The Role Of Reputation In Beowulf

“There’s heroes and there’s legends: Heroes get remembered, but legends never die” (The Sandlot). This idea of building a reputation that lives on after one is gone is seen in Beowulf, an epic poem by an unknown author from the mid-sixth century. Nearly everyone cares about how they are perceived and their reputation in one way or another, whether it is striving to make people like them or trying to become an unforgettable legend. In either case, the desire to have a good reputation is a strong motivator to them. The idea that reputation is everything and that one should do anything in their power to uphold and create a strong reputation is highlighted in the poem Beowulf specifically in the character Beowulf. Beowulf the protagonist in the …show more content…
Many events in the poem would not have occurred if the drive to enhance one’s reputation had not been pushing Beowulf. Beowulf may never have left on his quest to Denmark to defeat Grendel if he did not care what people thought of him. In addition, if he still happened to find himself on the quest, Beowulf would have never gotten past the Danish Watcher to Hrothgar because without his quick explanation of his accomplishments and lineage, he would not have been deemed worthy to see Hrothgar. The poem’s resolve would not have had the same effect and depth if it were not for reputation. In the end, it would have simply been about Grendel and his mother's defeat and a hero's triumph. However, due to reputation, the end was also about Beowulf again proving himself as an honorable hero and legend. Overall, in Beowulf, reputation may not be the most prevalent theme; however, it is the theme that motivates a majority of the poem's …show more content…
For years I had always changed myself to please others, as a result of this I let other people change who I was. For this reason I acted like a different person when around my friends at my home school Warren Mott compared to how I acted at my magnet program MMSTC where I was my real self. At Mott I acted dumber than I was, it made me a yes man, it made me laugh about things that I found wrong or offensive just to please my friends, and it made me not talk to people who were not part of the group. After years of doing this and not being the real me the realization happened. I was at lunch having a conversation about classes we struggled in. Everyone was talking about classes I had already taken so I offered to help them if they needed it. Following that I was ridiculed for being smart they said I just wanted to show off when really I just did not want to see my friends struggle. They would not have been the first people I tutored a bit at that point which they didn't know that because at that point I was almost ashamed that I was outside of them. After that day I noticed more and more that I was not being the real me. My actions were not genuine I acted dumb, I sacrificed my morals and for what? Some high school friends I was likely never going to talk to again after high school. I was truly disappointed in myself for letting this go on for so long and letting them change me. After this an effort was made each day to show more and more of the