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More handpicked essays just for you.
Literature as mirror of the society
Literature as mirror of the society
Literature as mirror of the society
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Part A
{1} Grendel, it seems, actually didn’t have too much exposure to humans before the start of the poem. He “hunted the moors” (17), likely subsisting on animals he had killed. The reasons why he started killing humans aren’t entirely clear; he had “growled in pain, impatient / As day after day the music rang / Loud in that hall” (2-4). He could also come across as merely curious, as he was “wondering what the warriors would do in that hall” (31-32). This raises a noteworthy attribute of Grendel – though he is often animalistic, he frequently is described as thinking, wondering, or otherwise displaying a human-like nature. The humans think of him not as a raging beast, but as a calculating criminal. But how calculated were these crimes? Grendel doesn’t seem to have planned his war on Herot, especially not that first night. The statements “[Grendel’s] Thoughts were as quick as his greed of his claws” (35) and “delighted with his night’s slaughter” (40) give the
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Beowulf carries audiences to a world of terror, courage, loyalty, and vengeance, with fantastical enemies and a triumphant hero. In modern entertainment, this story under different guises still appeals to us. For example, comparisons could be drawn between Tony Stark and Beowulf. He is to American society what Beowulf was to Anglo-Saxan. A self-described genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist, Tony Stark represents the ideal American - he’s charming, strong, witty, and most importantly, successful. Sure, he can also be very vulnerable and human (modern audiences like to watch the hero break before he wins), but in the end he’s the hero, and heroes always triumph. For example, in one scene, a plane has exploded, and Tony is inexplicitly able to save every person that fell. The audience doesn’t care about the heavy suspension of disbelief - we love when the hero
the men as the "beasts" and Grendel as the victim. & nbsp; Another aspect of the humans in the story that Grendel defines is their concept of a hero. Not only does he allow for heroes to exist he gives them their purpose in life. Grendel is the monster in the darkness. that every loyal thane would defend his king against. Without Grendel this unique situation would not exist. On the other hand, Grendel has the ability to humiliate and cause a man to be named a coward. He does. this to none other than Unferth. Unferth is treated like a hero because he would defeat the "monster" Grendel, or die trying. When Grendel does not. allow him to complete this task he is shamed by his fellow thanes. Grendel realizes that by killing the man he will be defining him as a hero in the eyes of the humans. Considering the way Grendel was treated by Unferth. and others like him, it becomes easy to sympathize with him extracting this.
Perhaps he would actually like to live a normal life with the humans. “Some evil inside myself pushed out into the trees, I knew what I knew, the mindless, mechanical bruteness of things, and when the harper’s lure drew my mind away from hopeful dreams, the dark of what was and always was reached out and snatched my feet.” (Gardner 54) It seems as though Grendel would like to change things if he could, but some outside force will not allow it. Even if this is true, Grendel is still inherently evil. Despite whatever dreams he may have. The reader simply cannot ignore the fact that he still does evil deeds with evil intentions. He is seemingly unable to feel love, or at least disinterested in it. He enjoys torturing and killing humans and rarely shows mercy. Due to these facts, it is impossible to say Grendel is a hero in this
Grendel had changed drastically from all the way from the start of the book all the way to the end of the book. Grendel began very immature almost child like from the beginning of the book. The way he talked and viewed all things such as plants and animals was very child like. The difference between him and a human would be his monstrous height and strength. Grendel’s first major change was when Grendel heard the words of the Shaper. Grendel would evaluate the Shaper as he would tell his stories in the mead hall, he would do so for many nights. Many times though Grendel would not agree with the stories the Shaper would say and tell to the others, sometimes he felt as if the Shaper was trying to manipulate the others around him. This would anger
Grendel, as a character, has a much more complex identity than just a monster and a human. Some, such as Ruud, classify him as a mixture of three different characteristics, but alone, they tend to conflict with each other. By making the connection that Grendel represents immorality, the previous idea makes more sense, while simultaneously incorporating more aspects of the character into the analysis. In either case, Grendel represents much more than meets the eye, and provides a fascinating insight into
