In Smoke Signals, Thomas and Victor fulfill every part of the hero's journey, from "The Ordinary World" to "Return with the Elixir." For example, Suzie Song serves as a maiden who presents the heroes with gifts as rewards at the end of their journey. Their first trip is to Phoenix to retrieve Arnold Joseph's ashes, but what they seek is both physical and spiritual discovery. Their journey soon becomes a habit for them, similar to how in "The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian", written by the same author, Sherman Alexie, Junior makes the normal journey to school every day, crossing the border between worlds to reach make his morning commute. Through Thomas and Victor's shared experiences, their relationship of unbridled admiration and subtle antagonism, respectively, evolves into one of clear friendship and trust. However, they must experience conflict for their comrades to prevail. Consider the trip home, when they have a heated argument in the car before their near-fatal accident. Through this mutual traumatic experience, all hostility immediately ceases, resonating with Rowdy and Junior reconciling over a basketball game in "The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." Not only are these scenes, from both "The Absolute True Diary" and "Smoke Signals," central to the corresponding plot and character development, but they exemplify a theme that originated thousands of years earlier on the plains of Marathon, where the few triumphed against the many. After the accident, Victor, like Pheidippides, the marathon runner who reported the news of victory to Athens, stops only when his body collapses, and Victor is fueled by the heroic morality that is so valued now and perhaps even more so in the Hellenistic age. It's a blunt innuendo, with Thomas going so far as to call him "the marathon man." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay With epic, non-diegetic music playing in the background of the montage, the lighting of Victor's rush for help plays an important role in providing meaning for the climactic scene. At night, the argument in the car, the resulting accident and the ensuing confrontation are the low points of the film. They are shrouded in darkness, and the veil does not lift until Victor begins his escape, the last of his journeys. By running during the night, when the sun rises, he overcame all obstacles, both internal and external. At this point, when he sees his father for the last time in vivid memory, this is the high point of the film. Chris Eyre uses lighting to contrast sequential scenes and differentiate low and high points in Victor's journeys, the focal points of the film. Although he fails to reach the city, Victor's heroic effort earns him the respect of his friends and they consider him a hero. This is reminiscent of "The Absolute True Diary," where Junior's journey to the top to block Rowdy's dunk at the climax of the novel provides an interesting contrast to the earlier part of the book, when in the first play he is knocked out by Rowdy's elbow at his feet. Head. Victor's run for help also alludes to "The Fast Runner," a popular Native American myth and 2001 film. Chris Eyre pays homage to the idea in Fast Runner and Pheidippides at Marathon that redemption comes found through a heroic act, in this case running for help. At the end of the story there is still a further test to be accomplished, as in the case of Hercules and his 12 Labors. Victor has to break into his father's trailer, something he is reluctant to do, not.