Who Is The Antagonist In Beowulf

The omniscient narrator tells us that Grendel has the ability to curse the iron around and about him, more specifically, the ruination of any arms that Hygelac’s kinsman carried. Yet the men’s swords and weapons sang as they attempt to aid their leader. Grendel bellows an eerie cry, signifying that the end of the battle was near as he was unable to free himself. The tearing of his arm is described vividly; “…a tremendous wound appeared on his shoulder. Sinews split, and the bone-lappings burst.”

Always we portray Grendel as the monster and destructive character. However, in the novel by John Gardner that is a different case. We see Grendel as a emotional and sympathetic character. For example, Grendel states, “It wasn 't because he threw that battle-ax that I turned on Hrothgar. That was mere midnight foolishness...

This is the beginning of Grendel falling directly into the role that the dragon said he would need to fill. Grendel’s murderous tendencies completely reflect the monstrous side of his personality and the more he kills the more he grows insane, separating from rational, humanistic thought. “I am swollen with excitement, bloodlust and joy and a strange fear that mingle in my chest like the twisting rage of a bone-fire... I am blazing, half-crazy with joy” (168). It is clear that, by the time Beowulf arrives, Grendel has embraced the fact that he is required to be evil, despite the fact that he previously claimed he would oppose that destiny.

He could send troops and let someone else deal with the dragon but he does not. He faces the dragon himself like a true hero would. Knowing an enemy this strong could kill him he fights regardless in order to protect his people. Beowulf killed the dragon and gave his life for his people truly the actions of a hero. Even as a king he has nothing to prove to anyone by facing the dragon, which shows that he does not fight for himself he fights because he believes he needs to.

Since the beginning of time, people have debated about whether we make our own choices or if we live out a predetermined life. In literary works, the idea of fate being the reason for a character’s actions leads to empathy toward him/her. Free-will, however, makes the character responsible for his/her actions. In many literary cases, fate seems to be the reason for everything. In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel is a murderous monster that terrorizes the people of Herot.

Grendel by John Gardner has captured the attention of all who have read it and expresses the eventual loss of Grendel’s innocence. Grendel is depicted as a mass murderer in the original Anglo-Saxon epic poem and under normal circumstances one would not second guess that Grendel’s death was well deserved. However, opinions may change when one discovers that the monster is unaware of morals or has dealt with issues that corrupt his innocence. Grendel grew up lonely and his childhood was rather negative, ultimately changing his views of the world.

With all of the problems in our society, war is the most talked about dilemma in our messed up world. War could be both good and bad depending on a person’s view about it. War has some good objectives like erasing injustice and ending tyranny. If you think about it, there are also negative objectives, like how brutal war can be, or all of the innocent lives that are lost. In the book, My Brother Sam is Dead it explains how it may be like during the Revolutionary War, threw the eyes of a boy named Tim.

Power-hungry Macbeth Macbeth is a very compelling and twisted character to observe on a large-scale. His development as a main character can be a bit questionable as he went from relatively normal for his culture, to the point where he terrified and ruled Scotland with an iron fist. How did this one man go from waiting patiently for the crown, to going out and murdering everyone in his path to the crown? Through the progression of Macbeth’s motives, relationships, and emotions in this Shakespeare work, it can be determined that the want of power makes Macbeth into a disturbing, unreliable, psychopath.

There were an abundance of changes implemented into the Beowulf movie that show how our society's customs, morals, and beliefs have changed over the years. The director of Beowulf was trying to make an old epic poem relevant to today's societal problems and add more action. A recurring theme throughout the movie is giving villains a reason to be villains, and showing that heroes are very similar to mortals. In the poem, all of Beowulf's enemies were evil, just because it’s who they were.

Pride Will be the Death of Him People deal with fighting evil in a more intelligent way as they mature and as the degree of evil increases. This progression is illustrated in the epic poem Beowulf as the epic hero, Beowulf, constantly duals the hands of evil in three major fights until his heroic death. Beowulf is talking to the people of Herot when he says, “I have heard moreover that the monster scorns/ in his reckless way to use weapons;/ therefore, to heighten Hygelac's fame/ and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce/ sword and the shelter of the broad shield,/ the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand/ is how it will be, a life-and-death/ fight with the fiend" (Heaney 433-440).

Grendel remains in an inner conflict with his beliefs throughout the entire story. He is directed by two compelling desires in which play a role in introducing him to the divergences between good and evil. The Shaper convinces him with his meaningful music, whereas the dragon persuades him through his ideology of nihilism. Both the Shaper and the dragon play a part in influencing his views on the human society.

Prepared to spill the blood of unsuspecting, intoxicated warriors in their slumber, Grendel fleetly removed the strengthened door to the Herot with monstrous strength and cruelty. Grendel's strides were expansive. With every step, the beast's huge, thickened feet much flew, one once the opposite. the ground gave the impression to be instantly displaced owing to his spectacular lightness. " His eyes gleamed within the darkness, burned with a grotesque light".

When shown that our world is but a loop, we choose to continue. When shown that everything we do is simply the same struggle, over and over, forever the same waste of time, we don’t break away. We still go down this path of the least resistance, because we believe that that’s the way the world is. No matter what we as human beings do in life, we seem to be forever trapped in cycles, whether it be a cycle of work, a cycle of love, or any other type. But why do we follow monotonous cycles in life and even conform to such cycles?