The Legend of Korra and Avatar the Last Airbender: A refection on tropes, idioms and the hero's journey

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE SEASON 2 FINALE OF LEGEND OF KORRA!

I finished the Legend of Korra season 2, and saw much debate over whether or not Korra had improved by the end of the season. So I thought back to Aang's journey in Avatar the Last Airbender and picked out the internal and external conflicts that he faced. Korra's inner conflicts, although very different from Aang's, are addressed symbolically as well. Once I realized that my reason for not liking Korra as a character was because I compared her to Aang all the time, I decided to reflect on the two character's stories and discovered that although they are very different, Aang and Korra face similar hero tropes and solve them based on similar motivations. Both must accept and acknowledge who they are. 

We began our interest in the world of the four elements through Aang, the last airbender.

This story began with conflict, and the ever important theme of hope. 

Aang was the archetype of the orphan. No family, no nation even, and a mountain of guilt followed him for running away, just before the fire nation attacked and wiped out the airbenders. 

Needless to say, Aang's story was a powerful one. As the only person who could bend the four elements, Aang literally had the entire world on his shoulders. And his return as the Avatar is not just the return of Airbenders, but the beacon of hope that the world will not be eclipsed by the greed and power of the fire nation. 

So Aang begins his story as the underdog, not able to use all the elements equally, and constantly running from the fire nation. We immediately attach to his loss, his guilt and his confusion with the world around him. He was gone for a hundred years, and his disappearance has put the world out of balance. 

But just as any hero story begins, there is not only external conflict, but internal conflict as well. This internal conflict for Aang was reflected in his proficiency with the other three elements. Aang was able to bend air, because he grew up with airbenders, but the other elements were attached to other elements of himself that he was not able to connect with as easily. 

Air was the peaceful and fun side of Aang. He was able to float through life without a care on most occasions. Water was not too difficult to adapt to, because he was able to relate to the patient and accepting side of the water benders. He had to accept sacrifice, and he had to learn the importance of his task as the avatar to bring balance to the world. Earth was a very difficult element for Aang to use. He wasn't used to facing things head on, and had run from his destiny long before the war. Earth was a challenge because it showed a different side to Aang that he didn't want to accept. He didn't enjoy being harsh, and he was always trying to find peaceful solutions to problems. The most difficult element for Aang to accept was fire. There was a lot of baggage he carried about the destruction of his people, the enemy he had to face, and his own guilt at using fire carelessly. And this element presented a new problem that he didn't want to accept. The element of fire was a part of Aang's identity. So the elements were symbolic of Aang's journey from an orphan into a hero. 

His most difficult struggle was the pressure to kill the fire lord. But in the end, Aang was able to make his own decision, and do what he believed was right. He took the fire lord's power away, and by doing that, saved the nations and stayed true to who he was. By the end of Aang's story, he becomes the savior by facing his inner conflicts and accepting who he was.

He becomes friends with his enemy, Zuko, and together, they rebuild the nations and the world, establishing peace. 

So our journey with Aang is a coming of age story, and each main character in the show Avatar the Last Airbender is fleshed out and important to the plot. It was a phenomenal story, with the tropes of good versus evil and the introduction to a new and well constructed story world. 

We leave Aang, and discover that many years have passed since his defeat of the fire lord, and we are introduced to Korra, the new Avatar. 

Korra is very different from Aang. For one, she's not an orphan at all. Instead, Korra is the rebel. 

She is well trained in three elements, and has no problem using them. But she can't bend air, because she doesn't accept that part of her identity. She is not intuitive and repeatedly acts on impulse. Her character is more headstrong, stubborn and less accepting. Her inner conflict is one of self identity, as well as adapting to change. Thanks to technology, benders are not more powerful than non benders. So Korra's inability to bend air reflects her inability to know who she is, and to adapt to change. 

Even with a mentor, Korra's rebellion gets worse, and her impatience, ruthlessness and carelessness have dire consequences. She loses the support of the people, and cannot connect with the past avatars directly.  

She only achieves inner knowing once all her external elements are lost. Only when it becomes a last resort, does Korra learn to connect with her destiny as the avatar. 

But her journey to self identity is not over. There is a new threat, directly tied to Korra's inner struggle. The spirits, which represent the intangible side of Korra, are becoming dark and attacking the physical world. Up to this point Korra has been able to avoid the spiritual side of herself, and only tap into it when it is necessary. But now, she has no choice. She must learn from the past, and change her attitude about the world in order to save it from destruction. She begins by abandoning her mentor, more comfortable with the direct solution presented in front of her. Her choice causes her to unknowingly help her enemy and doom the world to darkness. 

