Notions in English

First of all I would like to give you the definition of the notion Myths and Heroes. A myth is a story that may or may not be true. There may not be records or other proof that they happened, but at least some parts of myths may be true. All cultures have myths and this mythology has been developed over time. Mythology includes the legends of our history, our religions,  stories of how the world was created, and our heroes. A hero is a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. It can be the main character in a book or a film or a person with superhuman qualities. It can also be a modern-day hero, a person who has performed a heroic act or simply our own personal hero, our role model, who we look up to.

In order to illustrate the notion, I have decided to ask why are myths and heroes so important to our society?

To answer, I have chosen to talk about an oral presentation I have prepared during my school year. This presentation illustrates entirely the notion Myths and Heroes that will explain that it plays an important role in general (life, novels, articles…). It deals with Apartheid and how people worked to stop Apartheid. I will also talk about the newspaper article on Mike Tyson.

Firstly, the Apartheid is a social system in South Africa in which black and other racial groups did not have the same political and economic rights as white people and the black population were forced to live separately from the white people. The Apartheid quickly led to conflicts and tensions. But there were also a lot of people who contributed to the stopping of the Apartheid and these people were and are considered as heroes. Indeed, Nelson Mandela is an icon when we talk about heroes from Apartheid. Mandela spent 27 years in prison and his crime was to stand up against a government that was committing human rights abuses against black population in South Africa. He spent a big part of his life just for standing up for his people. We can also talk about Steve Biko and Dulcie September who were also activists who fought against the Apartheid. They were all arrested for crimes against the regime. They were political icons and figures that made the black people unite to face the white oppressors. They organised many events to face the South African regime in which people demonstrated their anger but remained as peaceful as possible. Mandela passed his “orders” through jail. Dulcie and Steve did sabotage and tried to reverse the regime with the people in the organisations. Dulcie moved to France and created a group of anti-apartheid activists, she then became the voice of anti-apartheid in France for the people’s point of view. After his death, Biko became an idol for the black population for all he endured during his detention, he became the idol of the black resistance against the white. Mandela made a campaign all over South Africa which counted 100000 militants in its ranks. He became the figure for all the political prisoners and he gained the respect of the co-detained and of the guards. These heroes are more political and want to help a whole population.

Secondly, a hero can also be a person who does heroic actions. In other words, a hero is a person who is brave enough to take care of other people and to do some good around him. For example in the newspaper article by The Independent on Mike Tyson, Mike Tyson did a heroic action. He kept pigeons from the roof of an abandoned building. When the birds were ill, he would spend all night with them, he would bring them into his home. This shows that Mike Tyson had a good heart and only tried to spread some happiness around him. But one day, another boy twisted one of the pigeon’s heads off for fun and Mike Tyson just beat him for killing the pigeon and having no respect for animals. Mike Tyson’s reaction was immediate anger when this other boy twisted the pigeon’s head off. His reaction shows that Mike Tyson had respect for the pigeon and that whatever animal it is, it should not be treated like that. It is like a human being and it deserves to live. And that is what Mike understood.

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