Ironman: The Modern Day Beowulf
Have you ever noticed how all heros have some similar characteristics or adventures? In The Hero’s Journey it talks about the characteristics that heroes share. These characteristics are The Separation, Initiation and Transformation, and The Return. Beowulf, written in 410-1066 by an anonymous person, is an old epic poem that tells the story about a hero named Beowulf that comes and helps Hrothgar and his Danes fight an evil, demonic monster named Grendel. Ironman, directed by Jon Favreau, is a newer movie that tells the adventure about the hero named Ironman. In this movie Iron Man protects New York City from an evil menace named Obadiah Stane. As the main ideas of Beowulf and Ironman already sound similar, their journeys are similar too.
Some people may say that Beowulf and Ironman have nothing in common because they are from two completely different time periods. They may also say that Beowulf is a poem and Ironman is a movie which would definitely make them different. In a review I read it says that Iron Man shows
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moral messages and I feel that Beowulf shows them too. I also believe that these problems don’t create any issues. The word “hero” has been around for many, many, many, years. The idea of someone with greater powers coming and saving people or towns will always have the same concept. In Beowulf, his Call to Action is fighting Grendel to uphold the honor of his family by rescuing Hrothgar and his people.
Beowulf does this because Hrothgar has saved his father and they were friends so he feels obligated to help him but also does it out of kindness. In Ironman, his Call to action is he is almost killed by a surprise bomb attack on his Humvee that puts tiny pieces of metal into his chest and his only way of survival is if he has a battery attached to him. Later, he is captured and is imprisoned by a group of terrorists called Ten Rings. He then creates a tiny portable battery that fits in his chest to stay alive. Ten Rings ask Ironman to create them a bomb and he agrees, but actually has different plans in mind. Ten Rings thinks that Ironman is creating the bomb but Ironman is actually creating the Ironman suit. When he is finally finished with the suit it gives him superhuman
powers. The Threshold for Beowulf is the night he spends in Herot waiting for Grendel to come to the hall. In Ironman the Threshold is fighting off and escaping Ten Rings after he created the suit. The challenges that Beowulf faces are when he fights Grendel and Unferth’s challenge. Unferth’s challenge is when Beowulf lost a swimming contest to Brecca, but in reality Beowulf didn’t lose. While they were swimming Beowulf stayed beside Brecca and then a big wave came and separated them. The wave pushed Brecca closer to home while the wave pushed Beowulf away from home causing him not to be there before Brecca. Iron Man also faces some challenges along his journey. Escaping Ten Rings was one of them and having to go stop his own weapons was the other. The reason he had to stop his own weapons is because someone sent his weapons to Ten Rings without him knowing. Ten Rings was going to use Ironman’s weapons to bomb his place in New York City. Although Beowulf and Iron Man faces multiple challenges they still have a major crisis. For Beowulf his main crisis is when he fight Grendel’s mom. Beowulf has to do this because when Grendel’s mom sees Grendel lying on the ground dying she gets very angry and goes to Herot and attacks the hall. Beowulf then goes to her lair and fights her to kill her. For Ironman, his major crisis is when he fights Obadiah. This is major because Obadiah is his manager of his weapon company and Ironman also finds out that is was Obadiah that sent the weapons to Ten Rings. When Obadiah finds out that Ironman knows about all his crimes he gets his own suit and fights Ironman. Ironman then defeats him and Obadiah is sent away. After fighting all these battles, it transforms these heroes. Beowulf has changed by his cockiness dying and becoming humbleness. Ironman also has the same transformation as Beowulf. The atonement is the problem has been solved and the initiate is at peace and is fully transformed. Beowulf’s atonement is that after defeating Grendel and his mother he receives plenty of treasure and when he returns he becomes the leader of his people, the Geats. For Ironman his atonement is that he gets a lot of praise for defeating Obadiah and he also becomes very grateful for his life. He also becomes more caring over the people in his life. The return is when the hero goes back home or to their original life. They also can receive many gifts from the people they helped. For Beowulf’s return home he went home with a boat load of treasure. He also was rewarded with praise, honor, and confidence. For Ironman he receives praise, honor, and more popularity too. The people of New York City also give him the name Ironman and in the end he “gets the girl”. The girl was his secretary named Pepper Potts. As you have noticed that Beowulf and Iron Man have different stories, they have similar journeys. They both have calls to action and have similar reasons why they go to help. They both have to fight a bad or evil being to protect people or land. Both of their thresholds create a feeling of suspense and curiosity. Of course you can tell that they both go through multiple challenges throughout their journeys and one main challenge when they end up defeating bad or evil being. They both also go through some transformations that turn them into better people and they also both get awarded for their good deeds which is their atonements. For their returns they have different stories but they both do “return” to normal in their own ways and are satisfied with what they did and how they helped people in need. Do you feel like you have your own journey? Maybe even a heroic journey? Then make your journey your own and make it super!