Her journey takes a dramatic shift when she loses her memory. Left with nothing but who she is, Korra is once again able to connect with the past avatars and learn the story of the avatar's creation. This new knowledge gives Korra the ability to listen to her intuition. And the conflict of good versus evil is presented in both physical and spiritual form. Korra once again tries to be direct, but she fails when everything is taken from her. Her only hope now is herself. Her identity. By the end of Korra's story so far, she defeats the darkness by discovering the light within herself. She no longer feels burdened by the accomplishments of the past avatars. She stops comparing herself to Aang, and makes a decision on her own. Korra has finally grown from a rebellious teenager into a powerful and self aware hero. She defeats the darkness by her own means, and chooses to leave the spirit world and physical world connected, symbolizing the balance that Korra has made with the physical and spiritual parts of herself. 

The epic symbols, tropes and emotional arcs of these stories reflect timeless tales around the world. The hero doesn't start out as a hero, they grow as a hero by facing their inner conflicts and discovering a reason to save the world. Korra and Aang go on very different journeys, but both achieve balance within to save the world in the end. 

Who you are and What you are

         The latest episode for My Little Pony Friendship is Magic focused on Spike and walked through his journey to discover who he is and what he is capable of. He found other dragons, and tried to learn the things they do and fit in with the crowd. He discovered that just because he was a dragon, he didn't have to or want to act like one. Spike decided who he was by doing what he enjoyed instead of what was expected of him due to his label.
          Labels can be a positive or negative thing. By giving someone a general title, specific expectations are related to that name. A worker is expected to work, a student is expected to study and an artist is expected to create art. Other labels like jock, nerd and prep have nothing to do with who a person is, unless they choose to make the label become who they are. Once you put a label on a person, they become a one dimensional persona in your mind. Whether the persona is good or bad depends on your acknowledgement of people. People give themselves labels to define who they are, especially if they are judgmental of  others and want to create a specific clique to belong to.
          Even if you enjoy activities associated with the label of prep, nerd or jock, the label itself will  never be who you truly are. Spike learned this when he met other dragons, and tried to pass every test they gave him, due to the pressure he felt in not knowing his identity.
          Alice from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland goes on a similar journey. Everyone tells her that she is the wrong Alice but only when she tells Absolem who she is, does she gain the power to face the Jabberwocky. Alice learns who she is by discovering what she can do. She makes decisions to change her fate, and prove everyone wrong that she's the wrong Alice.
         The message of these stories is simple: Only you have the power to decide who you are and what you can do. Spike learned this by meeting other dragons, and Alice learned this by acting on what she wanted to do. Both characters had let other people determine who they were by doing what was expected of them, but they finally discovered what they really wanted to do and who they wanted to be. Going on a journey of self discovery is an important rite of passage in everyone's life. Age, time and situation is irrelevant. Once something threatens you to lose your identity or condemns you to a label, it is only natural to question if this is really who you are and who you want to be.
         As Spike says in the episode, "Who I am is not the same as what I am."
Who you are is your decision while what you are is the person people think you are. The self is a complex thing that can never be defined through one label. 

Writing Prompt Tuesday prompt 5

Picture from http://nicola-b.deviantart.com/art/The-Four-Seasons-69541558?q=boost%3Apopular+night+day+season&qo=116
Instructions:

Imagine that you're sitting against a tree. A storyteller is sitting on the other side of the tree. On a piece of paper, list five stories you would like to hear. Choose one of the ideas, and write down what the storyteller says.


