Myths and heroes : How Myth and heroes influence the behavior of society?

Oral : myth and heroes

Introduction :

So, we are going to deal with the notion Myths and Heroes, studied in class through some documents, and I would like to start with a simple definition of the notions. A myth is a popular story which, usually, tries to guide the society towards certain values or some ideal. It can be composed of unreal fact and action, often led by a Hero. Following that, a hero is a courageous person who is ready to sacrifice himself to rescue other people’s. There are different kinds of heroes, there are the superheroes, the one which may accomplish extraordinary deeds, like Batman, Superman, Whereas, there are real-life heroes, persons who were outlaws to rebel against a given order they refused and to challenge it, like Rosa parks, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela.

- Problématique : therefore we could ask ourselves, How Myth and heroes influence the behavior of society?

I) Real life hero

To begin our reasoning, I will start with a real hero, Daniel Blake. Relying on the documents studied in class I, Daniel Blake: Ken Loach Q+A and the movie, we know who Daniel is, a man who’s served his time as a joiner. he’s been a jobbing carpenter and works with wood for his own enjoyment. But his wife has died, he’s had a serious heart attack and nearly fell off some scaffolding. He was then instructed not to work and he’s still in rehabilitation, so he’s getting Employment and Support Allowance. once he’s been found « fit to work. », we accompany how he tries to survive in that condition. He shows the conscious cruelty at the heart of the state’s provision for those in desperate need and the use of bureaucracy, the intentional inefficiency of bureaucracy, as a political weapon. Considered as a real hero, even sick, and in the conditions we saw before, he encouraged the population, people whose lives are seriously damaged by the economic situation they’re in, to fight against a given order, anti-democratic values and discrimination.

II) Fiction hero

Afterwards, continuing our reasoning, we could now talk about the fictional heroes and their influences. The fictional hero that I chose was James Bond. He is a fictional British MI6 secret agent created by the writer Ian Fleming, which, in 1952, wrote 12 James Bond novels and two collections of short stories until his death in 1964. Therefore, James Bond novels have been written by many writers, including Kingsley Amis. James Bond films have always been somewhat epic in scope, featuring exotic locations, fast cars, beautiful women and elaborate stunts. He is a courageous, intelligent, elegant character who inspires the population. On the other hand, we can easily toggle in stereotypes, since to create heroes like James Bond, heroes that inspire the society, you have to use stereotyped values, to make him, at the same time, fictional and inspiring, and at the same time real. And the realistic side of the character, needs stereotyped values, such as been overly polite, being an alcoholic, values that we find in Britishness

III) On the other side : Heroes create stereotypes -> Britishness

- Following what I said before, firstly I will define Britishness. It is the quality of being

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