Monomyth

I chose Lena from, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” to be my character for this assignment. As I was most interested in her side of the story, I decided she would be the one to move through the structures of the monomyth.
At the beginning of the book, the birth/home of Lena and her three friends, also later known as the sisterhood of the traveling pants, is literally, at their birth. Their mothers befriend each other during their prenatal class and when the girls are born, they become playmates. As they grow, the girls become inseparable despite their differences in appearance and interests and become each other’s source of consolation and friendship.
The plot begins when the girls have to separate for the first time, their call to adventure, when all of the girls have to go to different places over the summer, except for Tibby, who stays home. Carmen goes to her father’s house, who is divorced from her mother, Bridget goes to soccer camp, and Lena goes to Greece to visit family. Before the girls depart, they all visit Tibby’s house to say their goodbyes. Rummaging in the back of Tibby’s closet, Bridget finds a pair of jeans that wonderfully fit all of them perfectly, from petite Lena to shapely Carmen. The girls decide that these pants are to be their magical connection to each other while they’re away and have a little ceremony in the old 80’s workout room where their mothers’ prenatal class used to be. To make the, “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” official each girl promises to send the pants to each other back and forth while they’re away. These pants become like their own little helper or amulet, and make each girl feel stronger on her adventures as she wears them. The girls cross the threshold when they make way for their summer journeys.
Lena's tests begin at her arrival in Greece. She is greeted by brilliant sunshine and her enormous, cheerful family. She feels awkward and unsure of herself at first because she doesn't know how to speak her family's native language. Lena, I should tell you, is also extremely beautiful in the novel, but is very shy and tries to cover it up. That day, her grandmother tells her that a, "nice boy," is coming for dinner, and that Lena should dress up nice. This angers her because she hates being set up. In an effort not to dress up, she defiantly puts on the traveling pants, which end up looking even better on her than usual. Later that night, Lena tries to escape the setup by moving to the terrace, but the boy, named Kostos, ends up following her there and asking her out. Because of her bad experiences with boys in the past, she thinks to herself that she might of liked him if he hadn't.
The next morning, Lena, wearing the pants, is on her way out the door, when Kostos shows up with a plate of pastries. She denies his attempts to get her to snack with him saying she needs to go outside and, "catch the light," but then he follows her out. She then tricks him by telling him she is going in one direction when she is actually going another, despite a, "lust," to paint a boathouse the other way.
On Lena's last day of her turn with the pants, she decides she needs to have a real adventure. She walks down the island a bit and discovers a little pond. Wishing she brought her bathing suit, Lena strips down to her underwear, but then, feeling encouraged by the pants, decides to go nude. She swims in the pond when suddenly she sees a figure. She sinks to the bottom until she is aware that someone is there, so she gets out. Kostos appears behind a tree and Lena becomes EXTREMELY angry and embarrassed, believing that he followed her there and spied on her. Later, Lena arrives home, clothing askew, and runs to her room crying, "Kostos is NOT a nice boy!!"
Kostos' grandfather and Lena's grandfather get into a huge fight about what they have seen and Kostos steps in to stop the old men from hurting each other. This time Lena feels bad because he hasn't done anything wrong.
Later Lena finds herself sitting between her grandfather and Kostos' at the hospital waiting room. One man has a few stitches and the other has just bled a lot. She promises herself to explain everything once things calm down. This is the climax, and the final battle she must face before she goes home...I also believe this could be the flight because of how long she avoids the situation.
Finally, Lena explains everything to everyone and soon everything is back to normal. She and Kostos fall in love eventually and they promise to see each other again. Lena returns home a little sad, but also happy for the adventures she has had.