Beowulf is a poem that shows both loyalty and honor within its characters. Throughout the poem he shows that by fighting with his bare hands and risking his life. Beowulf shows the real meaning of being a hero. Beowulf has many symbolism in the story when he fights the dragon, Grendel, and Grendel’s mother.…
The sound of battle echoed from the halls of Heorot to the plains of geatland, Beowulf in all his glory was a conquering hero that was approaching his twilight years as king. As such he faced a new challenge, in his youth he fought and defeated Grendel and his mother to defend the people of Denmark and Heorot, he was now called to defend his land from this dragon. This beast which had awakened from its dormant rest and was now on a rampage to defend its treasure. These monsters shared many similarities that tie together with a unifying message. In Beowulf, the values and views of Anglo-Saxon society are reflected in the idea that both Grendel and the Dragon serve as warning that no man is immortal or god like and that we will all face judgement.…
A 48-year-old Carnegie hero once said, while rescuing a woman from drowning in the Pacific Ocean, “‘I’m going to get her out of here. One way or another… I’m going to do it.’” This is just a simple statement of a man’s heroic determination that saved the life of a woman in the Pacific Ocean. Although saving a life, such as this Carnegie hero did, is a perfect example of how determination did good, less severe situations also happen and end with positive outcomes. Often determination is easily seen as competition and not a necessary need of doing something. Differing from the Carnegie heroes event, Beowulf expresses his determination to defeat Grendel, the monstrous creature of the poem, by explaining to Unferth, a warrior, that Grendel does not fear him and continues by saying, “I will show him how Geats shape to kill / in the heat of battle (41).” Without a doubt, these words are powerful and point directly to Beowulf’s determination to do good for those affected by Grendel’s past attacks. The boast Beowulf gives becomes a reality and proves his determination to defeat Grendel to be true. Beowulf’s determination to defeat Grendel amazingly becomes a new scenario for Beowulf’s determination when he fights Grendel’s mother to retrieves Grendel’s head. The narrator expresses Beowulf’s cause for determination as revenge by…
In the story of Beowulf, by Seamus Heaney, the first antagonist is a monster named Grendel, who is a symbol to represent the fear of nightmares. At first sight the narrator describes the monster, “Then a powerful Demon, a prowler through the dark…” (86). Grendel is seen as a demon of the night, as he lurks across Heorot claiming his victims. The power he holds only fits his symbolism as a nightmare, and how he is feared from others by just the sight of him. The narrator explains the fear this monster reaps, “All were endangered, young and old/were hunted down by that dark death-shadow…” (159-160). This creature is a fear, a nightmare, and a demon because of his creeping of sleep and silent attacking. Our worst fears are usually things that…
In the poem Beowulf one of the characters Grendel has displayed evil among others and injustice throughout his life which has lead Beowulf to want to defeat Grendel and end him once and for all. His powers although scary, are plain. His background unknown, until the book begins and we find out who the real Grendel lying beyond the shadows is.…
Grendel telling the story makes readers feel sympathetic towards him . In the epic of Beowulf, Grendel was a monster who was pure evil but in this, he is almost childlike which makes the reader pity him. When he was being attacked by humans, "he bellowed for his mother” just like how a child would call out for his mom when he is hurt.…
Vengeance in Beowulf is a very important theme for reasons of glory and riches etc. This can be seen in battles involving vengeance such as Beowulf’s battle with Grendel, Beowulf’s battle with Grendel’s Mother, Beowulf’s battle with the dragon, and in short stories that include battles and fiends between kingdoms and individuals.…
In the book Beowulf, he faces several monsters and conquers his weaknesses. In today’s world people don’t battle monsters, however, they do battle things in everyday life. People have bullies they have to defend themselves from, which technically all bullies are monsters. If you put someone else down because you want to them you are basically a monster. People face addictions such as drugs and tobacco. I myself have a monster that I am trying to conquer and that flaw is anger.…