Grendel as a character is very intelligent, he is capable of rational thought at all times. Because of this, at sometimes during the story I would forget Grendel is a monster, the way he acts in his thoughts and actions I would mistake him for a human; at times I was even feeling bad for Grendel because he is a very lonely person who tries to understand all of the meaningless of the world around him. Grendel can never get to close to
While Grendel may possess a brute strength, his lack of wit and logic is what ultimately leads to his downfall and demise. In Beowulf, the actions and character that of Beowulf, or an Epic Hero, define the perfect Anglo-Saxon warrior. Epic heroes are indicated by a variety of traits, including that they, “must look like a hero, they must be noble, famous, strong, courageous, humble, prideful, thick-skinned, self-sacrificing, faithful, focused, be a leader, and have a tragic flaw” (Jones 3). Unfortunately, aside from the ‘tragic flaw’ and ‘strong’ categories, Grendel’s character is antithetical to all characteristics of an Epic Hero. This makes him quite the villain, and a generally despicable character. “Suddenly then, / the God-cursed brute creating havoc: / greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men”
Most of us have heard of modern day heroes such as Spiderman, Superman, and the Hulk. Each is a hero to many children. Heroes are introduced to people early on in life usually as fictional characters, but as children grow older their perceptions of heroes alter. The characteristics of a hero are usually based around the ideas of a society or culture. In the epic Beowulf, the main character is thought of as a hero. Beowulf, a pagan warrior and the main character of the epic, shows certain characteristics such as bravery, loyalty, and generosity, which portray him as a hero. It is interesting how modern day heroes show the much of the same qualities as Beowulf.
Beowulf lies still as one of the most important literary works. Though it was written many centuries ago, it's extremely relevant in today's society, due to Beowulf's heroic efforts while imitating characteristics of a human. Throughout Beowulf’s long journey, he faces these obstacles that seem to shape the success of his future. With is tireless efforts and succession on completing his missions, Beowulf became the go to guy. With Beowulf’s talent and shear skill he was able to defeat the mightiest creatures. There was one creature he could not defeat, death. Beowulf flows parallel with some of the modern day hero, such as batman. Seen in the eyes on many as a hero, Beowulf always provides his best efforts to get the job done.
Universal ideas are woven throughout Beowulf, giving another reason for its continuing importance. Heroes and heroism is a theme plenty of us can relate to. Nevertheless, it makes for an entertaining story. Beowulf displays honor, glory, and sacrifice which are all qualities one often associates with an admirable warrior, king, and genuine
Likely the poem’s most memorable creation, Grendel is one of the three monsters that Beowulf battles. His nature is ambiguous. Though he has many animal attributes and a grotesque, monstrous appearance, he seems to be guided by vaguely human emotions and impulses, and he shows more of an interior life than one might expect. Exiled to the swamplands outside the boundaries of human society, Grendel is an outcast who seems to long to be reinstated. The poet hints that behind Grendel’s aggression against the Danes lies loneliness and jealousy. By lineage, Grendel is a member of “Cain’s clan, whom the creator had outlawed / and condemned as outcasts.” (106–107). He is thus descended from a figure who epitomizes resentment and malice. While the poet somewhat sympathetically suggests that Grendel’s deep bitterness about being excluded from the revelry in the mead-hall owes, in part, to his accursed status, he also points out that Grendel is “[m]alignant by nature” and that he has “never show[n] remorse”
Are humans born naturally with a good and a bad side? Are we even born with a positive and a negative side? Many people throughout the course of my life thus far have told me that everyone has a good and a bad side, no matter how hard they try to hide it. Similar to how everyone wants to do good, some part of them want to do bad; I am no exception to this observation of human nature. I try to do good every day at my work where I coach and train kids on running American Ninja Warrior style obstacle courses by focusing on each kid and doing what I can to help them improve; however, afterward, when my training partner and I train for a while, I find myself wishing he does not do as good as me.
