The Road of Trials (Part 1)
“Reflection”
performed by Lea Salonga
from the Mulan soundtrack
Look at me
I will never pass for a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
Can it be
I’m not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly
To be myself
I would break my family’s heartWho is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don’t know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I’ve tried
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?
this is a song about finding yourself: that struggle the occurs right before you realize what you need to do to become who you truly are. it can be a very dark, trying time, but once you reach your full potential nothing else can compare. i especially like:
can it be?
i’m not meant to play this part.
everyone thinks this at some point in time. it is all part of the “big picture”.
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The Road of Trials is without a doubt a difficult time; Hence the title. Ms. Haffley told us that although it is presented in a linear way, it is a cyclical period. Mulan went through the same obstacles of not being her true self over and over again. Mulan says, “Somehow I cannot hide who I am though I’ve tried/When will my reflection show who I am inside?” Throughout the Road of Trials, we face the same difficulties many times. She can finally look at herself and realize that she hasn’t been who she really is. And that’s the first step to moving forward.
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Who is that girl I see
staring straight back at me?
Why is my reflection
someone I don’t know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I’ve tried
This is my favorite part of the song, but it also doubles as support to show that Mulan is on her road of trials now, if not constantly through the movie. The road of trials is meant to be a difficult time in which you are stripped of all the superficial and brought down to your core self through your experiances. This song exemplifies exactly that.
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The Road of Trials is all about pushing you outside of your comfort zone or into an unfamiliar situation. It is in these type of situations that you truly find who you are. You can tell everyone about your beliefs and the type of decisions you would make, but until you are faced with these events it is hard to truly know yourself. I like this song for that reason. Mulan doesnt like who she sees in herself because she isn’t truly being herself. She doesnt even recognize herself and she wants that to change. She wants to rediscover herself and rise to adversity. She can no longer hide who she really is and is beginning to accept that it is ok to not be the perfect daughter or bride as long as she is happy with herself!
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the road of trials is supposed to be one of the most difficult times in the hero journey for the hero…..in the movie this is where Mulan sorta failed at impressing the matchmaker, which is basically failling at the only option available for women at this time. at least i think so… anyway she’s realizing that she was not meant to be the simple wife of whoever the matchmaker matches her up with, which i think is actually realizing what her call isn’t…but that’s just me. She’s realizing that she doesn’t really know who she is or what she’s supposed to do in this life..because she doesn’t really fit the standard for the matchmaker. But she’s had an emotional upheaval…and subsequently her family isn’t that pleased with her (i mean they aren’t angry but just sort of disapointed, which i think is worse than being angry)…so she’s having sort of a rough time adapting.
but i still don’t think that this is the road of trials because Mulan hasn’t realized her call yet….so i don’t think that this really works all that well
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i love this song so much, and i always felt an overwhelm of empathy for mulan at this point. i felt that i could identify with what she was going through, especially in terms of disappointing her parents expectations. she was bound by the chinese culture at that time to get married, impress her inlaws, make babies, and fulfill the role of women. her golden seed felt differently, and she is sensing that clash inside of her. she is looking so hard for herself, but her hero journey is about to begin. i really, really like the emotion that this song portrays. i feel like it is appropraite for the road of trials, just because she is facing a major one is attempting to recognize herself.
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like my peers have stated above, this song is very representative of the road of trials (part 1). an argument can be made that this is the hardest part because it is recognizing and getting to know yourself and letting go of everything else: peoples expectations for you or even expectations you had for yourself
“Look at me
i will never pass for a perfect bride
or a perfect daughter…
Now i see
that if i were truly to be myself
i would break my familys heart”
In addition to letting go of expectations, you must also let go of the idea of ‘perfection.’ Mulan is really struggling that she can’t be this ideal for her family. I think we all have that issue at some point, especially now as college applications are starting to be written. At least for me, im worried that i wont be what a college wants or that i may fall short of the expectations of my family. but i think that once we accet that we are not perfect, we are able to live to our individual potential, which is greater than any idea anyone else can have for us.
