Myths and heroes Rosa Parks

Can anyone be a hero ?

So, for this oral presentation, I’m going to present the notion of Myths and Heroes and my question is Can anyone be a hero? First, I am going to define what a hero and a myth are. In fact, since time in memorial there is an ideal about the concept of a hero. The common definition of a hero, in mythology is a Demigod, a person who helps people, can have superpowers, strong, smart, brave; just perfect. But always the heroes are unique and not so common. On the other hands the definition of a myth: generally, a myth is a traditional, typically ancient story which deals with supernatural things. It's a popular belief and can be a fictitious story. So beyond those common definitions we are going to ask if everybody can be a hero and became or constitute his own myth.

Let's start with heroes of the past, the superheroes of Marvel, who are the classic illustration of the common definition of myths and heroes, and I’m going to compare them with the other unusual heroes. The heroes of Marvel own special characteristics, they have extraordinary capacities, like superhuman physical strength, uncommon speed, resistance to the pain... They have equipment to face the opponents who also have superpowers. The interesting point is that they have two identities, the normal one, without superpowers and the secret one with superpowers, to differentiate the two identities and keep the secret, they wear a costume. The two identities reveal the common belief that the normal persons without superpowers can't be superheroes. They need to be exceptional, their mission is to help the population, to save people and kill the bad people, but they can't do it unless they mask up. In relation with the concept of demigods we can say that the superheroes need to be superior and better than simple humans.

So now I’m going to talk about normal people of the past, who became superheroes, unforgettable and source of hope and inspiration. These people are the heroes of segregation, I choose them because they were considered like sub humans but now they are regarded as heroes just as the super-humans. To illustrate this, I want to to take the example of Rosa Parks especially because she incarnates the fight for black people's rights and also women's rights. "The first lady of civil rights" worked before the "bus incident" as a simple dressmaker and nursing auxiliary, plus she was black so at that time there were no possibility for her to became a hero. But then she worked hard and with the encouragement of her husband she finished her high school studies in 1933, at a time when less than 7% of African Americans had a high school diploma. After, she took part in the Civil Rights Movement and the day came for her, and not only for her but also for her sisters and brothers, that was the start of the revolution. The first of December she became a celebrity, a myth, a symbol and an icon. In fact she took the seat which was reserved for white people, then when the bus conductor asked her to leave the seat she just simply refused and henceforth became "the mother of the freedom movement" because after that "incident”, the black people led by Martin Luther King, managed to make the segregation laws unconstitutional. Hence, we have here the rise of a normal person, who was considered as a subhuman, to a hero. She has no superpowers, no exceptional physical strength, no special equipment and no secret identity. But despite that she became one of the most famous woman in the world and she inspires both men and women. She has important and sacred values like courage, determination, strong mental will. She shows that anybody can became a hero and that there is hope for everybody.

...