{"id":6971,"date":"2009-09-07T14:46:53","date_gmt":"2009-09-07T19:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=6971"},"modified":"2009-09-07T16:07:08","modified_gmt":"2009-09-07T21:07:08","slug":"law-school-and-the-heros-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2009\/09\/law-school-and-the-heros-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Law School and the Hero’s Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"129202-004-13CDB5F1\"Most law school professors are conflicted about their own experiences as law students.\u00a0 We remember law school as an exceedingly unpleasant place, filled with crushing amounts of work and a hostile professoriate.\u00a0 It is not surprising that law school is often depicted as a de-humanizing experience in the media, whether\u00a0in books like\u00a0Scott Turow\u2019s One L<\/em> or in movies such as The Paper Chase<\/em>.\u00a0 This recent post<\/a>, by Professor Mazzie, seems to reflect a pervasive concern that the demands of law school can even erode our own sense of identity, a process that ultimately\u00a0transforms students into soul-less apparatchiks of the legal system.\u00a0 I, myself, have felt this way at times.<\/p>\n

Some law professors (and I do not intend to include my colleagues in this group) respond to these conflicted feelings by endeavoring to reduce the stress of law school.\u00a0 They reject the Socratic method as unnecessarily antagonistic and outdated.\u00a0 They reduce the workload, and their expectations of the students, in order to leave more room in the students\u2019 lives for the \u201creal world.\u201d\u00a0 They may even take a rather forgiving view of the grading process.\u00a0 Their intention is to make the current generation of law students happier during their law school experience than these professors remember being during their own.<\/p>\n

The odd thing is that, when law students are provided with this de-stressed version of law school, I have found them to be even less satisfied with their law school experience.\u00a0 Law students come to law school expecting to be challenged.\u00a0 They want to have their abilities tested, and even found wanting on occasion.\u00a0 In some sense, when students find the law school experience to be too easy, the law school experience loses meaning for them.<\/p>\n

I believe that it useful for both law professors and law students to view law school as the sort of \u201chero\u2019s journey\u201d described by the great professor of comparative mythology Joseph Campbell<\/a>.\u00a0 For Campbell, all myth serves an important role as a pathway to the understanding of the self.\u00a0 In particular, mythology serves to help each individual understand their place in the world and in society.\u00a0 The extended adolescence of modern life (children living with their parents until age 18 or older) makes it essential that the broader society provide rituals or ceremonies that mark the end of dependency and the beginning of the adult society\u2019s acceptance of the adolescent as a fully participating member.\u00a0 Without such clear markers on the path of self-development, modern man can experience feelings of alienation and self-doubt that were unknown in more primitive cultures.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces<\/em>, Campbell describes the archetypical \u201chero\u2019s journey\u201d that he saw reflected again and again in world mythology as a metaphor for self-enlightenment.\u00a0 First, an Everyman (or Everywoman) is called to leave their ordinary life and embark on a great adventure.\u00a0 Then, the hero must journey into a dark world where he must endure various trials and tribulations.\u00a0 Along the journey, the hero will encounter a teacher who will give instruction in the new skills that the hero needs in order to succeed.\u00a0 At this point, the hero comes to fully understand, for the first time, the ultimate goal of his quest.\u00a0 Armed with new skills and knowledge, the hero continues on the journey, facing challenges that push the hero\u2019s endurance to the limit.\u00a0 Finally, the hero reaches the ultimate goal, and finds that he has been changed by the journey.\u00a0 The hero now returns to the everyday world, bringing back what he has learned in order to benefit the broader society.<\/p>\n

Some critics objected\u00a0that Campbell\u2019s archetypical journey was so generic as to be meaningless.\u00a0 The discovery of Joseph Campbell by George Lucas, who wrote Star Wars<\/em> in a conscious attempt to apply Campbell\u2019s theories, and by other filmmakers, has rendered the \u201chero\u2019s journey\u201d so familiar to moviegoers that it has become ubiquitous and therefore less powerful.\u00a0 Nonetheless, there is something in Campbell\u2019s theories that resonates.<\/p>\n

We all see ourselves as the hero in our life\u2019s journey.\u00a0 We want to overcome obstacles.\u00a0 We seek to acquire new skills and knowledge that will allow us to achieve our goals.\u00a0 Above all, we desire some sort of tangible sign that we have been accepted by \u201cadult\u201d society.\u00a0 For some (not all) students, a rigorous law school experience provides a path to accomplish these objectives.\u00a0 Just don\u2019t call me \u201cYoda.\u201d<\/p>\n

To those who worry that the stress and crushing workload of a traditional legal education can make students unhappy, I would quote the words of Joseph Campbell.\u00a0 When his students asked, \u201cwhat is the secret of happiness?,\u201d Campbell replied, \u201cfollow your bliss.\u201d\u00a0 Happiness does not come from the ease with which you navigate through life.\u00a0 Happiness comes from doing that which\u00a0makes you happy.\u00a0 The practice of law can be very difficult, but if you accept the stress and long hours as the cost of spending your career pursuing justice and stimulating your intellect, you will be very happy indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most law school professors are conflicted about their own experiences as law students.\u00a0 We remember law school as an exceedingly unpleasant place, filled with crushing amounts of work and a hostile professoriate.\u00a0 It is not surprising that law school is often depicted as a de-humanizing experience in the media, whether\u00a0in books like\u00a0Scott Turow\u2019s One L 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