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I really like this song. To me, the clearest relation it has to the Road of Trials is the way that Mulan is having “momentary glimpses of paradise/Nirvana,” which, to Mulan, is being her true self instead of what is expected by her family. However, she must first combat the trial of being herself inside and out, in front of her family, which is difficult because she does not want to break their hearts.
If Mulan’s ego can be put to death (aka she can combat the fear of breaking her familys heart) then she can truly be herself, and continue on with her hero journey.
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Here is my reflection over Reflection…HAH! Mulan is obviously going through a difficult time in her life. She is just now realizing that she hasn’t been the person she truly is. She sees all of her imperfections in this song, on her road of trials–she doesn’t think she’s fit to be on the path she’s on and is second guessing herself. She is soon to take her first step to conquering her journey. My favorite line is “Who is that girl I see staring straight back at me?” This is support to show that Mulan is now entering her road of trials. Trying to find who she is, and transform herself back to that.
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as i understand it, the road of trials is when the hero is finally given all the information and truth about what their life is and what it is supposed to be, and have to decide to face it or not. i feel that at this moment of her journey, mulan is realizing that she cannot pretend to be someone she’s not, but at the same time feels that if she were to unveil her true self she would never make a perfect bride, and disgrace her family, and “break my family’s heart”.
“Look at me
I will never pass for a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
Can it be
I’m not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly
To be myself
I would break my family’s heart”
mulan is realizing that she cannot hide who she is, and that whoever she is will come through regardless of her attempts to repress it. as she struggles with this in the song, it is obvious to see that it is a very difficult matter, and shows that the road of trials is not easy.
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The Road of Trials is one of the most difficult parts of the hero journey. As Mulan implies in “Reflection”, the standards of the said World prohibit One to reach their true identity. By limiting One to its standards, the World greatly limits the potential of the One. Mulan realizes this and asks why she tries to act in the way that limits her. She knows she cannot be what she truly is not, but she feels as if she cannot pull away from the World (in her case, her family).
The Road of Trials is the series of stepping stones of realizing One’s true potential. Within this song, Mulan is facing her first trial within herself. Everytime she tries to break free of the World, all of the people within the World try to pull her back. These people, her parents and teachers, although trying to help her, are actually playing the role of monsters.
The mirror Mulan looks into seems to appear as a Supernatural Aid by showing her what others want her to be. With this, Mulan recognizes the difference between it and her. Mulan wants the World to see her for who she really is, and the only way to do that is by breaking out of the World.
By doing so, Mulan will start the next Trial on the Road of Trials.
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I think that Reflection from Mulan is a great song for the Road of Trials. Mulan has come to a point in her life where she can no longer see the person she used to be.
Who is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don’t know?
I think that this verse is one of the verses of the song that really shows Mulan’s struggle. The Road of trials is one of the hardest part of the hero journey and through its struggles, the hero finds out the new person they are ment to be. Mulan no longer can be the person she once was. She can’t hide her true self any longer and has grown into a new person. She is realizing that her old ego has died and she can embrace a new one.
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So I kinda feel like this song holds parts from a lot of stages of the Hero Journey, not just the Road of Trials.
I think that the line “if I were to be myself I would break my family’s heart” is a lot like leaving The World and abandoning some of the traditions your family holds important. Mulan is clearly expressing a need to leave the confines of traditional society, her “world”.
The line “am I meant to play this part?” holds the largest evidence towards the Road of Trials, specifically the part in which the hero, Mulan, wonders if they are truley the Hero meant for the journey they are on.
Okay so maybe that’s just two part of the Hero Journey that I see represented in this song, but still, I fell that it’s more than just the Road of Trials. I think it could definitely be split between the call/leaving the world and the road of trials.
