In the last of these series, I talked about The Call to Adventure. We had established our Hero’s Ordinary World and the call was going to start shaking him loose from it. Before our hero commits entirely to his quest, he gets reluctant and often refuses the call.
Why would your hero do that? The most simple answer is it’s because it is the human thing to do. The refusal of the call is mainly about fear. Not only fear of change and the unknown, but also fear of failure. By showing fear, the hero becomes more relatable to your reader. Why they refuse the call, and also what will lead them back to it, can tell the reader so much about your character.
Harry Potter initially is in disbelief that he would be a wizard. It tells us about his character that he doesn’t immediately accept his fate and instead doubts himself.
Hiccup, in How To Train Your Dragon, folds under the pressure of his father and joins the training course to kill dragons. It tells us that he wants to please his father, even at the risk of his own life.
Luke Skywalker initially turns down Obi-Wan’s invitation to fight the empire, believing himself nothing but a simple farm boy. This gives us a true vision of Luke. Initially, he complains to his uncle that he wants to get away, join the academy, etc. When the opportunity comes to flee, he refuses because of all the obligations he has previously complained about. It is a character trait we all recognise and it shows that despite complaint, Luke is reliable and trustworthy.
The simple fact is, a hero who can do no wrong, never shows fear or doubt and overcomes all odds with ease, is boring. A hero like this only belongs in the realm of caricature. Your audience is made of real people. By allowing your hero some weakness, you bring him closer to your audience and increase their sympathy to his plight.
This refusal, while integral to the development of a believable and sympathetic hero, creates a problem; how do you get your hero to accept their quest? There can be a number of ways, but one of the most common is due to the intervention of the next step I’ll discuss, The Mentor.