“Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend, Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild Marshes, and made his home in a hell…” (28) Grendel also killed all of Hrothgar's people in Herot Hall and eventually took control of it. Although, the humans and Beowulf may have done some immoral things they were acting in self-defense and attempting to regain control of the situation. Also, Beowulf displays more heroic qualities rather than the qualities of a monster. The role of compassion is also evident in the epic as well. It is clear that Beowulf is a good fighter, however, he is also morally good.
Although the story of the warrior Beowulf is riddled with evil monsters, the true evil lies just beneath the surface. Before discussing the evil within Beowulf, what is “good” should be clarified. Beowulf is the main character of the poem. Through the story he fights off the monsters plaguing his and Hrothgar’s people. He is the embodiment of what is thought to be good.
[He] could hardly believe that so great a good fortune could have befallen [him]” (Shelley 60). Even the monster’s own creator, Victor Frankenstein, quickly considers him to be villainous. Despite that the monster is his own creation and he does not know the monster’s morals... ... middle of paper ... ... monster, who originally has kind intentions, turns into a vengeful monster due to society’s harsh discrimination and prejudice against it. The monster originally has a caring heart, but society negatively judges the monster by its first impression rather than the monster’s kind notions As a result, the monster seeks revenge on both his creator and humanity. The monster composes of human body parts and has human emotions, but his appearance is not human due to society’s criticism of him.
All of these creatures were described in their own terms, yet all of their nicknames show that they are pure evil. First we have Grendel who was named the “fiend out of hell” (Heaney 9) and also the “corpse maker” (Heaney 21). While Grendel’s mother was called the “monstrous hell-bride” (Heaney 89) and the dragon was called the “nightmarish destroyer” (Heaney 191). These few nicknames barely scratch the surface of describing how truly evil each of these creatures was, yet even though they were pure evil they were still important to the story. Without these evil creatures Beowulf would not be the hero that we know him to be because he would not have anyone to defeat in battle.
In fighting the monsters, Beowulf displays the immoral elements of his world and of humanity. The role of the creatures within the text is to show how the fighters of monsters themselves can become monsters in their own right. The poet is ultimately demonstrating that humans and heroes are not free from flaws just because they are not monsters. Indeed, this presumptive manner often brings out the monstrous method of our heroes.
Beowulf was seen as a good hero throughout the whole epic, and light was seen as a symbol of good like his armor was light and shining. Grendel was seen as an evil monster that attacked, murdered men and brought terror to Herot. Darkness was seen as a symbol of something evil lurking nearby and Grendel’s lair. Good and evil took place between Beowulf and Grendel, Beowulf and Grendel 's mother, and Beowulf and the dragon at the end of the poem when he was really old. The theme of good versus evil had an overall effect on the epic poem by stating that no matter how much evil is in the this earth, it will always lose against good.
This just shows how Rousseau's ideas show how only after a lot of experiences of negative encounters turn him evil. Even in his writings Rousseau goes as far to explain how man through their actions ends up destroying all things and is turned sour due to these experiences saying “God makes all things good; man meddles”(Document 3: Jean Jacques Rousseau “
These three “requirements” in the Danes were but a few of numerous, admirable qualities these people possessed. But their most obvious philosophical view on living was for the good guy to always beat the bad guy. Their lives were about protecting others by destroying monsters; in the case of “Beowulf”, the monsters were literal. Grendel was one of three monsters that Beowulf went to destroy over the course of the poem. The Danes viewed Grendel and other monsters like him as stupid animals.
Because of The Creation’s looks he is shunned and treated horribly by the people around him. This leads to his horrible mistreatment towards him, which is one of the causes of his monstrous ways. Chris Bond, in his scholarly article, “Frankenstein: is it really about the dangers of science?” writes about the true meaning of who The Creation is. He writes that, “..Because he cannot integrate into society, becomes alienated from common kindness and interaction, and rewards ostracism with violent crime” (Bond). The Creation is forced into this life of hatred of himself and of other people because of the way he is treated based off of his looks and initial appearances.
Blind fate picks random victims and man is never reconciled with the world. Beowulf is a very simple story told with great elaboration. A man of great power, valor, and bounteousness fights three monsters, two as a young man, and the third in his old age. Other more complex human events precede these, others interfere, others will trail, but those more realistic events are all essentially background. The real calamity of the poem may not lie in Beowulf's own demise, which transcends the tragic through his faith in God, but in his people's desolation which leads to the re-burial of the treasure.