I think “I’ll make a man out of you” would have been good for the road of trials
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The Road of Trials. Mulan definitely has plenty of these, and when I listen to Reflection all I can say is “Poor, poor Mulan!”, but that’s what the road of trials are all about anyway right? Mulan must conform to chinease society’s view of a “perfect” bride, not only this, but also fufill her parents wants of her to be a ladylike daughter. Although Mulan may have this trial, it is all about the hero’s growth from the struggle. Mulan becomes a stronger person. She learns more about her self, which enables her courage to shine through as she becomes a war hero for China. The Road of Trials for a hero is not meant to be easy, but the wisdom gained makes it all worth while. With struggle comes experience that brings power to the hero.
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While discussing the Road of trials in class, it was pointed out that one of the characteristic traits of hitting that stage was questioning yourself and who you are as a person; finally realizing that you are lost. And I believe that this song represents that emotion perfectly. After Mulan is publicly reprimanded by the big fat lady from the scene before who yells, “you may look like a bride but you will never bring your family honor,” she is humiliated. In the ancient Chinese society females are only good for their beauty and making good wives for their future husbands and Mulan is at a loss because it seems as if she will never make the cut. At the end of the song Mulan bluntly states “who am I,” and stroke for stroke represents someone who is encountering the beginning of their Road of Trials; someone who is struggling to find out who they are as a person.
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To me, the line in the song that most exemplifies the Road of Trials is:
“Now I see
That if I were truly
To be myself
I would break my family’s heart.”
Even if a person has decided to accept their call and leave the World, family is still important. Thus, one of the first trials to overcome would be making the decision to be yourself and leave your family behind. At the end of the song, Mulan makes this decision and decides that she cannot hide who she truly is and will continue on her journey.
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This song represents the Road of Trials because Mulan is trying to be herself, but she wants to please her parents as well. She is torn but keeps going on her own path. This is a good representation of what the road of trials is supposed to be. We’re supposed to feel a connection and maybe even an obligation to some part of our World that we’re abandoning, but the point is that we continue down the road anyway.
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Mulan is trying to figure out who she really is. In the movie, she tries to live up to her parents standards becoming the perfect bride, daughter, etc. She doesn’t know what she is really meant to be, but she does not think that her made up reflection is who she truly is inside. She is trying to discover herself and wonders when her real self will show.
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I wish there was a way for our golden seeds to fit in with the world without sacrificing a part of ourselves, but alas. No such luck. I definitely understand Mulan’s dilemna. I mean, you have to find a balance between what the world wants and what your golden seed calls you to do, and sometimes the two cannot be reconciled.
The fear of disappointing my parents/teachers/friends definitely holds me back from doing certain things that ought to be done. And at what point do you say, you know what, I don’t even recognize who I am anymore? And how do you avoid that?
I think, though, that you need to know yourself before you set out on the road of trials. Not to say that you won’t recognize certain traits or beliefs on the road, but I think there has to be a very basic understanding of who we are or claim to be. That can definitely change, but we have to understand before we go off and fight the Huns that we aren’t the everyday Chinese girl. And that that’s okay.
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This is my favorite disney movie. I love the song and it is a perfect representation of the road of trials. At this point Mulan realizes that she can’t be what the world wants her to be, but that she is more. It won’t be easy for her especially since it will be against everythings she has previously known. It’s a great example of how hard the road of trials is and the triumph that we eventually have to overcome.
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alright i’m sorry but i have to point out that it is kiiind of ironic to be writing a reflection over a song called reflection….
yeah i know terrible joke, but hey it’s 12:45 am and what else am i supposed to come up with?
no i think this song is perfect for the road of trials. its that big question we all have when we have set out to do something with all of this motivation and purpose and determination but then something is triggered inside us that forces the question of “who am i, really?” or “what am i doing?” etc. it’s that moment of truth when we look at the person we’re becoming to the outside world and then look back at who we think we are and the differences can scare us. its that time everyone has once every so often when everything is basically shot to hell and you end up looking at yourself (literally or figuratively) and doing something comparable to bursting into tears. it sucks at the time but those “bumps in the road” are the things that make you stronger, the reflections that really make you think, the times when you worry you may have lost yourself inside of some bigger dream that doesn’t seem to fit you. this song embodies that moment for the hero and brings meaning to it through the story of mulan. this song really helped me, i think, to better understand the road of trials and the huge significance it bears to the hero journey and the development of the hero as a person.
