How The Journey Can Outweigh The Goal in The Film "Moana"

Do you believe that the journey outweighs the goal? For example, in the movie Moana, the main character sets out on an adventure that teachers her many things on the way to success. Heroes go on a journey that changes them for the better, in order to achieve a larger goal. In Moana, the journey prepared her for her goal. Journey’s are required in order to reach a goal, so the journey is far more important. In the beginning of the epic, Odysseus is confident and clever and is motivated by love and strength. At each island he visited, he was able to learn more about himself and grew as a leader. For example, in the Island of the Lotus Eaters, some of his men eat the flower that causes them to hallucinate and wish to stay on the island.

Odysseus shows leadership and confidence in his journey by making them board the boat and continue paddling. The author states, “...forced them, hauled them under the rowing benches, lashed them fast and shouted out commands to my other, steady comrades...” (Fagles, Book IX). This shows that he was able to take control over his men, like a good leader on a journey. Also, at the island with the cyclops, he was very clever in the way the he told the cyclops his name was “Nobody,” so him and his men, those that Polyphemus, the cyclops, did not eat, were able to make it out alive.The epic says, “Nobody—that’s my name. Nobody— so my mother and father call me, all my friends.” (Fagles, Book IX). The poem “Ithaka” also mentions the journey by saying, “But don’t hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years,” (Cavafy, lines 28-29) Readers may recognize that the journey is more relevant than his goal.

As the epic continues and the conflicts become more complicated, Odysseus’s actions deny that the journey is part of his destiny. Eventually, he arrives back at home, his goal. However, when he arrives, Athena disguised him as a beggar, and he was able to see that his suitors and some old servants, even his son, treated him rudely. “No other Odysseus will ever come, for he and I are one, the same I am back again on my own Island.” (Homer, Book XVI) This being said, after reaching his goal, he was disappointed in his suitors and servants action, so his goal was disappointing. In the end, it is apparent that the journey ultimately causes Odysseus to evolve into an independent character. Odysseus loses all his men at the island of Helios when they ate the sacred cattle and were slain by Zeus. On the journey, he lost men at just about every island, but after they ate the sacred cattle, he was left to finish the journey alone. The suitors also were rude to him, so he is left with himself and his wife. In conclusion, with no journey, the goal would not be met. In The Odyssey, the journey was more important in developing Odysseus as an independent character with self-motivation. The journey helped shape Odysseus into the hero he returned home as.