Belonging to a nation

The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.
-Albert Einstein

A myth is so powerful because it inspired us or it scared us. Two emotions, one goal: make things changes. If we look around, each society has their heroes: American has Chuck Norris, Abraham Lincoln, England has Wolf, Japan has Jackie Chan, and France has Napoleon. Those guys have done incredible things and those actions make them being more popular. They‘re a part of history and we’re going to remember them for many years. But, how these myths are used to create the idea or the feeling of belonging to a nation? If we look in the story: The handsomest drowned man in the world: A tale for children by Gabriel Gracía Márquez, Esteban who where dead when peoples find him on the beach arrived to change everyone. In the story, they bring him to their village and they wash him, they gave him new clothes and they prepare his funerals. For this important day, the entire village were present and they make their village splendid to honour him. In my point of view, myth like this one can create the sentiment of attachment to a nation. The story creates the feeling of belonging to a nation and I will explain you why.



First of all, we indentify us to heroes because their actions inspired us and we dream to be like them. They are powerful, beautiful, they make things change even if no one trusts in them at the beginning and they always win. When the women sea him, they said: “Even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination.” This mean how beautiful he where, event in their dreams they can’t imagine a man as beautiful as him. Also, they try to imagine his life: “They thought that he would have had so much authority that he could have drawn fish out of the sea simply by calling their names and that he would have put so much work into his land that springs would have burst forth from among the rocks so that he would have been able to plant flowers on the cliffs.” The women imagine the life of Esteban and how great this man was. A hero is also someone who accepts the difficulties of life with courage and without crying. Even if no one likes him, he continued to give his 110% for others. As said in the text, the life of Esteban where not suppose to be easy. “They could see him in life, condemned to going through doors sideways, cracking his head on crossbeams, remaining on his feet during visits, not knowing what to do with his soft, pink, sea lion hands while the lady of the house looked for her most resistant chair and begged him, frightened to death, sit here, Esteban, please, and he, leaning against the wall, smiling, don't bother, ma'am, I'm fine where I am, his heels raw and his back roasted from having done the same thing so many times whenever he paid a visit, don't bother, ma'am, I'm fine where I am, just to avoid the embarrassment of breaking up the chair, and never knowing perhaps that the ones who said don't go, Esteban, at least wait till the coffee's ready, were the ones who later on would whisper the big boob finally left, how nice, the handsome fool has gone.” All of this made him being a hero for the village and the population how wants to honor his memory works to transformed the village for Esteban. The myth of this man changes all of them. This is the power of myth.!



This text can also represent real life. If we look at Obama, everyone thought he will be the guy who saved the United States. His discourse inspired everyone and we put a lot of hope in him. Unfortunately, he is only a man and he makes the best he can but he were unable to escape his country from the recession. But in the end, the USA will pass over his economic problems. As in the story, peoples trust those two men at all so they did things for them. In the end they realise that things have change because they puts all their energies together to accomplish a project or goes out of a problem.

To conclude, a myth is enough powerful to change peoples. If we recognize ourselves in the story or the ideas are the same of our worth. A myth like “The handsomest drowned man in the world” inspired peoples to be more unify. So, this myths were use to create the idea or the feeling to belonging to a nation. The story gives to the readers the sensation of being invincible when the hero (Esteban) is there.