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THE KARATE KID The Karate Kid is a classic illustration of the hero’s journey, but more importantly—good prevailing over evil. Through the journey of The Karate Kid, the theme is good prevailing over evil—in the end. The only part of the movie that fully demonstrates this principle is after the final showdown with the villain; where the transformed and more mature Daniel shows that a positive warrior hero archetype does prevail over an evil shadow archetype in the end, when it most counts. The Karate Kid is an exemplary archetypical hero-based myth, with a retold but masked hero’s adventure. The myth contains the hero, mentor, herald, villain, and henchmen archetypes; as well as a minion of the villain, with his own henchmen. The warrior hero is a boy named Daniel. Dan has recently moved to Los Angeles with his mother from New Jersey, and a conflict immediately arises over a girl Dan likes named Ali. The conflict is between Dan, and Ali’s ex-boyfriend, Johnny. Johnny is a minion villain of a grander one named Kreese. Johnny insults and torments Ali at a beach party, and Dan involves himself, getting beat up by Johnny. The journey of Daniel begins after this incident, as he meets and trains karate with Miyagi; the mentor, herald, and apartment-complex handyman to Daniel. Miyagi and Dan locate the karate Dojo where Johnny and his buddies train. Miyagi and Dan enter the clinic to meet the villain of the story—Kreese. Kreese is the villainous Dojo master with his henchmen being his students. Miyagi asks Kreese where Dan could compete against his students. Dan’s journey is then established, to the All-Valley Annual Karate Tournament, where he is looking to defeat Johnny for sweet revenge. Dan trains with Miyagi using chores as a basis for the training. Though Dan doesn’t understand the power and meaning of the chores, he does them; and in turn learns karate moves. As the journey and story goes on, Dan progresses enormously through training and hard work, and is ready for the tournament. Afraid to lose, Dan absorbs words of wisdom from Miyagi, “Win, lose—don’t matter; you put up a good fight, earn respect, and have no problems.” Dan makes it through the last threshold guardian, and is in the final against Johnny. As all hero myths end, Dan defeats Johnny cleanly once and for all. By the end of the tournament, Dan learns that this experience was not about revenge or winning; but about earning respect from Johnny, and even more significant—gaining self-respect; and learning that he and only he is in control of his life. According to Carl Jung, archetypes are the symbols of the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is the shared body of instinctual knowledge of all people. Human beings can never be completely aware of this body of knowledge. Jung theorizes that these archetypes appear in myths and fairytales and resonate with the shared unconscious mind of the readers. A hero is the central focus of a myth, and he/she goes on a journey. The journey typically ends in a final showdown with the villain. There are usually other things in which the hero is interested—such as a lover, object, or value. In the end, the hero is matured and transformed, and the villain is defeated. Dan is the hero archetype of The Karate Kid, but more specifically—a warrior hero. Dan is a reluctant warrior at first, rushing his way into fights without the thought of journeying or karate training. Dan becomes a willing warrior when offered karate lessons from Miyagi. He cooperates and is willing to do the chores Miyagi assigns him; as well as beginning his journey towards the karate tournament.
Approximate Word count = 2456
Approximate Pages = 9.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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