Comparison Between Beowulf And Beowulf Essay

Throughout Beowulf, the poet provides picturesque, almost unreal, images of

landscapes and characters to embody the theme of good versus evil. In Beowulf, the

poet utilizes imagery, as well as characters, to create a contrast between the forces of

good and evil and create conflict. The poet uses Beowulf and Grendel to embody the

forces of good and evil.

Beowulf and Grendel each have characteristics that represent either force. Since

Beowulf has many heroic characteristics, he is considered to be the work 's hero. Putz

defines a hero as, “...someone who is willing to sacrifice his life for someone and that is

what Beowulf does in every battle” (Putz 1). According to Bloom, the characteristics that

make Beowulf a hero are his strength, bravery, notability, loyalty, and skill (Bloom 23).

But the things that make Beowulf a true hero are his loyalty to his king, his aid for those

in need, his immense courage despite his age, and his kindness and devotion for his

people (Bloom 43). Beowulf is “faithful, first to his prince, then to his people, he went

alone, in a strange land, to venture himself for the delivery of his fellow-men; he forgets

himself in death, while thinking only that it profits others...” (Streissguth 94). Beowulf

also has the motivations of a hero, motivated by glory, treasure, pride, and ego (Putz 1).

Just as Beowulf has the motivations and characteristics of the hero, Grendel has those

of the villain. Grendel 's purpose in the…