Allegory In Beowulf

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Beowulf as an Allegory for the Lineage and Fires of Poverty
In today’s society, many of the visceral and mystical dilemmas faced by epic heroes, such as Beowulf, have been resolved and remain tales from a harsher time. That being said, our own time brings with it a slew of new obstacles and solutions for both the singular person and our society collectively. New disease, climate change, economic deficiency, and failing civil rights affect all of us in our daily lives whether we realize it or not. In my personal experience, two problems have shown themselves to be just as daunting and terrible as those of Beowulf. Those two experiences, holding the attributes of Beowulf’s experience with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the ancient dragon, are my emotional outbursts and my weak economic position. Even as I overcome the former, I recognized the latter’s influence in its evil. …show more content…

This was my situation after conquering the emotional spheres of my own mind. Even as I crested what appeared to be the largest problem I would ever face, I realized that it was a single battle in a much longer tale of glory. My emotions were inspired by the stress of financial failure and its heinous impact on the communication of my family. Just as Grendel was the offspring of an evil beginning, “Conceived by a pair of those monsters born / Of Cain, murderous creatures banished / By God, punished forever for the crime” (Beowulf 20-22), there was a vile root to my problems. At first it may appear that the battle of Beowulf with the mother of Grendel is the appropriate allegory for this second problem, but I assure you the ramifications of its destruction are more akin to that of a great dragon. I could not, and cannot, face this modernized beast alone, but I will destroy it even if it takes my life with it

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