Prompt:
The old man sat with dignity, as though he knew more stories than I could ever imagine. I visited this story teller many times to learn the ways of life and magic. A small autumn breeze brushed by his storybook, a bright blue volume created from leather and paper. He was also a writer, and wisdom twinkled in his gray eyes. he seemed to be out of a story book himself. A long velvet green robe engulfed him, while a chain held a simple crescent moon around his neck. The cane he always possessed was leaning against the tree with me, a favorite apple tree, now dotted with golden leaves which fell when the wind rustled the branches. My cat Selene purred in my lap as I waited for the next life lesson.
"Stories," He always said, "Teach us the internal world of the mind and heart. They reveal who you are through agents of magic."
Today, with a calming breeze and the only sound a soft shuffle of leaves, he gave me a look that said listen, don't talk. It was a bad habit of mine, asking questions during a story, but I was learning quickly that the story would stop if I asked too many.
"Now Diana, you must be quiet during this tale. It is about many things, but you will miss them if you get too distracted."
"Yes sir", I replied.
"Then, let's begin. In the land of Vita, there were four courts. The court of summer, the court of fall, the court of winter and the court of spring. Each court was ruled by a fay king and queen, and each fay royal was responsible for the season. This tradition was passed from generation to generation, and the responsibility fell to each fay royal's children to follow the cycle of the year.
Unbeknownst to the inhabitants of Vito, there was another land called Somnium which lay across the ocean named Noctis. Somnium was often a chaotic place and only had two courts on its land, the court of dark and the court of light. Each owning a separate shore, neither land came in contact with each other. For a long time the world of Vita was believed to be the only realm. But, one day at the coronation of a new Winter King and Queen, the Winter Prince left the land of Vito and found the land of Somnium. Bataar was never one to fit in to his race. While fay danced, sung and prepared for the seasons, Bataar dreamed of becoming much more. He always watched the tide and wished to understand the winter lights that graced the sky. He was a curious soul, and his parents grew tired of his constant adventures which ocurred during his seasonal classes. After his parents were crowned, Bataar decided he wouldn't be the best Winter King, so he set off to find out what else the world would offer. He left the Winter country and traveled to Spring. There, he met Giliana, the princess of the Spring court. She wondered why he didn't accept his role as Winter prince and asked him to stay with her for awhile. Bataar knew that staying with Giliana would be fun, and he did stay for longer than he could remember. Eventually, something pulled him toward the land of Summer. This time he met a boy named Junius. Junius was the prince of Summer and taught Bataar about the importance of responsibility. Although Bataar understood what Junius told him, he still couldn't be convinced to stay and fulfill his role to be the Winter King. He journeyed to the country of Autumn where he met the wise queen Satomi, who taught him about patience. While Bataar experienced many things, he was not satisfied with all he learned. So he found a boat and crossed the ocean Noctis. As he passed on the water he noticed the sky became dark. Once he crossed the ocean, he came to the court of darkness and was captured by Tatianus, the king of darkness. Frightened for a while, Bataar stayed within Tatianus's kingdom not willing to leave the palace and learn about the outside world. Then, he was visited by Valour a knight in the kingdom of Tatianus. He told Bataar he was leaving and the real kingdom he came from was ruled by King Baldur and Queen Esperanza. Bataar agreed to go with him and both escaped the kingdom of darkness. As they left the kingdom, the sky lightened until both wanderers stopped at the small town of Aurora. Bataar explained that he was the Winter Prince and he was expected to become the next Winter King but he didn't feel he could fill the role. Valour told him that once he reached the kingdom of light, he would find the answer to all his questions. They arrived the next day and Bataar found the king and queen were expecting him.
"Welcome" Esperanza smiled, "We knew you were lost and invite you to the kingdom of light."
Bataar thanked them and began to learn about the wonders of the world. He learned of the winter lights and discovered knowledge and strength. He fell in love with the princess Estel. But after a long while, he began to feel homesick. Bataar knew he couldn't run forever, so he bid the king and queen farewell. Estel didn't want him to leave without her, so the king and queen told Estel she could live with Bataar as long as she visited them often. Estel agreed, and Bataar brought back the day. Once day arrived, Estel went to visit her parents, creating night. So Bataar found who he was and became the Winter King while Estel became the Winter Queen."
I listened to the entire story in silence, and realized the storyteller was done.
"So what's the story about young Diana?"
I scrunched up my forehead and thought for a while. "It's about a lot of things, like you said. Though I don't understand why he went back and became the Winter King."
"The only way to understand that, is to experience it my child."
He motioned for his cane and smiled a wise smile. The story was over.

Psychology in Alice in Wonderland

So, I'm working on my essay for my Mythology class and I have purchased the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland and I am currently reading the novel on the movie. I found it fascinating that Burton decided to do an emotional journey for Alice from the beginning. Anne Hathaway explains that the original version of Alice is a story where all the characters she meets are people she doesn't want to be. She's on a quest to find who she isn't. In this version of Alice in Wonderland, Alice must find who she is. As I've observed before, she does this through the myth quest. It appears that because the story revolved around Alice's internal world which mirrors the external, everything in Wonderland is a different approach at her situations in the real world. The sizes she goes through represent her confidence and her "muchness" increases through out the film. Another interesting observation is that the Bandersnatch wound she gets reflects her disbelief of all that is happening around her. This is an emotional battle with grief and self doubt. The prophesied battle with the Jabberwocky is really the internal struggle of Alice with her negative emotions. This can also be viewed through the battle between the passive White Queen and the aggressive Red Queen. Alice must find herself somewhere in the middle. I think this essay may go well.