The Epitome of Evil
The Epitome of Evil. The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is the most important work of Old Englishliterature, and is well deserved of the distinction. The epic tells the story of a hero, aGeat prince named Beowulf, who rids the Danes of the monster Grendel, a descendantof Cain. The storyteller uses many elements to build a certain kind of depth in thecharacters, specifically Grendel. The storyteller uses specific passages in the poem tohelp mold the readers' feelings about Grendel, show the reader what accounts for themonster's evil nature and also represents Grendel as "evil." The storyteller starts off by explaining who Grendel is in the first section on page21, lines 19-23. " Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild marshes, and made hishome in a hell not hell but earth. He was spawned in that slime, conceived by a pair ofthose monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God, punished foreverfor the crime of Abel's death." This first depiction of Grendel already gives the reader asense 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 ofGrendel'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 barbariccharacter that lives in the moors in darkness. Some of the qualities are that he has compassion for Hrothgar ,whodoes not fight in battles and he swims next to Brecca; his childhood friend at sea eventhough 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 anddepth. Grendel for one, is totally wild and is therefore shown as evil. On page25, lines 170-175, Beowulf explains " Might think less of me if I let my sword go wheremy feet are afraid to, if I hid behind some broad linen shield. On the other hand, Beowulf is tamed and civilized, theepitome of goodness and purity. " Defeating Grendel, Beowulf shows that man, without armor andweapons, 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 todeath's cold grip. In Beowulf, Beowulf represents the good and Grendel represents the evil. First off, Grendel is a descendant of the evilCain; which represents that only evil is born from evil. Also, there is a motif that shows thedifference between mankind's ways, considered good, and evil's wild natures ways,considered evil. Since all evilhates all happiness.
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