Myths and Heroes : Is there only one face to a hero?

I would like to introduce the Myths and Heroes. A myth is a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning heroes or events. Therefore, a hero can be fictional or real. A hero is someone who shows bravery of heroic deeds. He is often regarded as a model or an icon.

To illustrate the notion, I have chosen the Ambivalent Heroes theme. We are going to look at the different positions of a hero in reality.

Is there only one face to a hero?

I. Heroes and heroic occasion

To begin, a hero someone that may have marked a period in history. The mural depicts by Mr Brainwash illustrated three emblematic Afro-Americans characters: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama. The text on the left connected character : “Rosa Parks sat, so that Martin Luther King Jr could walk, Marthin Luther King Jr walked so that Barack Obama could run. Barack Obama could run, so we could fly”. . This text traces chronologically the influence of these people on the world thanks to the verb “Sat” for Rosa.P, “walk” for MLK and “run” for Barack.O. Thus, these typical persons represent the fight against racial discrimination; therefore, they played a major role in the evolution of rights and mentalities.

Moreover, the president Calvin Coolidge sad “Heroism is not only in the man but in the occasion”, this means that a hero is not only a hero thanks to what he did but mainly because the occasion came to him. For instance, Rosa.P refused to give up her to a white passenger, that way she rebels at a certain moment in time. For this reason, I suppose a hero takes advantage of a situation, without this opportunity it might not have become a hero.

II. Hero not recognized

Hero are not always recognized; I am talking about reluctant heroes such as Ira Hayes. Ira Hayes was born on the Pina Indian reservation in Arizona during 20 century and he lived in a poor farming family before to become to fight as a US marine. To start, we have seen a photo illustrated a statue representing four soldiers, including Hira Hayes, kneeling and raising the American flag on the occasion of the victory, of the end of the global conflict. Indeed, Hira Hayes decided to save his country, he volunteered to fight as a US marine in WWII. Ira Hayes is portrayed as a hero, a brave soldier.

However, he was not always considered as a hero. As far as his life is concerned, we have studied the “Ballad Of Ira Hayes”, it is a song of Johnny Cash. We learn that, before going to war, he lived in a poor family. Despite his commitment and courage, after the war, his people misunderstood him and nothing had been done to improve their indious life. He was abandoned by a nation, so he was a loner, a drunker and a drifter. To this end, I think Hira Hayes is depicted as a