Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Beowulf

 

             Tolkien has suggested that the theme of Beowulf deals with "Man alien in a hostile world, engaged in a struggle, which he cannot win."" .
             Tolkien has set an important point by relating this theme to Beowulf, making it clear that we can't have a struggle-absent life in this world. He states that we must fight evil, face opposition in all aspects of our life. There is no doubt that we all face the inconveniences of opposition, and it is also true that we all suffer and many people will be knocked down by those forces, but I don't agree that everyone will be defeated at the end. I stand for people who has the strength to fight back and never give up on problems or on facing evil, whether evil represents problems or temptation or .
             Today we face a different alienation compared to the one they faced before "say, in Beowulf's times. In the old days people were unknown is society unless they had the so-called heroic code: loyalty, courtesy and pride. This lack of identity is the one they sought; they wanted to be immortal by being remembered all the time, since they did not believe in life after death. This point is illustrated in Beowulf when it shows that at first he wasn't a very famous man, not until he started working in his land and putting and end to some of the problems they had in Geat. With this fame acquired, he decided to fight Grendel and get ready for his later challenges in life. Later he fights Grendel's mother and at the end the Dragon. This last fight is the one that put an end to his life and thus the statement that statement by Tolkien "he cannot win - .
             Beowulf was remembered in his days because little by little he acquired fame, because he defeated monsters. Today people fight against a different kind of alienation. Some people try to find their identities in drugs, or alcohol and they never find it. Others get lost in their pursuit of money or economical interests that can't take with them at the end when they leave, they are not fighting dragons or monsters to gain fame, and fame does not rely on that.


Essays Related to Beowulf