Beowulf And Santiago: A True Hero

“A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really deeply cares”(Debi Mazar). Heroes are everywhere around us and aren’t always noticeable, but their good character and actions show the hero within them. In the novels “Old Man in the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway and “Beowulf” by Burton Raffel two very different heroes are celebrated, one a legendary warrior and a old fisherman. These two characters may seem very diverse but in reality their qualities of skill, dedication, and courage make them true heroes.

Beowulf and Santiago honed many unique character traits one of the most important being skillful they were

Santiago was very dedicated to his hobby fishing, but he was never as dedicated as Beowulf. Santiago shows dedication towards his passion when he has “no luck anymore” he doesn’t quit fishing he tries even further and is always sure to go out and fishing so that “when luck comes you are ready”(Hemingway 32). Santiago demonstrates true dedication during this part of the novel because he knew he hadn’t had much luck, yet he still would go out try and it eventually paid off and he caught the biggest fish he had ever caught. When Beowulf was attacking the dragon he was not the same person who fought Grendel, he was a “famous old hero remembering days of glory, (he) lifted what was left of Nagling, his ancient sword, and swung it with all his strength”(Raffel 2677-2681). This shows how even though he was old and weak, he still doesn’t back down and is still dedicated to fight monsters. Beowulf’s dedication is so great that he goes in knowing that the odds are against him but he would rather die fighting than cowering out. Secondly, when fighting Grendel’s mother Beowulf “discovered that no sword could slice her evil skin” yet after his weapon fails him he continues using his resources until finding a weapon and “ striking her with all (the) strength he had left, caught her in the neck and cut it through...her body fell”(Raffel 1521-1522 1565-1567). During Beowulf’s battle with