(title) A bully on the playground pushes a kid down. The kid returns with his friends to

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Chad Johnston
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1 (name) Kaminsky Pd 5 Jr. AA Beowulf Essay 29 October 2010 How are the three fights Beowulf faces (Grendel, Grendel s mother, and the dragon) complex reflections of the dangers to society/civilizations of the time? (title) A bully on the playground pushes a kid down. The kid returns with his friends to attack the bully. The bully s sense of superiority failed to protect him in the end. Hitler, Napoleon, and Voldemort each felt secure in his power and dominance over lesser peoples and political powers, yet their arrogance was nothing more than a false sense of security. Their reliance on this alone was a tenuous position and an overestimation of their abilities and security. Hitler took his own life once his plans for dominance failed; Napoleon was captured and exiled as punishment for his aspirations of military supremacy; and Voldemort lost his life after underestimating the power of his opponents. Whether in history or in fiction, the lesson remains that a blind sense of superiority leads only to eventual demise. It is a lesson the Anglo-Saxon societies did not learn soon enough. In Beowulf, the three fights the hero faces are complex reflections of the ignorance created by the varying elements of superiority and the vulnerability it produces in society. When Grendel chooses to attack Heorot, it is always in the dead of night while the warriors sleep. Although they are defenseless, his glee was demonic, picturing his mayhem as he attacks without resistance, leading him to believe in his own superiority over the Danes ( ). His conception of their inferiority and fear feeds his sense of power and greatness and makes it easy then to meet with a man shifting himself to a safer distance ( ). He attacks Heorot without fear of any warrior besting him and in his perception of his

2 invulnerability, he underestimates his opponent. As he assaults the sleeping men this time, Beowulf is ready to battle him and grasps his arm without mercy. Then, finally, with the monster backtracking, the man overpowering Grendel loses his arm and his sense of superiority but it is too late to spare his life (760). He can now only return to his den to die. The loss of Grendel s life is not only the conclusion of one threat to society but a trigger to a new threat from Grendel s mother. The death of Grendel was more of an insult to her position and power in the world than it was an emotional blow, yet it was enough to provoke her sense of superiority. She attacks Heorot, ravenous, desperate for revenge because of what was taken from her (1278). As the people of Heorot celebrate their release from the threat of Grendel, they unwittingly become vulnerable to his mother s attack. Yet she, in turn, becomes vulnerable because of her sense of power and right. Her anger blinds her to the potential danger, and she panic[s], desperate to get out, in mortal terror the moment she [is] found ( ). Ignorant of the consequences of her actions, she flees to her lair only to have Beowulf pursue her. The vulnerability she creates is her downfall as she gives Beowulf the opportunity to kill her, toppling the doomed house of her flesh ( ). Even after Beowulf fought these two monsters whose sense of pre-eminence threatened Hrothgar s community, he fails to fully understand the threat over-confidence carries with it.

3 Dragon B fighting for pride and honor Reaction/revenge for stolen cup Internal spurred by greed (inside community and inside individual) Greedy/cowardly the people had become (ran away) Exposed everyone in society for who they were Impacted full society Possible opposite of greed fought alone for the people inevitability of death (wyrd) after B s death gold/wealth no longer helps/protects o wealth losing power/safety Similarities Superiority o Beowulf for glory o Grendel for control/dominance over what he can not be a part of o Grendel s mother took her son without her permission possession o Dragon cup taken from him (material possession) The bully learns too late that there is an inevitable consequence to his attack. If he had fully understood his error in judgment and choice, he may have been able to avoid the same fate Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon society faced. The battles Beowulf faces symbolize the struggle

4 for superiority between two opponents, each ignorant enough to believe in his advantage over the other. Ultimately the struggles ended in the deterioration or demise of the individuals as well as the communities they represented. Just as Hitler, Napoleon, and Voldemort failed himself as well as his supporters, Beowulf fails to protect his community from the consequences of his final action. The Anglo-Saxons did not learn that a blind sense of superiority has a deadly cost, and history will continue to repeat the same mistake until humanity learns to control its instinctive bullying. Don t be a bully.

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Beowulf Reading Guide

Beowulf Reading Guide Name: Period: Directions: Fill in the answers as we read and discuss the poem. Feel free to make additional notes on this handout as well. Grendel pg. 33-35 1. What imagery associated