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Monica Frances S. Salvador

LIT 103

General Luna is one of the extraordinary heroes Ive ever known. When you have seen the
movie you will realize that he is not that kind of hero youve expected to be. But he is a
person who you wouldnt believe can be hero. General Luna has an attitude that some people
doesnt like he is fiercely brave, and he maybe a little bit arrogant but when we talk about his
love and heroism for the Philippines it definitely show that he is on top. General Luna pursue
the life being general but based on history, General Luna is once a doctor, he studied in Spain
and also achieved his Doctor in Medicine in Central University of Madrid. It shows that he
leaved the profession of being a doctor and study military tactics to be one of the best general
of Aguinaldo. Being Doctor is much better than being a General because your life being
General is always in danger, your life can be at risk and that what happened to General
Lunas life he chose the path of being a General without thinking twice that he can be killed
by the enemies even by his own fellow Filipino.
There are many lessons that we can get from the movie General Luna and relate these to
The Heros Adventure. First is Campbell had mention that there are two types of deed, the
physical deed the hero accomplishes a dauntless action in battle or protects a life and the
spiritual deed where hero acquires to experience the supernormal range of human spiritual
life. It displays that General Luna is a hero which is a physical type of deed, He gave up his
life and studies tactics for Filipinos and he even put his life in danger for his fellow Filipinos.
Second, once Campbell said that Our life evokes our character. You find out more about
yourself as you go on wherein here we could possibly relate to the history of General Luna
it may not see in the movie but based on history Luna, was once a Doctor and never intended

to be part of political organization like the the Katipunan which is founded by Andres
Bonafacio. Antonio Luna and his brothers declined the offer but life hits them again, theyve
been arrested and imprisoned because of suspecting to be part of Katipunan. It shows that
General Luna never wished or dreamed to be part of people against Spanish colonial rule, but
he just wanted to have gradual reform of the system but life pushed his limits when he was
arrested and imprisoned and give him reason to fight against Spaniards. Campbell states that
our character can have big impact to what will happen to our life also our dreams and
decisions can change from time to time. Third, Campbell said life can dry up because youre
off on your own adventure it clearly states the Campbell want the reader to know that life
can be boring if you wont get out of your comfort zone and take the journey of life. That is
what General Luna proven what Campbell stated he take the adventure of life, he is once a
pharmacist, chemist, journalist also musician and he exceled to all of those. Life can be
boring if you dont take the adventure. General Luna himself shows that life can be full of
surprises being in field of science into the field of being an outstanding General is quite far
from each other. Campbell also stated that the adventure is its own reward it relating to
General Luna by his adventure to save the Filipinos he become one of the respected and
loved general by his followers. Also some of his followers see him as their mentor and it can
be the reward of his adventure, Reward that is something you benefit from ones adventure.
Lastly General Lunas death was the great example of what Campbell stated that the ultimate
backing of life is chance. General Lunas death was being suspected on wanting Emilio
Aguinaldo position and relating it to Campbells message about chance is that General Luna
by chance meet people or has people around him that has big hatred and insecurity to him
because sometimes in our life we meet people by chance or we experience situation by
chance that can either change our life or ruin our life.

There is no achievement without renunciation was once said by Campbell which General
Lunas achievement can be a great example. General Luna wasnt called General because he
just wanted to be. But because he took courage and sacrifices his personal life just to be one
of the outstanding general, one of his sacrifices is when he abandoned his lover he chose to
serve the country than to be married. Also we all know that he is great doctor and journalist
but he left and study again to be a general. General Luna is both hero and leader. He is great
leader to his soldiers he does not just command them of anything but also care for them and
he wants his shoulder to have unity and courage to fight so he trained them and always watch
for them. He is also an outstanding hero because he may not die in the battle for the Filipinos
but he fight for what he thinks that is right and just, and that is to fight for the right of
Philippines but sadly he died because of the insecurity and hatred of his fellow Filipino.
It can be pretty distinguished that the clowns in the movie is Felipe Buencamino he may
not do anything but in the end of the movie he assumed that he achieved something but
doesnt make him a hero also he always claim that he do something for the Philippines by
being the messenger to the Americans but in the end he doesnt even gave something to our
country. The creeps in the movie was some of the soldier that do not have loyalty to their
general, the soldiers who goes to fight and train but in the middle of the fight they stepped out
and run because they want to save their selves and abandoned their fellow soldiers. A specific
creep in the movie is the son of Felipe Buencamino, General Luna saw how Buencaminos
son ran when he is in the middle of the battle. Captain Janolino was great example of creep in
the movie, he just hang around and wanted to be a captain but in the end he is not worth to
be a captain even a soldier. He doesnt know how to give importance to his position and how
to a be captain. The dragon in the movie is that General Luna wants to be in the position of
Emilio Aguinaldo it may not be shown in the movie but history of General Luna state that
General Luna somehow want to be the president of the Philippines.

