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The Epitome of Evil

The Epitome of Evil.

The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is the most important work of Old English

literature, and is well deserved of the distinction. The epic tells the story of a hero, a

Geat prince named Beowulf, who rids the Danes of the monster Grendel, a descendant

of Cain. The storyteller uses many elements to build a certain kind of depth in the

characters, specifically Grendel. The storyteller uses specific passages in the poem to

help mold the readers’ feelings about Grendel, show the reader what accounts for the

monster’s evil nature and also represents Grendel as “evil.”

The storyteller starts off by explaining who Grendel is in the first section on page

21, lines 19-23. “ Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild marshes, and made his

home in a hell not hell but earth. He was spawned in that slime, conceived by a pair of

those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God, punished forever

for the crime of Abel’s death.” This first depiction of Grendel already gives the reader a

sense of corruption and immortality . The biblical character, Cain is always related to

. . .

The biblical references come into play, giving the reader an idea of the extent of

Grendel’s pure evil and gives a logical explanation for Grendel’s murderous behavior.

Portraying his home on page 21, lines 17- 19, Grendel is illustrated as a barbaric

character that lives in the moors in darkness. Some of the qualities are that he has compassion for Hrothgar ,who

does not fight in battles and he swims next to Brecca; his childhood friend at sea even

though they challenged one another, as page 28 lines 274-276 denotes.

More importantly he earns honor which raises him to the level of an ideal hero.

These Christian type themes are what give the character’s character definition and

depth. Grendel for one, is totally wild and is therefore shown as evil. On page

25, lines 170-175, Beowulf explains “ Might think less of me if I let my sword go where

my feet are afraid to, if I hid behind some broad linen shield. On the other hand, Beowulf is tamed and civilized, the

epitome of goodness and purity. ” Defeating Grendel, Beowulf shows that man, without armor and

weapons, can defeat evil in any form including that of his foe Grendel. And that is what makes Beowulf an epic poem. God must decide who will be given to

death’s cold grip. In Beowulf, Beowulf represents the good and Grendel represents the evil. First off, Grendel is a descendant of the evil

Cain; which represents that only evil is born from evil. Also, there is a motif that shows the

difference between mankind’s ways, considered good, and evil’s wild natures ways,

considered evil. Since all evil

hates all happiness.

Approximate Word count = 770
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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