For me, a modern day Beowulf is anyone who helps out someone else. In my mindset, I think that no matter how small or big a good deed is, it helped and affected someone, somehow, someday, and in some way. At first, I didn't think there was a modern day Beowulf that was comparable to the one in the story because the world is not in that setting anymore. Beowulf takes place in a time of kings and knights and kingdoms. Beowulf is called to help a king whose men gets slaughters by a beast named Grendel. Then I started to think of people who protect our current society. Soldiers and police officers are the closest thing to a knight in our day and age. They are the ones who protect us from the evil that want to harm us. Would the people that they combat be referred to as the modern day Grendel?
In the story, Grendel was bloodthirsty and killing people for no reason. As far as our knowledge goes, that is the only reason why he kills people. In our society, there are some people who do the same thing. They enjoy to kill people, or to do unnecessary "evil" things just to do them. They could be doing it for a reaction, or they could love the thrill it gives them. As far as we know, there is no reason that will justify for what they did. Police and/or soldiers try to prevent and stop these people as much as they possibly can. This is like what Beowulf did in the story. He went up against Grendel and stopped him in his tracks. He protected the rest of the king's men and saved them from being killed.
Hi, Winnie!
ReplyDeleteI agree that police and soldiers are modern-day Beowulfs because they protect normal civilians from danger. They also do it for their country, which is like Beowulf, because they both have piety for their nation. I agree that people who do "evil" might be terrorists who kill innocent people, for whatever reason. As we can now see, Grendel actually had a reason for killing people. However, I think that killing the innocent cannot be justified by any means. One aspect that doesn't apply to the police is that Beowulf did his deeds for fame and glory. Other than that, I think police and soldiers do fit the Beowulf character very well.
I like how you chose an occupation instead of a certain person. Many criminals in the real world tend to do certain crimes because of their past or because of a mental disorder. Some criminals DO end up doing crimes just for the fact that it's fun and that they're fun. Whether or not they have a reason for it, what they're doing is still wrong.
ReplyDelete