The Human Condition: Of Heroes, Victims, Villains, and Fear
             The object of human nature is a topic that has been theorized about and made into metaphors for centuries, and the product of such procedures has had many results. Of the human condition there are two stories, Beowulf and The Seafarer, which have established characters to portray the essence of weakness and mortality. Both demonstrate humanity's constant battle with understanding and its similar eternal hunger that is curiosity. However, of all difficulties illustrated and spoken, the greatest and most imperative is that of encountering fear.
             The tale of Beowulf combines the tragedy of misunderstanding with the destructiveness of fear. Grendel, a demon from the marshes of hell, is a beast with emotions and feelings not so commonly alienated from our own. Each spring, upon the rising of the moon, he sets out and seeks to satisfy his emptiness, from his lack of a consort, by entering the Herot of Hrothgar, King of the Danes. Upon Grendel's arrival, he seeks out those who rest in the hall and slaughters them to feast on their bodies. He proceeds to do this every night for the remainder of the season, never able to slake his thirst for blood. In matters of human nature, Grendel has the familiar lack of willpower and also fear. He is afraid of what might happen to him in the future if he must remain alone, and in his search he becomes obsessed with filling the gap in his existence. This becomes his lack of control over what becomes an apparent addiction, and eventually it leads to his finding Beowulf; Beowulf, the epitome of arrogance and ignorance.
             An uglier side to human nature, the character Beowulf comes to King Hrothgar and the Herot from "across the ocean." There is a saying that states, "Man is afraid of that which he cannot understand." Beowulf illustrates this flawlessly. Being an alien to the land, he is just as foreign to any thoug...