Robin Hood Myth Vs Sicilian Culture

Myths can tell a tale of a person, belief, or a group that accomplishes something extraordinary, whether it is good or bad for society. “A usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon”(Merriam-Webster). There is no greater example of the embodiment of a myth than the Italian mafia. Since the culture of mafia became mainstream, there have been two myths in particular that have stood out to people: the Robin Hood myth and the Sicilian Culture myth. Through the years the myths have evolved as they are drawn from a certain period of time: 1870-1950. The Robin Hood myth and the myth of the Sicilian culture have gone on to impact
The upbringing of the organization has two facets: create a better environment by helping those in need and the other one is to seize opportunities to gain an advantage over others by strategic force. “The idea of the Mafia is a Robin Hood-like organization in defense of the poor had a long life in Italy. But the sheer brutality of the war against the state puts the validity of the myth in question. There was so much violence and Mafia brutality. That is when the myth of the good Mafia dies. It enters into a period of crisis”(The Star). “Has there ever been a trial during which it has emerged that there is a criminal association called the mafia and that this association has been definitely responsible for or actually committed a crime? Has any document or witness any proof at all which has ever come to light establishing a sure connection between a crime and the so-called mafia? In the absence of such proof, and if we admit that the mafia exists, I’d say it was a secret association for mutual aid, no more and no less than freemasonry. There’s the same amount of proof that the freemasons go in for criminal activity as there is that the mafia exists”(Sciascia
The people of Italy have been a victim of this type of falsification, especially on the island of Sicily. This can be some justification for why the myth of the mafia is present. The word mafia originates from Italian, as does the type of organization, which has paved the way for the mobs in Russia, Poland, etc. From the early states of Italy’s birth, the south lacked the governmental resources needed to foster growth. Thus, the mafia seized the moment and took things into their own hands. Crime seems to emerge from the greatest lack of unemployment; in this case the southern area hit the hardest was Sicily, which makes sense why the myth of Sicilian culture became present. On the flip side, an alternative myth became present: The Robin Hood myth. The Myth can quickly be dispelled, as they may work towards helping people, but those people are either their members or their family, which in most cases are the same thing. All in all, the myths and reality of the mafia have changed Italy not only politically by its corruption that is tied to the mafia, but by how the global views Italians and