The Matrix A Hero

’s Journey Analysis Essay, Research Paper

The Matrix: A Hero’s Journey Analysis

The Ordinary World

For Thomas A. Anderson, his ordinary world is ironically, a computer-simulated world, known as The Matrix. The real world is only a fake but the adventure world is real. By day, Thomas Anderson works as a computer programmer for a software company called Metacortex. By night, he is a computer hacker for hire known as Neo. In the simulated world, Thomas seems very bored and he doesn’t care much about his job. He is always late for work and almost risks losing his job. The only thing that seems to be on his mind is his search for the truth. The answer of the question: “What is the matrix.” Ironically, when Thomas is in the unreal, simulated world, he uses mostly his real name, Thomas Anderson. Only as a hacker is he known as Neo. When he exits the matrix and enters the real world, he is known as Neo.

Call to Adventure

There are more than one calls to adventure in this film. There is a minor call and a major call. The minor call would be when Neo receives a message on his computer stating: “Matrix has you follow the white rabbit”. Later, when some customers Neo has worked for come to pick up hacked goods, he is invited to join them. At first, he is reluctant but when he sees a white rabbit on one of them, he decides to go. When he gets the bar where they were headed, he meets with Trinity, a woman who later becomes an ally. She warns him that “they” are watching him. She tells him that there is a man who has the answer to his search for the truth.

The major call to adventure happens to Neo when he is at work in the morning. He receives a phone call that warns him that “they” are coming for him. At this point in the movie, we, the audience is not sure who “they” are but we know they are the enemies. The person who calls Neo is Morpheus, who Neo later meets. Morpheus tells Neo what to do step by step. He tells Neo how to escape being caught. Neo escapes his cubicle just barely before the enemy gets there. He is directed into an office. The only way out of the building without being caught was to climb out the window in the office and climb to another window nearby.

Refusal of the Call

After finding out the only way out of the building freely is to climb to another window, Neo steps out onto the window ledge. He says to himself: “Why is this happening to me.” As he takes a few steps, he looks down. From the ledge on the skyscraper, he sees it is a long way down. He is terrified and he drops his phone. Seeing it fall downwards, as if sucked down. He says: “I can’t do this” and climbs back into the building. This is the refusal of the call to adventure because Morpheus had told Neo how to escape but Neo had refused. This incident shows the audience that Neo has character flaws. He is not a superman hero who is not scared to do anything, even put his own life in danger to escape. Rather, Neo is an average guy with many weaknesses. He was scared when he was out on a ledge on a twenty-story building. He would rather get caught than risk his life.

Meeting with the Mentor

After Neo is released from the agents that caught him, he is again contacted by

Morpheus. Morpheus tells Neo that he (Neo) is “the one”. Morpheus offers a chance to

meet and Neo agrees. When Trinity and another woman come to pick Neo up, he is requested to do as they tell or get out of the car, which ultimately means give up his chance of meeting Morpheus and finding the truth. At first, he decides to leave and almost does. This can be noted as another refusal of the call to adventure. When Trinity tells him that this is the only way to find the truth, Neo decides to go on.

At last, Neo meets Morpheus, the man who becomes his mentor. Morpheus tries to explain to Neo what the matrix is. He calls the matrix “a prison for your mind”. He says the no one can be told what the matrix is and that Neo will have to see it for himself. Morpheus gives Neo two choices by eating pills. If he eats the blue pill, he will wake up like nothing happened. If he takes the red pill, he will find out the truth. Neo decides take the red pill, of course.

Later on, in the real world, Morpheus also trains Neo. He teaches Neo how to harness his own power when he is in the matrix. He teaches Neo not to see things as impossible but rather anything is possible in the matrix, since it is not real.

Throughout the whole film, Morpheus believes that Neo is the one. He believes Neo is the one to deliver them and the earth from the computers that control the matrix. Morpheus even sacrifices his own life to save Neo’s life. Morpheus seems flawless throughout the whole movie. He seems to be the all-knowing wise man. The audience feels a sense of pity for Morpheus because although he knows so much, he can not be the one to save the world. Instead, he is the one that spends his whole life looking for the saviour.

Crossing the First Threshold

Neo crosses the first threshold when he decides to take the red pill. He decides to go through whatever he needs to go through to find out the truth. He is unplugged from the matrix and he wakes up in the real world. Morpheus tells him what the matrix is and he shows him what the real world is like now. At first, Neo is in denial and he doesn’t want to believe it. He asks if he

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