To understand a hero, one must understand the heroic journey. In W.P. Kinsella's "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, part history, part fiction, and part autobiography, the hero of the story is not the title character Ray Kinsella. Ray is an ordinary man faced with extraordinary circumstances. Ray Kinsella is on a journey. Ray is Odysseus is Job is Beowulf is Luke Skywalker. Ray Kinsella's visit with his twin brother's girlfriend Gypsy does not serve merely as a digression from the economic dilemma in which Ray finds himself. Ray is a hero. 4 pgs. Bibliography lists 1 source.