How Does Beowulf Fight Between Good And Evil

The poet mentions that Grendel is the descendant “Of Cain, murderous creatures banished/ By God punished forever . . . Shut away from me; they split / Into thousand forms of evil” (Beowulf 21-26). This quote is significant because it proves that the monster belongs to the generation of a human being, Cain. However, the Cain’s actions result into the creation of the horrible race of evil monsters. The poet compares Grendel with humans when the fiend’s isolation is related to the Cain’s wrongdoings. Towards the end of the epic, Beowulf’s warriors who abandons him at the time of the battle with the dragon, are also isolated because they conduct a crime by doing so. This shows that the Anglo-Saxon society considers the action of an individual to decide their worth in the society. Because Cain murders Abel, and because the warriors leave Beowulf, their descendants automatically become an outcast in the society. This comparison can be further supported by Wiglaf’s statement to the coward warriors, “none of your race/ Will have anything left but their lives” (Beowulf 859-860). This quote proves that Grendel is similar to human beings because is evil actions render him an outcast just like the actions of the coward warriors recluse them from the society. In conclusion, the poet shows that Grendel and humans have same attributes because evil connects them and isolates them from the

While many pagan influences appear in the poem, Christian overtones dominate. Many of the characters exhibit Christian characteristics. Beowulf has a Christ-like behavior in his good-heartedness and charity. Beowulf understands the plight of the Danes that are being oppressed by the evil monster Grendel just as Christ knew of the oppression of the Jewish people. Both set out on a venture to save their people. To free themselves from the monster, the Danes need a savior, and Beowulf, through his desire to disperse their suffering, comes to save them. When Beowulf battles Grendel, he exhibits a sense of fairness when he refuses to use a weapon. The idea throughout the poem of living right, of loyalty, and of being a good leader can all be seen as traits of Christ. Just as Beowulf exemplifies Christ, Grendel mirrors Satan. Beowulf and Grendel represent the Christian beliefs of good verse evil. Grendel is referred to as a descendant of Cain, whom Satan tricks into sinning and committing the first murder. He is the image of a man fallen from grace through sin. Like Satan who is jealous of the happiness and joy that Adam and Eve have in the Garden of Eden, Grendel is jealous of the happiness and joy in Heorot. Grendel, as with Satan, is an adversary of God and poses a great challenge to Beowulf. Grendel lives in an underworld as Satan lives in hell. Grendel is referred to in the poem as "the guardian of

In the beginning of the the text, we immediately see the juxtaposition of good and evil through the authors use of diction. As we are introduced to Grendel through the kennings and allusions the author uses, we have a clear understanding of who Grendel is. In the beginning of “The Coming of Grendel,” he is referred to as “A powerful monster,…” (line 23). The author also alludes to Grendel being the spawn of one of the sons of Cain. As “The Coming of Grendel” ends and transitions into “The Coming of Beowulf,” the major difference in their character’s are seen clearly through the author’s use of kennings to describe Beowulf. In line 132, the author calls Beowulf “…strongest of the Geats-greater/And stronger than anyone anywhere in this world-…” The author goes on about how great Beowulf is to display how evil Grendel is. The author sets a tone with their diction to create the effect of

The story of Beowulf is an ancient one, and one that has been passed down for generations. The ideals and themes are traditional and its message is clear throughout the entirety of the epic poem. Beowulf is told from the third person omniscient point of view, his conflict was always what one would call “the bad guy” or “the villain,” and though he died in the end, he won gold and victory for his kingdom; all bad guys defeated. John Gardner, author of Grendel, decided to take the classical story of good and evil, and tell a new story from the villain’s perspective. Grendel explores varying literary elements which exposes the character of Grendel to readers along with various themes represented throughout each page.

Vices and virtues. Beowulf is full of dichotomies Pride vs. Humility being an important one. Grendel standing for pride, Wiglaf for humility, and Beowulf as a mix of the two.