While fighting the Dragon Beowulf shows feats of strength and courage that define him as a hero. The classical hero displays a special quality that separates him from the rest of
Ernest Gaines novel, A Lesson Before Dying, is a story about, Jefferson, a black man who is wrongfully charged with a crime he did not commit. He cannot get a fair trial because he is a black man in the south. He is sentenced to be executed, but before he dies Grant, an educated black man, teaches him how to walk like a man, so people do not think of him as a hog. "Beowulf" is an epic poem over one thousand years old, which was told from one generation to another. It is about, Beowulf, a great hero who defeats three different monsters to save the kingdom. In his last battle he is much older than before and is killed by a dragon. A hero does something that other people do not do and he does things for others, and other people look to a hero for guidance.
Some differences would be that Beowulf fights for a higher stance meaning he fights to benefit himself whereas Captain America fights to protect his country under his own will. Meaning Beowulf is more selfish than Captain America would be. Another difference would be that Beowulf uses little to no protection and Captain America uses a shield that can not be damaged. This shows that they are both strong but Beowulf is stronger. Lastly Beowulf was born with his strength unlike Captain America who was a lab experiment. This shows that Beowulf's strength is natural unlike Captain America. This states only some of their differences, but there are many
direction is like trying to hit a cloud with a bow and arrow. A hero is also
Although Beowulf might have been a great warrior, usually people do not think that he is the greatest warrior from a story. Beowulf had the strength and the tactics to take down tons and tons of men on his own, but did not have the wisdom of other warrior figures. Beowulf was mainly strength and toughness, and sometimes a warrior needs to have some type of knowledge to ever be able to fight. A great example to Beowulf would be Luke Skywalker. Luke is in a story that is not the same type of story but, has the same concept. The only main difference would have to be the setting and the type of movie. Beowulf is a warrior that is considered super human and doesn't really belong anywhere, because he is not truly con...
There are many similarities between Batman- a modern day hero making use of his intellect, modern technology, and detective skills on crime and warfare and the classic hero, Beowulf- who travels great distances to prove his strength against his enemies, even at impossible odds. For example, the simplest being that they are both heroes working towards the common good, saving others without twice thinking of their own safety. However there are also many differences: obvious ones such as the fact they were born centuries apart, and subtle ones like the importance placed on humility with Batman versus self-confidence with Beowulf.
King Arthur and Beowulf are both Heroes that stories originated in the England area. They were written at different times, by a different era of people, but some of the core ethics are present in both stories. Both heroes were admired because they saved a whole group of people. King Arthur and Beowulf were also leaders, Beowulf was king of the Geats, and Arthur was the king of England. This is interesting because this means that they were both well known even before they had stories written about them, and they both possess qualities that can be found in leaders. While Arthur is a romance hero and Beowulf is an epic hero, the use of a magical weapon is seen in both stories which is generally a characteristic in the romance stories. "Then he saw, hanging on the wall, a heavy sword, hammered by the giants, strong and blessed with their magic, " 242-244 Beowulf. Arthur's magical weapon is Excalibur, which is pretty much well known to anyone that has heard of his story. I also felt that fate had a role in both of the stories. In Arthur's dream he had a premonition about what was going to happen to his people, "Below him, many fathoms deep, was a dark well, an in the water swam serpents, dragons, and wild beasts. Suddenly the scaffold tilted and Arthur was flung into the water, where all the creatures struggled towards and began tearing him from limb to limb." Malory 194. The beasts and dragons were the two armies and when someone drew their sword Arthur, who was connected to his people was thrown in.
