Mythology as a system
Instead of viewing myth as a minor category in a broader idea, this book invites the reader to view the entire experience of waking conscious within the systems of narrative, as if mythology were the invisible element that finally made sense of this complex, sometimes confusing experience. By observing that everything has implications that can be deciphered, one could analyze the narrative that governs a particular endeavor.
The experience of chaos
As a backdrop, there is the infinite domain of chaos which extends far past the constructs of human consciousness. Barthes says that mythology is the response of human animals trying to understand the realm with their instincts and perceptions as their only real tools. Mythology can be viewed therefore as a biological human response to chaos, because it is the chaos of the world that necessitates the narrative endeavor in the first place.
Seeing the implications of myth
Barthes invites the reader into some example analyses, picking professional wrestling as his main one. The mythology of wrestling (as he sees it) is primarily about toxic masculinity, says Barthes, because the wrestling celebrates the combat of angry, violent people within an orderly construct with rules. There, the mythic role the fighters play starts to clarify the intention of the sport. Watching men in effeminate clothing fighting one another give catharsis to people who either struggle to understand their masculinity and femininity, or to those who have been made the victim of aggressive behavior from those with damage perspectives about masculinity.
