StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Human Characteristics in the Poem Beowulf - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay "Human Characteristics in the Poem Beowulf" focuses on the poet who depicts Grendel as having anguish, hatred, jealousy, and even fear, which are human characteristics. After he had sneaked to the land of humans to listen to them sing in worship of God, he develops hatred. …
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.6% of users find it useful
Human Characteristics in the Poem Beowulf
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Human Characteristics in the Poem Beowulf"

Human Characteristics in the Poem Beowulf Humane characters have a foundation of virtues, at most what religion definesas being good. It is not easy that people can define humanity without morality, and religious beliefs. These conclusions are to mean that humans would be without feelings of right and wrong, which is morality, had religion been inexistent. This work establishes the truth in these conclusions through an analysis of the poem, Beowulf. The purpose of this work is to define humankind’s feelings and characteristics by interpreting the relevance of a beastly character, Grendel to the rest of the characters. Out of the description, this work will also reveal the poem as being epic, religion being the central theme. Human Characters in the Poem The first character drawn out of the poem is that humans are religious, believing in the existence of God. The power of God surpasses all others, which makes the Danes in the poem to hope for his protection of them. God is responsible for a number of good deeds to his people, for instance, He is responsible for the protection of the throne of the King against attacks by Grendel. There are lines in the poem, which stress the fact that the monster tormented them every night in its pursuit of human blood. During the day, the creature was witty enough to remain hidden in the marshes. Even while he attacked, he Grendel did dare the throne of the king. (Rafael 45, lines 80-84). According to the poem, God has the power to deliver his righteous people from bondage. Beowulf delivered the Danes from the oppression of the monster because he had a divine anointing of God. The monster possessed supernatural characteristics, which only God could fight. Beowulf recounts that his previous battle victories came because of the protection of God. He says that he would do himself little justice if he went to war carrying a sword and a shield because he hoped God would decide his fate (Rafael 48, lines 170-174). There are a series of other instances when the power of God comes to the forefront as a super being. He is the center of morality because he alone will judge all the other beings. Using Grendel in the poem, the poet manages to depict the people as being religious. There is no doubt in the poets work that God will deliver his persons of all oppressions. For this case, those who are unreligious will meet the wrath of God, which is a common teaching in many religions. There is a conclusion in the poem that those who do not obey will go to hell while the religious faithfuls will reach heaven (Rafael 45, lines 90-95). Human could also be termed as courageous, which was critical to Beowulf’s success in his fight against Grendel the monster. He offered to fight the beast with his bare hands even after he knew of the monster’s cruelty. There are two points tied to the brevity of man in the poem. First humans need brevity to face difficult moments and that brevity is necessary to face cruelty. Grendel is cruel, which also implies that evil humans are monsters. The epitome of cruelty is hatred and jealousy. Grendel justifies both these. First, he is envious of the people’s worship of God after he hears them singing in worship. The monster lived down in the dark and isolated places in pain, lying impatiently waiting for nightfall. He was unhappy that while others enjoyed communion, he was all by himself (Rafael 42, lines 1-4). The poet also emphasizes the need for intimacy as a human trait because the communal associations result in power and strength. Throughout the poem, Grendel remained alone; he did not have family nor friend causing him to hate humanity. He could not stand the joy that the rest enjoyed (Rafael 44, lines 15-19). The loneliness caused him to be the talk of community, with people fearing him because he had no emotions. Working together eventually provided a solution, which killed Grendel, even while he was too strong for some of them. Grendel is arguably the most brutal and unkind character of the poem because he attacks and kills people because of jealousy and revenge for the death of his parents. As a result, the poet hints that some people do not care how they affect others by their actions. However, he does kills discriminately, he goes for the soldiers, and those he thinks may offer resistance. In doing so, he weakens the people’s ability and resilience to fight back, making vulnerable each day. Such are the cruel and brutal people in the societies. It took the courage and sacrifice of Beowulf to end the oppression, which the people had suffered under Grendel. Brevity is, for this reason, a virtue that people should use to fight against cruelty. The poet also uses the character of Grendel to stress that humans are passionate to one another, especially during difficulties. The people in the poem wept for the loss of their loved ones after the beast attacked them every night. They wished they could put up spirited fights and defeat their common adversary. People from the neighboring areas sympathized with the victims of Grendel’s attacks. Such passion and love for one another caused Beowulf to offer life for the neighbors (Rafael 44, lines 41-44). Conclusion The poet depicts Grendel as having the anguish, hatred, jealousy, and even fear, which are human characteristics. After he had sneaked to the land of humans to listen them sing in worship of God, he develops hatred. He lived a lonely life in the swamp, a place that the poet describes as hell on earth. Such a creation by the poet indicates that humans may grow emotional because of loneliness. The communion of the Vikings is a contrast with the solitary lifestyle of Grendel. Even while he attacked his enemies, they did so discriminatively because he thought they were less potent. The poet also depicts humans as religious, peaceful, courageous, passionate, and warring. Works Cited Rafael, Burton. The Beowulf Poet. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. . Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Beowulf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4”, n.d.)
Beowulf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1677702-beowulf
(Beowulf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words - 4)
Beowulf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words - 4. https://studentshare.org/literature/1677702-beowulf.
“Beowulf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words - 4”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1677702-beowulf.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Human Characteristics in the Poem Beowulf

