University of Virginia Library

Kennedy Becoming Myth Hero

By Bob Cullen

According to Bruce Rosenburg
of the English department, John F.
Kennedy may be moving into a
position in the mind of America
heretofore occupied only by
Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Rosenberg's
class in Folklore, English 208, has
been studying the stories that have
arisen concerning the late President.
Tentatively, they have concluded
that Kennedy's image in the
popular mind is beginning to follow
the pattern set by mythical heroes
like Moses, Jesus, Oedipus, and
King Arthur.

Lord Raglan's "The Hero"
proves that the images of all
mythical heroes have certain
characteristics in common - mystic
birth from a virginal mother figure
and a mysterious father. Their lives
are threatened in early childhood
by external malevolence, and their
deaths are violent and mysterious;
moreover, mystery usually
surrounds the burial and the
popular belief that the hero is not
dead, but alive and waiting to
return generally arises.

This hero image, of course, is
primarily a figment of the popular
imagination. Facts are stretched or
selectively structured to fit the
legendary pattern. Recently, F. L.
Utley wrote a book proving that
this is the case with Lincoln, citing
the legends about his mother, the
belief that a mysterious Abraham
Enlow was his real father, the
exaggerated accounts of his frontier
upbringing, and the tragedy of his
death in support of his contention.

The pattern also applies to the
birth of Christ, the flight from
Herod and the crucifixion; the
attempts to kill Moses and Oedipus
in infancy and the mysterious
characters of their deaths; and the
lives of other folk legends from
King Arthur to Zapata.

After encountering these figures
in the folklore class, the attention
of the group was drawn to the
Kennedy image in the popular
mind. Stories which maintain that
he is still alive in Parkland or
Bethesda hospitals were the main
symptoms of the myth making
process in action. Since beginning
its study, the class has discovered
that other stories, such as the one
about Kennedy being dropped off
his father's boat to teach him to
swim, are current and fit the
pattern. The class would welcome
hearing other oral stories about
the ex-President through its
instructor. Mr. Rosenberg, in
Wilson 222.