Myths and heroes : Cowboys

UNIT 1: Myths and Heroes

Today I am going to deal with the notion of myths and heroes. First, I would like to define this word. A myth is an ancient story full of gods, semi-gods and heroes endowed with super powers. Sometimes these heroes don’t have any powers. They are admired for their many good qualities. Most of the time, a hero wants to change the world by helping people or saving them.

To illustrate this notion, I will talk about cowboys because they are perceived as heroes in the United States. This leads me to wonder why is the cowboy a beloved figure in the United States?

To answer to this question, I will first show that they are faithful to their attributes, then that they have shown good values, and finally that they are passionate about what they do.

To illustrate the first idea, is that they are faithful to their accoutrements, I would like refer to a still from a western movie. The action takes place in a small town in the Wild West in America in the late nineteen centuries. In the foreground, a man is sitting on a wooden chair. Thanks to his outfit and his accessories, we can conclude he is a cowboy. Indeed, he is wearing all the attributes of the cowboy. He is wearing a Stetson hat, the silver star on his jacket and also has leather boots with the spurs. In addition to that, he is owning a lasso and a rifle. He must be the sheriff of the town.  

This document refers to the past of the United States, a period in American history called the Conquest of the West. These people have become part of the American mythology over the decades. Since that time, cowboys did not disappear and are easily recognizable by their own outfit and accessories. Over the years, cowboys remain the same physically as in the collective imagination, that is to say wearing a hat and a shiny buckle.

In addition to this, cowboys give off good values. For instance, we analysed a document that reflects this. The support at hands is a website article entitled “The ranch meets reality TV” and which deals with 2 brothers from Oklahoma who participated in a reality TV show. It’s a race around the world. During this programme, these brothers were representing their family and the cowboy’s communities. Throughout the competition, they gave a positive image of the cowboys. In other words, they showed good values such as determination, fair play, commitment, or hard work. They never betray their values and they remained faithful to the western lifestyle. On the other hand, their opponents were recognized for their win-at-any-cost mentality. All contestants have the stereotypical values of cowboys, even though this program offers a different and more modern setting than the old western movies. Thus, this reality TV program transmits good values to viewers while highlighting a US mythic figure.

One last aspect is that of cowboys’ passion for their activities. Indeed, they love what they do so much that they create schools to learn how to become a cowboy. To illustrate my words, I would refer to a document about a school located in the mountains of Idaho. There, students learn to be a real cowboy with an unparalleled experience. At an 18,000-hectare ranch, participants learn how to ride horses, prepare their horses, move cattle, take responsibility for owning a firearm, and learn rope technics. They are paired up with professionals who want to pass on their passion for cowboys. Dressed in western outfit, they participate in campfires while get acquainted cowboy music. They learn the history and ethics of cowboys. Cowboys try to pass on their love for western life to their neighbours. They carry so much passion for what they do that it makes you want to try to be a cowboy.

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