Briar Bond, Journal Entry 15 - Peer Review with Virginia Press

 Virginia and I swapped term papers as a way to reflect on less familiar artifacts. This ended up being really interesting. Virginia wrote about a pair of characters from Star Trek: Voyager, a series I know virtually nothing about. What made this so interesting to me was that I was able to use Virginia's analysis to examine the structure of the relationship between her subjects, Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine, without needing the detailed context of their shared plot.

A point that Virginia made that stuck out to me was the interconnectedness of these characters' arcs. They play a similar role to each other, that of a driving force towards growth. For Janeway, Seven of Nine is an outlet for her own maternal instincts to protect, an experience which forces the captain to expand her perspective and view the world around her in shades of gray. Virginia described this relationship as a reversal of the Meeting with the Goddess. Instead of a figure being introduced and showing Janeway unconditional love, Janeway takes on that role towards someone else. I thought this was an especially interesting observation from Virginia because it showcases the flexibility of the Hero's Journey framework.

In taking on this role of protector, thus filling the role of Goddess in her own story, Janeway also becomes the mentor archetype in Seven of Nine's. I think it is really interesting to see how the protagonist of one Hero's Journey can become a different figure in another character's with a shift of perspective. I think that is a major element in what makes expansive universes like Star Trek so cool to analyze. Every character has the capacity to fill multiple roles depending on where the focus of the story is centered. 

I found Virginia's paper incredibly thought provoking and intriguing. It was really cool to examine the relationships and journeys of characters I am unfamiliar with and still be able to see the elements of the Hero's Journey at work. I'm tempted to watch Star Trek now, so mission accomplished.

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