Toxic. Evil. Cruel. In the epic poem Beowulf a villain, Grendel preyed on innocent humans when nighttime fell. Grendel was a demonic monster and needed to be stopped. Beowulf came to the rescue and saved Herots people from this creature. Drugs and Alcohol are very toxic to your body and even can cause death. Although they bear many superficial similarities, the differences between Grendel and alcohol and drug addiction are striking.…
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ (Matthew 5:38). As stated in the bible, revenge has been around for a long time, since the beginning of time. With this in mind, the epic poem, Beowulf, ties into the idea of revenge. Beowulf is an epic poem, originally written in Anglo-Saxon. Though the original author is unknown, it has been translated by Burton Raffel. The story follows an epic hero, Beowulf, who travels to modern day Denmark, to fight a monster named Grendel who is terrorizing the king, Hrothgar, and his people. Back to the main point, the main theme of Beowulf is revenge, for Grendel’s attack on Herot, Beowulf’s battle with Grendel, and Grendel’s mother’s attack.…
Deciding what is the best choice for others and deciding what choice is best for us is an ongoing battle. Sometimes the best choice for you might not be the best for others, which deems us selfish. The remaining times, the best choice for others might not be the best choice for us, which judges us as people pleasers. Most audiences can relate to the story of Beowulf because we all battle through these similar conflicts daily. Throughout the poem Beowulf, the audience becomes conscious of the fact that the characters of this time period are continuously fighting two contradicting battles; an external battle between the vicious monsters and an internal battle with human habits of pride, cowardice and self-concern.…
Beowulf seems to be living a similar life as the Anglo-Saxons because of the constant war, or battles, that he finds himself in. Grendel's mother is on a mission seeking revenge against Beowulf. "The warrior determined to take revenge for every gross act Grendel had committed for killing her son" (Beowulf 1577-1578). At this point it is shown that Grendel's mother is ready to fight and doesn't care what she has to do to get revenge. It is stated, "then suddenly the vehement mother avenged her son and wreaked destruction. Death had robbed her" (Beowulf 2117-2119). Grendel's mother was infuriated that Beowulf had taken her son’s life, and it was her turn to try and make him pay. Beowulf, who would be achieving lof decides to battle against her and wins. It was present that the Geats had appreciated the great work by Beowulf and gave him the fame and praise that he had deserved for once again being a hero and defeating a monster in Grendel's…
Beowulf, written by Seamus Heaney, is narrated by a Christian poet and directed towards an old English audience. The text reveals to have a reflection of the patriarchal society in which the story was written. The story shadows a hero named Beowulf while he embarks on many adventures and vanquishes monsters. This quote takes place after Grendel’s vengeful mother makes an appearance and murders some of the villagers. Despite these murders, Grendel’s mother is belittled because of her lady-like demeanor despite having a more of an impact on the king and proving to be harder to defeat than Grendel.…
Revenge, the common instinctual sense of self-justice exists in us all. Its manifestations may be observed through primitive, physical violence, skulking, character-assassination, or perhaps by simply taking it to authorities for them to dish out cold justice. Our need for vengeance unites us, while our actions with it divide us. The unknown author of Beowulf, however, was able to add more uses to revenge. The author drove the plot through cause and effect, showed how alike characters are through their actions, yet distant through their motivations, and even showed the toll of revenge.…
Revenge is a big factor for several characters throughout the book, initially provoking Grendel and his mother. Grendel seeks revenge upon mankind for the heritage that he has. He enjoys raiding Heorot because it is the symbol of everything that he hates about men: their success, joy, glory, and favor in the eyes of God. Grendel's mother's revenge is more specific. She attacks Heorot because someone there killed her son. Although she is smaller and less powerful than Grendel, she is motivated by a mother's fury. When Beowulf goes after her in the mere, she has the advantage of fighting him in her own territory. As she drags him into her cave beneath the lake, her revenge peaks because this is the very man who killed her son. Only Beowulf's amazing abilities as a warrior and the involvement of God or magic can defeat her.…
