What are the motifs in Mythologies by Roland Barthes?

Myth as mask is a recurring idea. In Section 1of Mythologies, which focuses on specific practical examples of mythic semi-propaganda, and Section 2, which focuses on the theories behind the practicalities, the author emphasizes that myth's essential function is to ease, simplify, and at times completely block full awareness and experience of being human. It is his contention that myth does assist in defining and understanding the human condition, but in limited, shallow terms. Myth, the author contends, keeps human beings from living life in depth and is deliberately constructed to do so—the understanding of human nature that myth provides, he writes, is shallow and superficial. Myth, he implies, makes life easy.