In General Luna movie there are lots of character that can be describe to different types of
archetypal character and these are some of great example, Emilio Aguinaldo can be described
as Friendly beast for being in side of General Luna but the truth is he is just using General
Luna. Captain Eduardo and Col. Paco Roman is the everyman in the movie they dont have
big responsibility in the movie but they supported General Luna in little ways that has big
impact to the story. They are always on the side of General Luna and that makes them his side
kicks and it was showed until the end of the movie those two characters gave their loyalty to
General Luna.
General Luna movie can be illustrate two situational archetypes, One is the journey
archetype where a hero send to find some truth that can save his kingdom which is somewhat
related to General Lunas journey. He searched and studies articles, tactics and politics to
save our country from the American also he searched for some people who can complete
thousand soldiers that can equally fight for the number of soldier of the American. He always
find ways to make his plan successful even he knows there is still big possibilities that it may
not be blown by his fellow general and captain. The fall is also one archetype that you can see
in the movie because of death of General Luna from being one of the greatest General, Luna
seen as rivalry to his fellow politicians and it became the source of his death. He may not be
accomplish his goals but he shows the Filipino that even our member of the politics doesnt
have courage to fight for our country. One of his famous lines in the movies is Ganito ba
talaga ang tadhana natin? Kalaban ng kalaban. Kalaban ng kakampi. Nakakapagod. In
this lines stated that he already know the some people in the politics can ruined his plan and
his goal for our country, also it clearly state the punishment or his death was because to the
secret devil plan of Emilio Aguinaldo and Felipe Buencamino. It will be the saddest fall of
one of the greatest general in those days even Apolinario Mabini does not favour in killing
General Luna.

There are two symbolic archetypes in the movie General Luna. One is the crossroad in the
General Lunas history this maybe when he was arrested because of wrong reason and in here
all his plans have been changed and changes the roads he takes. He found it wrong when
Spaniards arrested him along with his brother where he even rufes Andres Bonifacios
invitation to be the member of the Katipunero. In the Carcel Modelo de Madrid, General
Luna begun to changed his plans and study war tactics to give justice to himself and for the
Filipinos. The Castle is one of the symbolic archetypes that you can find in the movie and it
shows that the castle in the movie is no other than the government. People in government
where protected and respected. They have the power to command others like what is
happening in the castle people can be treated as prince and princess and the words that came
from them is followed by the people who are below them. Clearly the movie doesnt only
show what General Lunas story but also shows that in Government itself can ruined our
country.

References:

"Situational Archetypes." Aherring [licensed for Non-commercial Use Only] /. Web. 3

Oct. 2015.

"5 Common Character Archetypes in Literature | Scribendi.com." 5 Common

Character Archetypes in Literature | Scribendi.com. Web. 3 Oct. 2015.

Szczepanski, Kallie. "Antonio Luna Biography." Web. 3 Oct. 2015.

"13 Facts That Prove Antonio Luna Was An All-Around Badass." FilipiKnow. 30
Sept. 2014. Web. 3 Oct. 2015.

"8 Badass Quotes from 'Heneral Luna' Movie." Philstar.com. Web. 3 Oct. 2015.

'Heneral Luna' Review: Essential Viewing." Rappler. Web. 3 Oct. 2015.