Beowulf Theme Analysis

In the epic poem, Beowulf, the poem’s namesake tells us that, “And only one of them remained, stood there, miserable, remembering, as a good man must, what kinship should mean”. (lines 694-696). We all have probably had a friend that may not always be there when we wanted them to be but when we truly needed help and no one was around but the person that we least expected was there. This happened to Beowulf too. This is how the main events of Beowulf go, in order. The first thing that happens is, Beowulf fights a very bloody battle with Grendel where Grendel ends up dying. Next, is the battle with Grendel 's Mother where Grendel 's mother tries to avenge Beowulf for what he did to her only son but ends up dying at the end of the battle. The last main event in the story is, when Beowulf faces his last and greatest challenge after he becomes king of Geatland: the fight with the dragon which he ends up dying in the process. The epic poem of Beowulf definitely explains the theme of group needs vs individual needs; for this reason the audience can see that people were not so different back then as they do today. The first way that Beowulf shows this tension is when Grendel does his very last run through of Herot and he sees the young children and all the warriors that he will begin to kill off . For instance when the narrator says,

The next way that Beowulf shows my theme is just after Beowulf defeats Grendel’s Mother and then Beowulf and geats went back to Herot. For example, when the narrator says, “The geats carried Beowulf’s helmet, and his mail shirt”(lines 583-584). The text states that, carried and Beowulf next to each other means that Beowulf was very tired or exhausted after coming out of the abyss. Thus, the audience can infer that battle with Grendel’s Mother is a great challenge for him. Perhaps if he went on the trip alone he could be dead. Having a great challenge is already enough but when you challenges with group members it could be a little