Beowulf’s Mistake in a Nutshell Beowulf is a story of a hero’s adventure in protecting the and eventually ruling over the land of the Danes. Throughout the story, he fights many battles, and surprises everyone, even against the odds he makes a way to come out on top. Yet, in his journey, he makes a great mistake. Beowulf allows his pride to get the best of him, and what really matters. Which is why ultimately he is already doomed, even from the beginning. For example, Beowulf is shown to be a strong leader and an overall charming guy. Often, he uses this to his advantage to get what he wants. On page 44 line 155 the coastguard to the Land of the Danes is suspicious of Beowulf so he tell’s him of his previous “victories” saying, “I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from earth.”. Beowulf’s pride is so high he doesn’t realize that chasing a whole race from earth might be impressive, but not a thing to boast about. This is building towards Beowulf's spiral downwards if he cannot distinguish right from wrong in that situation then how will he distinguish it in an even more serious one? However, this isn’t the only instance Beowulf has done this. Beowulf does not only battle Grendel, but also his mother. Any person willing to fight two dangerous creatures must really want to protect their people, correct? No, not for Beowulf, the King of the Geats Hrothgar asks him to defeat her for taking one of his men so Beowulf accepts the challenge. Not to stop her from hurting anyone, but because his pride is too high to possibly deny it. In the story on page 58 line 490 “If weapons were useless, he’d use his hands, the strength in his fingers. So fame came only to men who cared to win it …show more content…
And his glory will live on thanks to the destruction caused by his
Beowulf was a hero. He was one who has battled what most of us will fear. He won when most of us will fail. But still, like any other person, Beowulf has a weakness; and that weakness is the lack of self control. Lack of self control against greed.
Despite difficulties Beowulf chooses from the purity of his heart to save and protect the Danes. These two characters face off against each other in the story of
Beowulf states that Grendel's mom will not be able ti hide from his wrath. Beowulf assures that Grendel's mom will be eliminated. After Beowulf gets to be ruler in Geatland, he demonstrates his awesome unselfishness yet again by promising to execute the flame mythical serpent. Beowulf is said to have sworn to murder the mythical serpent, which has brought on an unsettling influence among his kingdom. These brave acts offered by Beowulf shows a great part of his integrity.
The Anglo-Saxon epic, Beowulf, was written in around 500 AD. The author of this epic is unknown. It is about a warrior, Beowulf, that goes on a quest to fight monsters and achieve riches and glory. During this time, Christian monks made edited copies of literature to spread their religion, Christianity.
We start off in a land ‘far far way’ to this young hero who’s name is Beowulf now we follow him to one of his battles. Beowulf might have his down falls but come on the guy is insane when he go in to battles. We will skip to the most epic battle Beowulf has ever face and his opponent was Grendel. Now Grendel wasn’t the most nicest monster I say that because he would come up out of his cave and came up and ate everything human in the meat hall.
This reveals that Beowulf’s abundance of pride can sometimes go overboard and result in stubbornness especially when there is a lot in it for
Taking risks is a necessary action to live a full life. Although many risks have unwanted consequences, they can also result in good consequences. The Deep, Beowulf, and the Challenger all address the idea taking risks can have positive outcomes. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf takes one of the greatest risks, his life, to protect his people. Beowulf puts himself in danger simply by choosing to fight the Grendel, a huge man-eating monster that has been terrorizing Herot for twelve years.
Beowulf defines the trait generosity. This shows you're not being selfish and you care for other people more so than yourself. A good example in the story Beowulf is, “ The people suffered ,everyone/Lived in terror, but when Beowulf had learned/ Of their trouble
A hero's journey is a pattern of narrative identities that appears in many dramas, storytellings, myths, and psychological development. The journey consist of twelve different steps and in the story Beowulf we read about the magnificent and rough journey that Beowulf and this men accomplish. Many people question if Beowulf is considered a hero and if what he did was good. The journey that he embarked on, leads me to believe that Beowulf is a hero and always will be. The first step in the hero's journey is called the “call to adventure” this is when something is disturbed from external pressure of from inner conflict.
The continued honor shown in Beowulf’s character shines through when Beowulf never mentions that Unferth’s trusted sword was no match for Grendel’s mother. Beowulf could have simply boasted how the sword was useless and ineffective against the female beast, yet he was silent out of respect for Unferth. Finally, during Beowulf’s time as ruler (fifty winters), another beast arrives: a dragon. This time, Beowulf is much older and is in a much weaker state than when he first defeated Grendel and his mother. However, that does not deter Beowulf from going out and defending his kingdom.
Beowulf makes known that “no man but [himself] could hope to defeat this monster, [and] no one could try.” Beowulf wants to have this fight all to himself, so he can take all of the glory. He is too selfish to conclude that only he could defeat the monster alone. Beowulf cannot be thought of as a hero because “Beowulf only longed for fame.” Beowulf does not perform heroic deeds just to save the citizens, but to receive more admiration from the citizens.
This idea of accomplishing one's goal after so many years of overlook highlights Beowulf’s uncanny motivation. In order to become this person of high status, he persevered through all of his battles, and took risks that could have, if not achieved, sent his reputation on a downfall. Another interesting idea presented by the dialogue in the book was the way that Beowulf and others viewed his daring actions. “Beowulf, / tell us what your trip to far off places/brought you… your search for war in Herot?” (1986-1990).
In the great epic, Beowulf, an unknown poet describes Beowulf as an invincible hero with the amazing strength stronger than any human ever, but does having the traits of an incredible warrior, make him a great king? A great king is loyal, generous, reliable and should be able to realize what he needs to do to make sure his people are safe. Beowulf is brave, strong, and extremely confident in his combat abilities, but Beowulf does not think about the possible effects of his actions. Beowulf cares about his fame, fortune, and legacy, but he often makes rushed decisions that risk his life and could potentially leave his people powerless and unprotected. During Beowulf’s transformation from thane to king, he has always had more of a warrior’s mindset,
Once upon a time, there was a marvelous warrior that was a hero to so many and king to some. In the story of Beowulf, the hero, Beowulf, must follow and go through the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey has twelve stages, or three acts. The stages go in the order: 1) The Call to Adventure, 2) Assistance, 3) Departure, 4) Trials, 5) Approach to the Inmost Cave, 6) Crisis, 7) Treasure, 8) Result, 9) Return, 10) New Life, 11) Resolution, and 12) Status Quo (Winkler). Since Beowulf is facing three different monsters, there is not only the story’s significant journey, but also multiple inside it.
He becomes often associated with the image of a perfect, almighty warrior, able to prove his fame in any situation. However, the foil characters can do more than purely illuminate his positive values. With the contrast they provide, Beowulf’s faults are revealed and criticized as well. Although foil characters often point out the greatness of Beowulf, they also serve to highlight Beowulf’s flaws, teach him lessons, and allow him to change, as seen in his interactions with Unferth, Hrothgar, and the dragon.