mythes and heros

Mythes et Héros

I) Heroes

def : in Latine and Greek mythology is a semi-god. A hero can have an important role an has to be brave.

-> In the human being world, a hero is somebody who does remarkable actions with an exceptional courage. The poet C. Hoove has written « Trail » to denounce oppression in Zimbaboue. In that way he fought against censorship and for freedom. So, he is a kind of a hero because he is not afraid of the authoritarian regime of Robert Mugabe.

-> The husband of Valerie Plame is also a hero because he gets truth back. There was a terrible scandal : Valerie Plame affair in 2002 - document on radio - President of America lied about nuclear weapons in Irak. A diplomat discovered it : he decided to speak out and criticize the American invasion of Irak. The white House then decided to ruine his life. Hopefully his story inspirited books, the affair toured the world but the institution stayed the same.

-> Another famous hero is Nelson Mandela. He was born in 1918 in South Africa. He founded in 1944 the Youth League for the party of the ANC ( African National Congress) .
The organization advocated a peaceful opposition and the abolition of apartheid laws.
But the situation went worse and the ANC has been prohibited.
Mandela was imprisoned during 27 years. When he was released, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in negotiations between whites and blacks. He was then elected President of the Republic in1994.
He delivered a message of peace. He wanted a reconciliation of all South African people and built the « rainbow nation ». -> In parallel, we can not end presenting heroes without presenting super heroes. They are also very useful for the society because they can help building the new generations. From each superhero’s struggles and actions, we had the opportunity to learn good things about ourselves. They are models of moral conduct.

II) Negative Heroes def : a negative hero beholds anti-heroic and in general anti-social values ( valeurs ). He uses his leadership to serve the evil.

-> Robert Mugabe is the former hero for independence of Zimbaboue. In the early 90s, Zimbabwe plunged into economic and political difficulties. So, Mugabe mad mistakes that are largely responsible for the current crisis in the country. He established an authoritarian regime. He suppressed his people freedom and killed all opponents. That’s why we can consider him as a negative hero.

-> We studied a part of the book about Malan family.
The beginning of the story dates back to 1688, Jacques Malan escaped from Louis XIV; he sought refuge among the Dutch before being sent to Africa.
In 1933, the global economic crisis is affecting South Africa.
Nationalists and liberals decided to form a Government : the National Union.
A Jacques Malan descendant, Daniel Malan, refuses this merger ( la fusion ) and is placed at the head of the "National Party" with the most radical Afrikaners. D. Malan, who was sympathetic to nazism, considers it necessary to institutionalize the dominance of whites on blacks during 60 years.

We can conclude that Daniel Malan is a negative hero because he used all his strength and his power to create chaos and death.

As previously presented, all heroes are admired, because they are representant of morality. But some heroes who at beginning where holding society qualities reveal them selves to be negative heroes as their minds change.
A hero can fail and become a negative hero. Only superheros could stay perfect, but it means they are not human beings anymore.