Myths and heroes : Maoy history

A myth is a popular belief on which social values are often based. A hero is often the main character of a myth.

A hero can be someone who is ready to sacrifice his life in order to make things involve positively. A hero is known for his achievements. We can find a hero in a book, a movie but also in the real life.

This document is an extract from the novel Once Were Warriors, written by Alan Duff in 1990. In this document, we discover a Maori chief, who is telling a story. This story is the Maori history, more specifically when the British settlers came to New Zealand. The crowd is pleasantly surprised by this story, they had never heard this story before while they are New Zealanders. The chief talk about being a real warrior. During the war against British colons, the Maoris, who are a people of warriors, helped their enemies by feeding and healing them at night because they wanted to fight loyally.

I choose this document to illustrate the notion Myth and Heroes because the Maori behavior is a real proof of loyalty and bravery, that is why this text can be a myth, with the Maori as heroes.

This second document is an extract from the novel Whale Rider, written by Witi Ihimaera. This document is the story of Kahu, a little Maori girl. The day of her birth, her grandfather Koro who was the head of their tribe, was extremely disappointed that his grandchild was a girl. Because, according to the Maori custom, the leadership is transmitted from the eldest son to the eldest son. A day, the sea became disturb and the whales were in danger from the storm. Koro thought the survival of the tribe was threatened. But, Kahu wanted to prove to her grandfather that she can become a leader. So, she enters the water and she began to call the whales, her ancestors. She finally fell into a deep coma. After waking up, her grandfather was very proud of her and he decided to name her the leader of the tribe

This text can be considered as a myth because Kahu saved her tribe. She was very innocent but above all very courageous. She didn’t realize the danger of her acts, but she risked her life to save her ancestors.

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