Beowolf

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Patrick Hinckley Sr. Weir 2-20-02 The Evils of Beowulf In the story, "Beowulf" evil is very important to the plot. A mythical monster named Grendel has been wreaking havoc on Hrothgar's banquet hall called Heorot. The monster came at night and devoured the people attending the banquets. The strongest of Hrothgar's warriors were not even able to attack Grendel for he was too large and menacing.

Eventually Beowulf is summoned to help Hrothgar rid Heorot of the evil Grendel. Beowulf is a supernaturally strong warrior. He believes that the monster will not be much of a match for him.

In Grendel's case I cannot really feel any sympathy because he was going out of his way to be evil and was killing just to kill, yet in the case of his mother I can understand where she is coming from when attacking Beowulf. She is just trying to avenge the death of her child.

While her child did do some very evil things it was still her child so she probably feels that things could have ended better than just destroying her child.

I see the evil in this story as a sort of mirror to the darker side of human nature. Humans are kind of like a virus to this planet if you think of how they just overrun all of the natural inhabitants of any area that they feel like moving into. Humans are inherently selfish and are only looking out for themselves and really don't care who they have to step on to get where they want to go.

I also think that the evil in this story represent a way of personifying the supernatural occurrences of the everyday world. In everyday life you can see many things that seem inexplicable but if you add a twist of the supernatural to them then all of a sudden they aren't so impossible anymore.

Grendel was one of the most evil villains of all time in the eyes of nearly everyone that reads of him. His mother gets a bad reputation simply because she had love for her son. Imagine that … loving the most evil monster that has ever graced the face of this planet, yet she did, as any mother would love her child.

Work Cited "Beowulf." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. 7th Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001. 27-94.