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The road of trials is described as the time a hero needs and challenges and hero needs to realize his or her boon – innately tied to oneself. So the road of trials can really be interpreted as a time of self-realization: a time to search within the hero’s self and connect to that inner-light. To me that’s what this song is all about. It’s all about the long dark process of finding oneself through a series of challenges. The song asks the question: “When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?” The real question as it relates to the road, however, is when will I realize that what my reflection shows and who I am inside are the same.
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reflection over reflection WHOOOOO. i loove this song and the movie probably my most favorite animated movie. (maybe haha) i know allll the lines. mulan is going through a difficult stage in her life because she failed at her “purpose in life.” in the chinese society of the time the women just got married and did what they were told. mulan wasn’t even capable of “bringing her family honor.” this is great song for the road of trials because it shows the problems in mulan’s life. clearly she is not a simple housewife and is destined to do more. when she asks “when will my reflection show who i am inside?” she recognizes that she is not doing what it is best before. then she goes and saves china and so its all good. personally i wish that they should include a scene at the end where mulan goes to the fat matchmaker and says, “what now, bitch!” but its rated G so they can’t. oh well
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I really like this movie, Mulan. This part is sad to me though because I think we can all relate to this song. We all ask ourselves many times in our lives “who am i” and “who do i want to be?”. But it’s not that simple. There are people in our lives, such as parents, who influence the choices we make and ultimately who we want to be. that can be both good and bad. In this particular part of the movie, I think it’s bad. Mulan is trying to make herself shine by being who she is, but the culture makes it impossible to do so. She’s looking into her reflection wondering who she’s supposed to be, and is it possible to be that girl.
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I like this song choice for the road of trials because I feel like Mulan is questioning herself how she can be who she really is … basically how she can be the hero she knows she is. What is hard is that in order to be herself she feels like she has to hurt her family and leave her life as it is now, breaking her mother’s and father’s heart. She looks at herself in the reflection and she see what she could be but she is caught because she knows what it will mean to be the hero she can see herself being. This is like the Road of Trials … you can glimpse the glory you will be as a hero but it is hard to get there, you face so much distance and you must go so far away from what you are right now … but you know it’ll be rewarding. It is hard to really know how rewarding though and that is what makes it difficult. Mulan is already beginning to know this however. This is then her first trial really. This song thus is very good for the road of trials.
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Let me start off by saying I love Mulan, not only because it’s a great movie but because Mulan is a strong, independent female character. I think this song does fit with the Road of Trials nicely. Mulan doesn’t want to disappoint her family by not being the “perfect bride” or “perfect daughter”, but she feels like she isn’t being herself. By recognizing that she has not been her true self, Mulan has already reached the first step on her road of trials.
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An obvious choice for the road of trials. Mulan is having a tough time because she is not supposed to be the person she wants to be. The road of trials is a hard time in the heroes journey and Mulan is no exception. In order to complete her hero journey, she is going to need to get over these problems and persevere.
She is more than what she is supposed to be. She needs to get over these road of trials and fulfill her hero journey.
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This song fits perfectly with the road of trials, because Mulan is at a point in her life where she does not seem to be happy with herself or her life. She claims that is she acts on who she truly is inside, her family will not accept her and her actions. She is frustrated because who she acts like and looks like does not reflect who she is on the inside, this would be a major problem for anyone who wants to live a fulfilling life, and makes for a solid road of trails.
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So sucks for Mulan that she continuously has to hide who she is throughout the entire movie. I think that this song related to the Road of trials because it represents the coming to terms with who you are and what you have to do along the journey. For some, it may be finally accepting yourself and not being afraid to show the real you. This might sound easy, but to others it can be very difficult. Mulan has to fail multiple times at this until she finally proves herself to herself and her friends and family. good job. Mulan.
