Hero's Journey

Kaladin's journey throughout the novel follows Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" almost perfectly and it is obvious that he is the true hero of this first installment. The Hero's Journey begins with the call to adventure. Kaladin's call to adventure is discovered slowly throughout his various flashbacks within the novel. These flashbacks show that he was an ordinary child just trying to live a normal life until he is suddenly forced in the army in order to protect his brother.

Kaladin's 'refusal of the call' shows itself at the beginning of the novel when he resigns himself to the fate of a bridgeman and does not want to consider leading an escape like he has when he was a slave in other places. He is victimized by his position in life and cannot conceive of any plan to get himself out of it Kaladin then officially...