Who Are You In Your Life Story?: Hero, Bully, Toady, Or Victim?

If you want to change your life, the place to begin is by figuring out who you are in your life story.

The Hero Saves His Family

In one of my favorite movies, A Christmas Story, young Ralphie wants an official “Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle” for Christmas.

We find out why Ralphie wants the air rifle in one of his fantasy sequences. Ralphie, dressed in full Hollywood cowboy regalia, saves his family from attack from the dreaded Black Bart and his gang.

While Dad, Mom, and younger brother, Randy, cower helplessly under the kitchen table, Ralphie uses his trusty air rifle to save them.

Hero Or Victim?

In his fantasy, Ralphie imagines himself as the hero. This is why he wants the air rifle. Ralphie wants to be a hero. Fantasy Ralphie is fearless, able to ward off danger, save his family, and be recognized for his heroics by his grateful family.

We soon find out that Ralphie is something else in the real world. The voiceover of the adult Ralph explains the three roles for children in Ralphie’s world: a bully, a toady, or a victim. There are no child heroes in Ralphie’s real world.

We discover that Ralphie and his friends are victims of an older boy who torments the younger boys every day as they walk to and from school. This is the bully, Scut Farkus, who is abetted by a much younger toady, Grover Dill.

The fantasy cowboy hero with his air rifle is actually the frightened victim of a neighborhood bully. And the ones who cower in fear are the victims of the bully.

Who Saves Ralphie?

So, who saves Ralphie from the bully?

The answer to this question is the most significant characteristic of the hero’s journey.

To be continued…

For Your Success,

Kalinda