Jitterbug Perfume is a novel of epic proportions that spans nearly a thousand years. Alobar, the protagonist, is first encountered as a king in Bohemia. Even if he is the hero of the story, Priscilla is the secondary hero. A hero is a person who is forced to make hard decisions, and they must also be willing to make difficult choices, even if the results might not be appealing. In this novel, Priscilla fits the title of a hero as she can overcome many obstacles that relate to her making the perfumes. She challenges the most complex job in a Mexican restaurant.
Priscilla is an amateur perfumer who encounters a lot as she tries to find a base note for her new perfume, which she believes will be close to a supernatural thing. She tries to recreate a fragrance from a thousand-year-old bottle in her possession. As per Joseph Campbell’s framework, a hero is given a tool that helps them on their quest to victory (Deep Dive: Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey 6). As she deals with this, she encounters unnecessary proceeds from her lesbian co-worker. The text states, “It is a saga, as well. A saga must have a hero, and the hero of this one is a janitor with a missing bottle” (Robbins 244). This quote explains that Priscilla has many interesting stories that make her a hero.
One of the stages is initiation, whereby the hero faces temptations that tend to steer them away from their heroic journey. According to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey framework, a hero undergoes three stages of transformation to achieve victory and become a better person (Deep Dive: Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey 6). Priscilla faces many attractions in her personal life, which might make her lose focus through her courageous journey. She has a strong appetite for sensual experience and sex, hence her numerous entanglements. According to the text, “She continued weeping until the heat of her tear water, the sheer velocity of its flow, finally obscured the already vague circumstances of its origin” (Robbins 5). Priscilla is presented as an individual with a lot of longings that are hard to satisfy. However, according to the framework, this is part of becoming a hero since a person has to go through temptations to become one.
Works Cited
“Deep Dive: Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey.’” Why Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey Is So Important. Web.
Robbins, Tom. Jitterbug Perfume. Bantam, 1989.