Theme Of Morality In Beowulf

The world is a very big place with millions of people living on it at the same time. All of the people in the world are moved to do something. People all have reasons to do things. Most people call them motivations. A definition of motivations is, “Motivations: reason for doing something,” (Goldman). Beowulf was just like anyone of those people. He had dreams and goals he wanted to obtain. In the epic poem Beowulf, he was challenged with killing three deadly monsters, he had to have motivation for that. He was able to kill the Grendel and his mother, monsters said to be from the time of Cain and Abel. He first slew the Grendel with his bare hands. When the Grendel’s mother found out what was done, she was furious and came back for revenge.

The poem describes Beowulf as a big and powerful human. Being that powerful has to come with some responsibilities. It was said that Beowulf got his powers form the gods, and because it came from the great beings above, it was Beowulf’s destiny to fight the Grendel. The Geats’ felt as though Beowulf was bestowed great power for a reason, and this was his reason. Beowulf also may have felt the duty of morality. In Penner’s article about how we have a moral obligation to help those in need says this, “Morality requires us to do the right thing, not just as regards ourselves, but also in our dealings with others.” (Penner). Or in other words, humans feel the need to help others who are in pain, or suffering. The Danes were under great punishment, the Grendel was killing off their city one person at a time. The Danes, along with other heroes, had tried to stop the monster without success. When Beowulf hears of this he wants to help. The Geats tell him this, because they believe him to be an epic hero, Told his it was his duty to help the Geats defeat the Grendel. The Geats had made him a leader because of his bravery and strength. This has to do with his position in his