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okay. so in the context of the movie, this song makes perfect sense for the road of trials. as far as i can remember, this song plays after mulan makes a major mess out of the matchmaker process in town. her family is very disappointed in her because in the society they are from, the matchmaker process is very important.
for mulan, this is the first step on the road of trials because she is realizing that she does not fit into the societal mold that she is supposed to fit into. for the first time, she recognizes that she is not the person that her family or the rest of the society wants her to be – she is her own person. the road of trials obviously will continue and she will really be forced to face who she is and learn to accept it despite the societal pressure from all around.
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So i absolutely love this song. It is a problem that many people face, disguising ourselves to be something we’re not in order to make others happy. In the movie, this is Mulan’s turning point where she decides to completely stray from what society wants and to simply be herself and show the world her true self. The road of trials in the hero journey is the hero’s struggle to achieve their call. Here, the trial Mulan is facing is how to both please her parents and to really find herself. By conquering this trial she will be able to move onto her next step in her hero journey and her next trial.
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I think that this song does a great job of symbolizing the first part of the road of trials. For many people, I think that the beginning of the road of trials is shedding the skin that they had to use in the World so that they can begin to show their true selves.
“Can it be
I’m not meant to play this part?”
I think that this is a line shows something that many people must come to terms with, especially after receiving their call. They start to understand that who they are in the World actually isn’t who they are at all, and they begin to feel restless, like they don’t belong. That is what this song seems to be describing.
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The road of trials, the time when the hero experiences a series of hardships overcome with the help of the supernatural aid and finds out new and often frightening things about oneself. What better song to describe this than “Reflection” from Mulan, a point in the movie when she is struggling with her identity because she has dome something heroic in hiding her identity so that she can fight for her country, but she no longer can see who she really is because of this identity switch she has imposed upon herself. It is here that Mulan really starts to question if she did the right thing because she is faced with all these struggles along the Road. With a little help, she gets back on the journey to finish a job that seems almost impossible to her at this point.
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This song is fitting to represent the road of trials because it shows mulan starting to come out of the belly of the whale (or what she’s thinks she’s met as that so far in her hero journey) in the form of her entire family and village feeling disgraced by her. In the hero journey, after the belly of the whale is the road of trials. The real thing that she’s struggling with is who she feels she is as opposed to who custom and those around her dictate her to be. This contrast of worlds is fitting because it shows what we will undergo as heroes and heroines throughout our journeys–fighting against the way we have been told we are, and the person we truly think we are meant to be.
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i think one of the greatest challenges that faces every hero is realizing that they ARE WORTHY of beinga hero. that they have this strength and that they can do amazing things. i think many people feel that they do not belong in the role they were born into but i think realizing what it is that we were born into is much more difficult. i have always loved this song because it describes well what i often feel. especially this line
Now I see
That if I were truly
To be myself
I would break my family’s heart
I feell ike my family has a set of standards and i will never live up to them. i am not who they think i am and this has been a huge part of my road of trials.
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The road of trials is a difficult time for the hero. They have to figure out if the journey is worth fighting for. It seems like a fight or flight type of situation to me. When it gets tough will the hero back down or fight? (fight meaning figuratively since you can’t kill anyone in the hero journey or else you are not a hero) I think that Mulan as a whole represents this part of the hero journey well. She has to fight in a male dominated world, and doesn’t back down with things get tough. (i haven’t seen the movie in a while so correct me if that statement is wrong, but i am pretty positive she never backs down)
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Can it be
I’m not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly
To be myself
I would break my family’s heart
Everyone struggles to find themselves. Its hard and the trials can be really hard and sometimes you might feel like they’re impossible. It seems that we’re all categorized by our parents, teachers, peers to be something that is not necessarily who we are. Those of us who are truly ready to be who we are will abandon all the requirements and judgements of those around us no matter the sacrifice.