The life of a hero matches a certain pattern. All types of heroes from different type of stories all resemble the theory of John Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. In the 2008 film Iron Man, Tony Stark alias Iron Man follows the Hero’s journey. Three important components of the Hero’s journey are depicted in Iron Man. The hero gets a call to adventure,embarks on a journey, and fights his/her way through a final battle. Tony Stark is called for an adventure but is reluctant to accept. Stark crosses the threshold with the help of his mentor and embarks on a journey to create his own suit. In the end, Stark has to face the final resurrection where he has to destroy the Obadiah Stane. Stark completes the hero’s journey hence become a modern hero. In the
Beowulf has been living at his home land taking on challenges that others may not have wanted to take on. He has always been a man of action, always looking for adventure that challenges his strength. When Beowulf was told of the rumors that a demon is tormenting Hrothgar famous mead serving hall he accepted the wise men decisions to help him rid them of the demon. This is where step two of the hero’s journey comes into play. There is a call to adventure that affects the hero in some way. Beowulf may have formed a personal connection to the cries of Hrothgar reason being his father was once had history with Hrothgar . When Hrothgar helped Beowulf 's father settle things with the Wulfings Beowulf may have felt a need to repay his father’s debt. When Beowulf and his men finished the feast the king provided in the mead hall that was closed due to Grendel’s blood lust. ¨Epic heroes possess qualities that mere mortals lack. Bravery beyond compare, superhuman intelligence, strength or skills and a driving desire to find success¨(Connie Jankowski). In this part of the story Beowulf and his men have proven that they do contain the courage
Beowulf begins with a history of the Danish kings. Hrothgar is the present king of the Danes. He builds a hall, called Heorot, to house his army. The Danish soldiers gather under its roof to celebrate and have fellowship with each other. Grendel, who lives at the bottom of a nearby swamp, is awakened and disgusted by the singing of Hrothgar's men. He comes to the hall late one night and kills thirty of the warriors in their sleep. For the next twelve years Grendel stalks the mead hall known as Heorot.
An epic is a long narrative poem on a serious subject. It usually is about
Then 50 years later an event occurs that undoubtedly classifies Beowulf as a hero. A dragon attacks Beowulf’s kingdom and his terrorizing his people. Rather than send warriors to fight the dragon, Beowulf goes himself to fight the dragon. Taking sword and shield he engages the beast in combat. However, Beowulf runs into complications with this beast, “the iron Shield, and for a time it held, protected Beowulf as he’d planned; then it began to melt.
A hero is someone who is admired for their courage and bravery, as well as their noble accomplishments. They are respected by almost everyone, due to their kindness and charitable mindset, that drives them to fight for the good of others. Beowulf is the perfect representation of a hero, based on multiple characteristics that he displays throughout the novel. Along with his characteristics, Beowulf also takes on many “hero like” challenges and tasks. In the novel, Beowulf is praised and admired throughout the kingdom for his bravery, humility, and selflessness.
“I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old, now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.” This was said by the main protagonist in the epic poem Beowulf. Beowulf himself becomes an epic hero throughout the story be demonstrating that he is on a quest, by becoming significant and glorified by his people, and by risking his own safety and possible death for the greater good of society.
What does it mean to be a hero? Like anything else in this world, the definition of the word hero can be argued. Some may say that a hero can be passive, that is if he or she refrains from doing a certain action it makes them heroic. Others would argue that to be truly heroic the character must never turn tail and always face the obstacle head on even though he or she may die in the process. So is Beowulf a hero? Yes, Beowulf is a great epic hero, but his greatness comes only from his sword and not from his mind.