The good in Grendel can be portrayed by young Grendel and Beowulf. In Grendel when he speaks from his perspective, he explains that he didn’t want to hurt anyone or anything. His mother and him are said to be descendants of Cain in the bible who was once punished by God. He started to ill the men in the mead hall because he became irritated of their noise that they made during their feasts. he also attacked because he is jealous of the happiness of the men. The shaper seen throughout the story influences Grendel. When he hears the shaper sing he has no desire to kill the men in Herot because the songs attract him. “The old Shaper, a man I cannot help but admire, goes out the back window with his harp at a single bound, though blind as a bat” (Gardner

Beowulf is an epic Anglo-Saxon poem, which tells a story of a hero who is destined to defeat several monsters in order to save a kingdom from peril. The underlying meaning is good versus evil with good always prevailing in the end. The theme of good versus evil was portrayed through the characters and events. Beowulf is the good guy fighting against evil. Beowulf is not just one person fighting against the evils of the world. In many cases, he is fighting for humanity’s sake.

The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the

In Beowulf, it is clear on the difference between good and evil to the humans, god separated from the behind demons such as Grendel in the novel. However, Grendel differs from this perception he believes that everyone is evil in some form. It’s interesting that humans refer to him as a hell-thane and a demon because that is based out of Christianity when the Danes are Pagans. The people believe that he is evil, just based on the actions he has shown, never how he got to that point or what really made him that way.

Beowulf was originally written in song form but was then translated and put into a poem, while Grendel is written as a story. Despite these large differences, the purpose is the same, it speaks of the inherent nature of people, and monsters when looking at the two main characters. Beowulf is a picture perfect hero, that is represented in almost all forms of literature. He is a hero, inherently good, fighting for liberty and family honor. He is introduced and is mentioned by his father’s name, as “Beowulf, Ecgtheow’s son” (Heaney 37), many times throughout the book.

Beowulf and Grendel depict the two ends of all that is good and all that is malicious. Beowulf being a warrior and part of the warrior culture, believes that what can be represented as good can be attributed to one’s individual reputation. Not only to Beowulf, but in the warrior lifestyle, it seems as that leaving a mark of bravery is an assurance to having a warrior’s memory live on even after they die. It is understandable especially with an occupation of being a warrior, Beowulf never knows when death is just around the corner. On the other end we have Grendel, the monstrous villain of this poem. While we portray Grendel as the villain and all that is evil in this poem, it can be said that Grendel was misunderstood. Grendel is an outcast,

Although not fully capable of classifying Grendel as human or monster, the common folk do all agree that he is “a fiend out of hell” (Line 100). Being a descendent of Cain, he will forever be inherently rotten. Furthermore, Grendel symbolizes the ultimate evil in Anglo-Saxon culture, because Cain killed Abel his brother. Also, he isn’t only a ruthless murderer, he’s also greedy.

In my reading of Beowulf and Grendel, I come to find that they are both very intriguing books that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time anticipating to see what would happen next. The tone set an overall general mood throughout the two narratives, as well as the different settings. Throughout the two books some major things stuck out to me, one being the concept of Good vs. Evil, and the other being the exertion to truly find one’s self. In municipals of ways Beowulf is nothing but a long poetic composition center upon a hero who which in this case was Beowulf who in the tale achieved a great deal of accomplishments. It is about the many obstacles that a self-oriented, arrogant, monumental warrior, and the demons/dragons of hell itself.

In the many story including Beowulf there will be always Good vs Evil side in each story. In Beowulf poem, character named “Beowulf”represent “Good side of the story”, Grendel (monster) represent “evil side of the story”. They both have a big played in Beowulf poem represent the good and bad . In the poem, most of the special thing that during the poem that Beowulf doesn’t fight with any men.

Grendel , much like his ancestor Cain, is “the outcast from God and society, the eternal wanderer” (Cain & Ahasuerus) This state of misery and isolation makes Grendel the perfect symbol for the fallen mankind that has been separated from