The Lion King and Simba Essay

Submitted By kiroulsgowid
Words: 505
Pages: 3

The Hero’s Journey Similarly to many common heroic tales, the movie, The Lion King follows the established cycle known as the hero’s journey. In the tale, a young lion prince, Simba, must overcome his one mistake in order to save his kingdom, and thus ventures off to rediscover himself. The adventure that follows models the hero’s journey pattern as Simba is aided with loyal helpers and is forced to overcome his greatest fear through various tests. Simba clearly could not have saved his kingdom alone, and therefore was given dependable friends that guided him in his path. When Simba first runs away from his home, he arrives in a foreign desert at the brink of death from exhaustion and fatigue, yet through the assistance of two new friends, he is nursed back to health and is able to mature as a lion. By helping Simba survive and grow, the two friends are classified as helpers as they ensure that Simba will be able to continue his journey. In addition, Simba is assisted by one of his father’s advisors, as the advisor bolsters Simba’s courage and shows him that there is still hope. The advisor uses the aid of magical means when restoring Simba’s spirits and is consequently established as a helper because of his critical role in aiding Simba in his journey. Overall, Simba was able to continue through his journey because of faithful helpers that aided him in times of tribulation. Along his journey, Simba is faced with various tests that challenge Simba with his greatest weakness: he believes he is responsible for his father’s death. While separated from his kingdom, Simba is discovered by one of his old childhood friends and when requested by her to come back and save the kingdom, he refuses and instead storms off. Simba is unable to complete this test as he is still not fully ready to overcome the fear that haunts him thinking he killed his father, and so this test is very personal