was to accept The Call to Adventure when it presents itself. In both the book and the film adaptation of Jurassic Park, we see one the most relatable cases of the Refusal of the Call when Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler instinctively turn down John Hammond’s proposal to visit his extraordinary island. Grant’s excuse of “unusual timing” is one with which we can sympathize because we have all turned down opportunities to tend to more menial tasks. Alan and Ellie aren’t overtly unhappy with their current situation, and in many ways are doing precisely what it is they’ve always dreamed. However, by instinctively turning down Hammond’s offer before they even know what it is, we find a perfect illustration of how many of us can deny ourselves the opportunity to better our situation on an account of complacency.

Like Sylvester Stallone’s character in Rocky (and like Stallone in real life), many of us feel we have a calling or, at the very least, the potential to become greater than we are. When a bartender in Rocky insults the current boxing world champion, Apollo Creed, Rocky takes offense and asks the bartender what shot he ever took at anything. It’s apparent that Rocky equates a life of value to one that at the very least takes chances at achieving greatness. This philosophy is reiterated by Rocky’s eventual trainer, Mickey, who after being asked why he’s so tough on him, explains that Rocky had the talent to be a great fighter but instead dedicated his time to becoming a “second-rate loan shark.” When Rocky combats this by explaining that it’s a living, Mickey barks, “It’s a waste of life!”

Among the most popular superhero origins of all time is the one told in Superman #146, where Jor-El sends his son away from their dying planet of Krypton and towards a world with hope. After arriving on Earth, the orphan is discovered by an elderly couple and raised in humble surroundings (similar to the stories of Perseus and Jesus Christ). As the newfound parents soon discover, the baby they had renamed Clark was unlike any other being on Earth, and thanks to the “ultra solar rays” of the Sun, possessed powers that had been subdued back on his home planet. Without leaving behind the dying planet on which he was born, Clark would have never discovered his true potential, and it is only after making his way to what his biological father calls “a living planet” that he can truly thrive.

It sometimes takes the end of something familiar to spark the fuse of a new beginning that could be even better. In the most extreme examples, heroes like Luke Skywalker go on to save the universe. But there are plenty of real life examples of men and woman who needed to accept that they too were living in a Waste Land before being able to go on and achieve tremendous success. Just one of many examples comes in Rosa Parks, who gained tremendous fame during an era of segregation for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white woman. Cited with civil disobedience and arrested, while Parks was by no means the first individual willing to stand up against racial discrimination, her act of defiance became a huge rallying call for other black Americans and helped play a key part in eliminating segregation. For Parks, the path of least resilience would have been to simply give up her seat as she had been conditioned to do, but having grown tired in a Waste Land in which she was judged by the color of her skin above all else, risked the discomfort that often accompanies doing something out of the ordinary.