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Moral Values In Beowulf

Decent Essays

Ever since a young age, children have been told stories with a clear moral lesson. These lessons are used explicitly to show basic principles that a growing mind needs. However, as one ages the morals become less obvious, but they remain just as influential. Examples of these less direct morals are seen by young adults in academic analyzation and in their personal and social lives through popular movies or music. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, exist to help readers understand a variety of moral principles needed to become a respectable citizen and a hero. The writers of the screenplay and epic portray the main character as a tragic hero to show audience that one may have the confidence to attempt a task, but they must be reasonable enough when they are not capable to do so. In the film, Spider-Man/Peter Parker takes on crimes that he thinks he is ready for, but is not trained enough to do so. When he is not able to complete the task, his mistake leads to almost costing the lives of thousands of people and him losing his suit. (Spider-Man: Homecoming). The screenplay writers use this scene to show how our hero relied on the wrong factors and did not take in account that he was not ready to complete his goal, representing society’s tendency to eagerly jump at opportunities that they are not yet ready for.
In the epic, Beowulf , the author writes, “… Beowulf rose, still brave, still strong, and with his shield at his side, and a mail shirt on his breast, strode calmly, confidently, toward the tower…” (Lines 511-513). The author wrote this quote to emphasize to readers how confident Beowulf was upon entering this battle despite his older age. This event causing his untimely death gives the impression to the audience that going into a situation unprepared sometimes leads to irreversible outcome. In addition to encouraging audience members to understand their limits, the two works also show the importance of asking for help.
The main characters in both plots are given opportunities to achieve their goals by already respected superiors, proving to the audience that it is okay to require help. In the film, Peter Parker is finally given his chance to become the hero when billionaire,

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