Discussing another example of the “hand in your badge and gun” moment that is pivotal to stories following the “hero’s journey” path, Steven Pressfield examines a scene from Chariots of Fire. In these moments, “the hero is stripped of his institutional approval, in whatever form that may take, and must make the choice to continue his journey entirely on his own hook,” Pressfield explains.
In cop movies, this scene occurs when the protagonist has run afoul of authority and is suspended and ordered to turn in his badge and gun. In Chariots of Fire, this moment occurs when Harold Abrahams, a Jewish student at Cambridge University, is asked to explain why he works with a professional track coach instead of continuing the tradition of amateur athletics. The suggestion of the College Master is that professional training is too crass for someone who represents an elite university. Abrahams has approached his training too much like a tradesman.
Abrahams is given the choice to continue his professional athletics training or to be accepted within the university environment; in effect, to play by the rules or to hand in his badge and gun.