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At some point throughout our hero journey, I think we can all identify with this song that Mulan sings. It is part of the journey to ask such questions and to reflect in this way. The song demostrates the stage Mulan is in; the road of trials. And the road of trials is just that–a road of trials, challenges, obstacles, hardships. I believe it is a stage that encompasses the entire hero journey. No one said this was easy. I feel like I ask the same questions Mulan asks herself… It is difficult to make that connection between who you are, who you portray yourself to be, and what others would like you to be. I think it is something we continue to learn about as we go through life.
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This song fits perfectly with this part of the hero journey. The road of trials is a hard time and throughout that time a lot of questioning about ones self occurs. Who is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don’t know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I’ve tried
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?
It is always hard to figure out who you are inside an what other people see you as. Everyone is judged daily by their peers, family, and other adults in their lives. Those who truly know themselves don’t hide who they are even though they are judged. They are proud of what they’ve done and who they have become. Many people think they aren’t worthy of their accomplishments so they hide what they’ve done because they aren’t yet ready to face the hero they’ve become.
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This song is a well-suited depiction of the road of trials in the hero journey. However, in the case of Mulan, it is just the beginning of the road of difficulties that she will have to face in her journey. However, there is a main overall issue and problem that she faces in the fact that she is a girl, trying to live up to her family’s name in joining the army. She overcomes this momentarily by dressing up as a man but ends up facing it again as her journey carries on. During this trial, she has to stop and question who she is and who she must be in order to be the hero that she wants and strives to be. In this song, she portrays the questions that we all struggle with when we embark on our own hero journey.
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The road of trials is a time where you face situations that will truly define who you are. You face difficulties that will strip you of any cover you try to hide yourself behind and show what your character is really like. Often, you will see yourself defined in a way you least expected. Whether you like it or not, this is the true you. This is where I see the song “Reflection” fitting in. Once you can see the reflection of your character and understand who you are, you can push through these trials on your way to continuing your quest to fufill the hero journey.
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the road of trials is also a difficult part of the hero journey, bcause after the belly of the whale, it would be much easier if the hero could just continue without any more problems. Mulan is very confused throughout the whole movie until she becomes a fighter, and she sings this song before that. her trials happen with her father, then her mother, and then her society. this song is very powerful, and it is a good song to represent the road of trials
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This song perfectly portrays what the true meaning of the Road of Trials is. Each one of us has a road of trials, it is inevitable. It all depends on how the individual interprets their own road of trials. In this song, Mulan is trying to find who she really is. Why does my relfection someone I dont know? She asks herself this question, and seeks the answer. Her road is one of self-worth and self-identification. I think we all go through this stage at some point in our life.
The song’s lyrics are some of the exact questions that we ask ourselves. Who am I? it is a question that the human being will never stop asking.
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This has always been one of my favorite disney songs because it’s not one of those sing along musical songs (although I love those too), but it shows a true conflict within the character. Mulan struggles with her role in life and ow she is supposed to fit into society and the culture. And while she wants to fit in, she is also trying not to lose herself in the process; and this struggle is shown in this song. Balancing who she should be with who she really is is an incredibly hard struggle, and she just wants to find out who she really is and be able to show that person all of the time. Mulan’s culture is all about bringing honor to her family, yet in being her real self, she is afraid that she will shame her family. This is the struggle that she has to overcome.
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The road of trials is a very hard time in the hero journey. The hero has to go through hard times. i feel like so many people go through struggles in their life. its almost good to know that almost everyone struggles in their life and there is an actual part in the hero journey for it and you have to go through it to be a bigger person. this is a perfect song for the road of trials becaus it showa the tough time that she is going through but I believe that it will eventually make her a bigger and better person.
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Mulan is a movie about a woman who pretends to be a man so that she can protect her father from a gruesome death in the war against the Huns. This song, Reflection, is about Mulan’s personal trials about dealing with her inability to conform to society’s perfectly feminine view of what a young woman should be. Mulan has much more in her heart than this stereotypical beautiful and absurdly quiet bride-type person that everyone wants her to be. Her road of trials deals with the world wanting her to be one thing, but her constant struggle to be herself, something completely different from the world’s expectations.