The way that he expressed his monstrous way is through is nature. Grendel monstrous nature originates by his ancestor Cain the son that kills his brother Abel, causing Grendel to be evil, knowing his somewhat relate to this “creator had outlawed and condemned as an outcast” (Heaney lines 106-107) this description of Grendel in Beowulf results in his evilness because of his past. Beside Grendel past, he get “unearthly joy” out of killing Dane which cause Grendel to expect his monstrous “Transformed” (Gardner 79-80) This shows that he has gratification out of killing. Another example that shows Grendel gets satisfaction out of killing making him a monster is stated “I am mad with joy. —At least I think its joy. Strangers have come, and it’s a whole new game,” (Gardner 151) Grendel is born a monster, and now he has come to realize that this is a part of his nature making it enjoyable for him to kill. While killing Grendel “tie it around my neck to make a napkin… I seize up a sleeping man” (Gardner 168) showing he has no remorse killing those men that didn’t to deserve to die. This contributes to the factors of it is in his nature to kill. Grendel describes some of his traits as a character as “Blood-lust and rage” (Gardner 123). Being that Grendel is a monster the narrator describes his appearances using human body parts. During the battle with Beowulf he has a “torn off my arm at the shoulder!” This shows that Grendel has human like body parts. Another characteristic that Grendel has that contributes to him having human qualities is his ability to think at a high level. “Suddenly I knew I was dealing with no dull mechanical bull, but with thinking, but with thinking creature, pattern makers, the most dangerous things I’d ever met.”(Gardner 27) This is an important factor to Grendel having human quality because it shows that he was able
Time after time he charges into Herot Hall, slaughtering the warriors like sheep, and feasting on them. Denmark trembles in fear and grief as Grendel terrorizes their land. The people live in fear for their family and friends. Grendel is the Anglo-Saxon embodiment of what is dark, terrifying, and threatening. Grendel is an enemy of God. He can not know God’s great love. He is a powerful ogre that resides in the dark, wet marshes. He is a shadow of death that grows impatient with the Danes. He delights in their slaughter. No crime or savage assault would quench his thirst for evil. For evil can never be quenched. Grendel is a shepherd of evil and a guardian of crime. Grendel exhibits his envy towards the warriors as Cain did to his brother. Jealousy breed loneliness.
...tion very important traits that one must obtain in order to uphold a heroic reputation. While the movie shows the more caring and compassionate side of a hero, the book presents a more intimidating and hostile side of one. Both the book and the movie relate to Anglo-Saxon culture today. They reveal the two sides a hero must have, according to society's standards. The film and novel support the idea that a hero is judged based on certain traits he or she has. One could only be a hero if that person met society's standards of a true hero. If Beowulf did not have the heroic characteristics that were mentioned in the book and movie, he may have not even been considered a hero.
Without even knowing Grendel’s story, what he’s been through, or almost anything about him, the people in the kingdom just assume he is a monster based on his looks. On the contrary, in Grendel his character is shown as a lonely outcast who is actually the victim rather than the villain because he is misunderstood by the Danes and Geats. For example, many characters talk about how unattractive Grendel is and how he is different and evil because he is a descendant of Cain. This gossip upsets Grendel, which causes him to lash out and kill and eat the humans in the mead-hall. In Beowulf, this attack by Grendel is solely his fault because he is the antagonist, while in Grendel, it is the result of the humans’ cruel behavior because they are the antagonists. To continue, Grendel is an innocent, friendly character in Grendel who just wants someone to talk to; for example, “‘Mercy! Peace!’ The Harper broke off, the people screamed [...] Drunken men rushed me with battle-axes. I sank to my knees, crying, ‘Friend! Friend!’” (Gardner 51, 52). In Grendel, Grendel tries to communicate peacefully with the humans to form a relationship with them while