Beowulf, Themes and Symbols

The author of Beowulf is unknown, but it is widely believed that the poem has a well established Christian tradition.... We should think that the Beowulf-poet has fused different moral systems, pagan and Christian morals simultaneously and thus the poem is a vehicle of Christian morals.... BEAWULF, THEMES AND SYMBOLS An old English epic , characteristic of its Nordic-Germanic roots , tells the story of a Scandinavian warrior , beowulf , who saves one of his neighboring kingdom from the rage of a brutal , blood thirsty monster , Grendel , later adorned as the King and sacrifices his life for their well being ....
4 Pages (1000 words) Term Paper

Virtue and Community in Beowulf Paper

The characters in the poem fear the monster and they believe that the intervention that they can receive must come from God.... The paper "Virtue and Community in beowulf Paper" discusses that beowulf is full of kennings with a repeated alliterative meter that describes characters and objects as remarkably similar.... When beowulf intervened when the monster invaded the Grendel kingdom, the community was not willing to fight, the monster because they believed that the monster had supernatural powers....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

How is the conflict between good and evil portrayed in beowulf

Throughout the poem beowulf is shown to be confident of his ability to slaughter and defeat the monsters.... The epic poem Beowulf tends to continue and build on the same theme and portrays the eternal and emphatic conflict between the forces of the good and the evil through the rich exploitation of the symbolism associated with the epic hero Beowulf and the monsters and through the Christian and pagan allusions in the poem.... The epic poem Beowulf tends to continue and build on the same theme and portrays the eternal and emphatic conflict between the forces of the good and the evil through the rich exploitation of the symbolism associated with the epic hero Beowulf and the monsters and through the Christian and pagan allusions in the poem....
3 Pages (750 words) Assignment

Literature and Mythology

Freawaru has small part to play in the poem than Hildeburh.... Name: Title: Unit: Date: There are three antagonists in the work of old English literature of unknown authorship beowulf (c.... In the story, Grendel the monster slew beowulf.... This made beowulf to destroy Grendel; he went into her lake-based home.... Grendel mother sensed his presence; therefore, she attacked beowulf and took him to her home.... Grendel mother was about to conquer but beowulf used the sword to decapitate Grendel's mother....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Beowulf and Roland

Both beowulf and Roland share the idea of struggling to save humanity.... This is shown when beowulf fights the dragon with one soldier.... The idea of struggling to save humanity is second nature to both Roland and beowulf due to the continuous fighting that occurred in their lifetime.... Roland's battle was for Charlemagne against the Muslims, whereas beowulf's was against Grendel, Grendel's mother, and Roland and beowulf both wanted to struggle to save humanity....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Beowulf and Christianity vs. Paganism

the poem contains various religious and cultural elements in it; therefore, the critics have been in serious doubt whether the poem has been written by an early converted Christian or a pagan on the pattern of ancient Greek and Roman pagan sets of belief.... Since the author of the poem is unknown, the critics have been in suspicion regarding the poet's religious affiliations.... the poem's story concentrates on the Germanic people of the Scandinavian region, where the existence of monsters was a common cultural trait those days....
5 Pages (1250 words) Literature review

Loss and Suffering in Anglo-Saxon Literature

The sense of separation permeates the fluctuating tense usage in the poem, implying that death will end sorrow 'I can never rest from my sorrow, nor from all the longing that troubles me in this life'.... The Wife's lament is an Old English poem commonly viewed as the 'old woman's song'.... The Wife's lament is essentially a story of grief and underlines the themes of loss and suffering along with the 'impermanence of human ties through a woman's voice'....
17 Pages (4250 words) Research Paper

Christian and Pagan Elements in Beowulf

The author states that the unknown author of Beowulf is supposedly a Christian monk since the elements in the poem are marked more by the Christian spirit than paganism.... the poem brings up the mention of the one God notion as he is referred to as the Lord and the Protector without mentioning any particular name The idealistic qualities of bravery, loyalty, and generosity rule the cultural set up of Anglo Saxon era (Hieatt).... beowulf' based upon the unequaled hero of the time appears to be an epic poem which celebrates the beginning and ending....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us