THE LAST SAMURAI – associated with CAMPBELL's ARCHETYPE & TO MY LEADERSHIP LIFE
Charmie D. Arribe, MD
AGSB ID#-R140047
1. THE HERO IS INTRODUCED IN HIS ORDINARY WORLD
In 1876, U.S. Army captain Nathan Algren is traumatized by his participation in atrocities during the Indian Wars, and has become an embittered alcoholic. Algren is approached by his former commanding officer, Colonel Bagley, on behalf of Japanese businessman Omura, who wishes to hire distinguished US soldiers to train the Imperial Japanese Army to suppress a samurai rebellion, lead by Katsumoto Moritsugu. In exchange, Japan would ratify a lucrative trade agreement that would grant the U.S. exclusive rights to supply arms to the Japanese government.
2. THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
Although Algren despises Bagley for having ordered atrocities during the Indian wars, he accepts the job for the money and sails to Japan. Most of the soldiers being trained are little more than inexperienced peasants and farmers.
3. THE HERO IS RELUCTANT AT FIRST
The training is interrupted when the samurai rebels attack a railroad owned by Omura; Bagley orders the regiment to mobilize, overruling Algren's objection that the soldiers are not ready. Algren is proved correct, during a battle in a foggy forest in Yoshino Province, the undisciplined and intimidated soldiers panic and are quickly routed by the samurai horsemen. Algren kills several samurai with his revolver and saber but is eventually knocked from his horse. Algren desperately fights using a spear tipped flagstaff with a flag of a white tiger until he collapses from complete exhaustion. As he is about to be vanquished, he kills his would-be executioner with the staff's spear tip. As he is about to be killed, his ferocity and refusal to surrender, as well as the image of the white tiger on the flag he is fighting with, reminds Katsumoto of a recurring dream. As a result, Algren is spared and taken captive to the rebels' village in the mountains.
