Beowulf And Grendel Essay

Grendel and Beowolf both seem to impact a reader’s outlook upon societal systems, and how treat things in our society but do they actually have much of an impact at all upon the outlook of the reader? Not only does Beowolf question a system that most, if not all, people of that time lived by. Beowolf also questions what we’ve been taught, and what we have been shown to believe in since birth; that, there is a system all of society falls into, no matter who you are, from the rich, to the poor, from the intellectuals to the brutes, everyone has their place, this novel shows the truth to it all. All throughout the beginning of Beowolf there is an algorithm of sorts, anyone living under Hrothgar’s rule has a chance that this great beast may come at any moment to eat them, their family, their friends, basically anyone around them, and just put an end to life as they know it. This type of situation leads to a life of fear among Hrothgar’s people, even when they hide away, or run from the beast, no one could ever be certain of whether or not they would awaken from their slumber any night, which is where Beowolf soon enough, stepped in, thanks to Hrothgar.

This code consisted of honesty, lawfulness, intelligence, compassion yet, the king still had to be able to make good decisions while staying compassionate and lawful. To a king, the needs of the many should always, far outweigh the needs of the few. On the other hand, Beowolf is a warrior, who’s code consist of none of these things, only do what you can to make a mark on the world, stay honorable and valorous, and you shall be rewarded. Now, as Beowolf speaks of Grendel in the beginning of Beowolf, he compares Grendel to Cain, from the bible, as if Grendel, the monster, were Cain, still walking the Earth, relentlessly murdering others just as he had his