I just thought it was interesting that I was doing my reflection on a song called reflection
I got a kick out of that.
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The Road of Trials are some of the most defining moments of the Hero Journey. This stage is where the Hero will become the person he or she will be for the rest of their life. These are obviously difficult times and this is shown in how Mulan struggles with it:
Look at me
I will never pass for a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
Can it be
I’m not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly
To be myself
I would break my family’s heart
Mulan thinks that she cannot please her family because doesn’t fulfill what she thinks she is supposed to do with her life. By the end of her Road of Trials, she should have a better grasp of the concept that each Hero has their own journey to fulfill.
Who is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don’t know?
When a Hero finds out who he/she truly is, it might not be someone who is respected by The World or even someone recognizable. It’s the person the Hero was destined to be.
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During this song especially, but really throughout the movie, Mulan is walking the road of trials. She has had many trials, but her most trying one is showing the world who her real self is. In order for her to move forward with her journey, she must shed the mask that she wears for her family and for the world and show her real self. Right now she is afraid of what everyone will think of her because they can only see what she puts out. Once she finally is willing to let her reflection show who she really is, then she can continue with her journey.
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I think that this song was chosen for the road of trials because it talks about something that each and everyone of us can relate to. we all strive to please others our whole lives, and then, when we are called on our hero journey, and we must make a choice. This choice is between continuing to please others and to stay in the world we have known our whole life, or to break out and take risks; to show our real selves to the world. Once the choice to accept has been made, inevidently trials follow. The world is shocked at this new you, and it is difficult for them to accept the changes. This is turn makes it hard for yourself to accept those changes, and i think that’s what Mulan is talking about here. She knows that she is not the typical type of daughter, but she wants to make her parents happy. she struggles with the thought of showing her real self to the world, when she says:
“Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I’ve tried
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?”
She knows that hiding her true self will not work, because she has already tried. She knows that throughout the bumpy road, her true character will be revealed.
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gahh i love this movie. its just great.
this song is particularly effective because it can relate to everyone’s lives. i’m sure everyone’s felt like they have to be someone else, or at least put on that someone else’s pretty face. especially the part when she says that if she were herself she’d break her family’s heart is especially prevalent to the lives of us crazy teen folk. i suppose it makes sense in the part of the road of trials because we all have these moments where we feel like there’s nothing we can do that is good enough to keep going. especially when we have all that nasty white makeup on. blechh.
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this song is perfect for the road of trials. thinking that you are a disappointment to your family like mulan does would seriously suck. she feels like she doesn’t even fit in with their entire society because she just doesn’t want that kind of life. when she says:”why is my reflection someone i don’t know?” she is going through her trials and coming to that point where she has abandoned her old self and she is in that weird in between place where she isn’t quite sure who she really is. she is at her core and it is a part of herself that she is very unfamiliar with and it makes her sad and upset.
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There is a poem that is one of my favorites (called Ithaca) that describes the story of the Odyessy. It discusses all the hardships faced and the constant yearning to return once again, to home, to the destination. In the end, the final stanza states plainly that the Ithaca–the destination–is not worth nearly as much as the journey and that the journey becomes the final outcome. It is the road of trials that gets us there, that is the journey. The road of trials changes us and forces us to come to terms with ourselves. As we see in this song, that road of trials challenges us to be better, to bring out the best of ourselves, to admit when something isn’t working, and to morally repoint ourselves. This song demonstrates that sometimes, in the moments of great failure and desperation (as we go on our journey) we do in fact learn the most.
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Mulan is trying to find herself and her purpose. She is finding herself but is afraid to be who she truly is. She fears she will not be accepted and wonders what other people will think. She feels that she is not good enough and needs to be something more but is afraid of judgement. She sees her reflection but does not recognize it as herself. She is trying to become comfortable with who she is and wonders how people will react to her true self.
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The Road of Trials consists of a series of tribulations that are meant to prepare heroes for their journey and subsequent destiny. In “Reflection”, Mulan reveals her greatest flaw: her lack of self-confidence. This is evident with her feelings of unworthiness to her family. As a hero, self-confidence is required to positively affect the world and inspire others- one simply cannot empower others if they themselves aren’t empowered in the first place. Although Mulan failed in terms of impressing the matchmaker, she still had the opportunity to gain from her failure. By learning from her lack of confidence and focusing on self-improvement, Mulan would have been able to step forward and embrace her Hero Destiny sooner. Essentially, the key to the Road of Trials is too learn from each test whether the potential hero lost or won.
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“Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I’ve tried
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?”
I think this part in the song is perfect for describing the road of trials. I think that the biggest trial that we will face in life is trying to find ourselves and who we truly are. Sometimes we are completely different people on the outside then what we truly are on the inside. It is in finding ourselves and not being afraid to show it that we truly win the ultimate prize.
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Mulan is stuggling to find herself. She knows that who she’s trying to be and who she believes her family wants her to be is not who she really is. She’s trying to fit into something she’s not. This is an appropriate song for the road of trials part of the hero journey because, how I see it, the road of trials is where the hero struggles to accept their true calling and ends up figuring what they’re really meant to do.
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Dece song. Mulan realizes that there is a bigger person within her. She just needs to find out who that person is and how she can let it out. Thus, she finds herself in the road of trials. Mulan is tired of pretending to be something she is not, and she is finally ready to make a big change in her life. I hope someday I might have a similar revelation. Only, I hope my true self doesn’t involve me changing sexes
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part of the road of trials is discovering exactly what you are leaving behind and what you have to overcome in order to become a hero.
Now I see
That if I were truly
To be myself
I would break my family’s heart
Her family is her world, although they love her and she loves them, she has to move on to greater things.
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I can really see how this song embodies the every day struggle most teenager goest through. We all have issues of who we are and what we represent and what we must do in the long run. This is the essence of the road of trials in itself and the issue heros go through on the way to their boon.
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This song really reflects (no pun intended) the nature of the road of trials. It is a time of tribulation, uncertainty, hardship, and occasional hopelessness. Mulan’s problem is that she’s forced to live a life that she does not want to live, to be someone that she’s not or risk disappointing her family. That’s a trial if I ever saw one.
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The Road of Trials is often the re-understanding of the Belly of the Whale. Each successive trial brings to the table a new aspect of the hero’s difficulty—the monster he faces each time. I like the idea of that, how every trial one faces is really the same trial repeatedly, a trial of the hero’s will to choose his destiny over the World, centering on whatever central challenge the hero suffers from. This cycle is how it becomes easy to see that the Hero Journey is cyclical and not one straightforward path a hero takes. It is a wide, elastic metaphor for our lives in which parts and pieces tend to fit. For Mulan, the trouble is giving up her identity as a woman in her society, and each day she dresses like a man and is forced to act a different life than was given to her at birth, she faces the same monster, even though each trial seems to be a separate task.
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I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!
okay i think this is a great song for the road of trials.
Can it be
I’m not meant to play this part?
This segment perfectly portrays the road of trials because she is questioning her destiny and whether she is truly meant to go down that road. she is on a road of trials because she is facing a major family conflict, and in the movie this eventually pushes her to take drastic measures and pretend to be a man to prove herself (i think.. i haven’t seen the movie in awhile!!)
Why is my reflection someone
I don’t know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I’ve tried
I like this part too, because she is recognizing her trials and isn’t hiding from them. she is recognizing that she needs to be herself and find her true being, which may potentially lead to her ultimate happiness.
Again, i love this song and this movie! great choice for the road of trials
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This more represents the world than the road of trials, because although she is struggling, she is struggling agianst the desires, assumptions, and rules of her cultural environment. Though these certainly are trials, we had a general consensus that the struggle to answer the call (initially) was for the most part independent of the road of trials, as it occurs entirely within the world, and before the person has embraced their Heroic status.
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