Human Characteristics in the Poem Beowulf - Essay Example

Human Characteristics in the Poem Beowulf Humane characters have a foundation of virtues, at most what religion definesas being good. It is not easy that people can define humanity without morality, and religious beliefs. These conclusions are to mean that humans would be without feelings of right and wrong, which is morality, had religion been inexistent. This work establishes the truth in these conclusions through an analysis of the poem, Beowulf. The purpose of this work is to define humankind’s feelings and characteristics by interpreting the relevance of a beastly character, Grendel to the rest of the characters. Out of the description, this work will also reveal the poem as being epic, religion being the central theme. Human Characters in the Poem The first character drawn out of the poem is that humans are religious, believing in the existence of God. The power of God surpasses all others, which makes the Danes in the poem to hope for his protection of them. God is responsible for a number of good deeds to his people, for instance, He is responsible for the protection of the throne of the King against attacks by Grendel. There are lines in the poem, which stress the fact that the monster tormented them every night in its pursuit of human blood. During the day, the creature was witty enough to remain hidden in the marshes. Even while he attacked, he Grendel did dare the throne of the king. (Rafael 45, lines 80-84). According to the poem, God has the power to deliver his righteous people from bondage. Beowulf delivered the Danes from the oppression of the monster because he had a divine anointing of God. The monster possessed supernatural characteristics, which only God could fight. Beowulf recounts that his previous battle victories came because of the protection of God. He says that he would do himself little justice if he went to war carrying a sword and a shield because he hoped God would decide his fate (Rafael 48, lines 170-174). There are a series of other instances when the power of God comes to the forefront as a super being. He is the center of morality because he alone will judge all the other beings. Using Grendel in the poem, the poet manages to depict the people as being religious. There is no doubt in the poets work that God will deliver his persons of all oppressions. For this case, those who are unreligious will meet the wrath of God, which is a common teaching in many religions. There is a conclusion in the poem that those who do not obey will go to hell while the religious faithfuls will reach heaven (Rafael 45, lines 90-95). Human could also be termed as courageous, which was critical to Beowulf’s success in his fight against Grendel the monster. He offered to fight the beast with his bare hands even after he knew of the monster’s cruelty. There are two points tied to the brevity of man in the poem. First humans need brevity to face difficult moments and that brevity is necessary to face cruelty. Grendel is cruel, which also implies that evil humans are monsters. The epitome of cruelty is hatred and jealousy. Grendel justifies both these. First, he is envious of the people’s worship of God after he hears them singing in worship. The monster lived down in the dark and isolated places in pain, lying impatiently waiting for nightfall. He was unhappy that while others enjoyed communion, he was all by himself (Rafael 42, lines 1-4). The poet also emphasizes the need for intimacy as a human trait because the communal associations result in power and strength. Throughout the poem, Grendel remained alone; he did not have family nor friend causing him to hate humanity. He could not stand the joy that the rest enjoyed (Rafael 44, lines 15-19). The loneliness caused him to be the talk of community, with people fearing him because he had no emotions. Working together eventually provided a solution, which killed Grendel, even while he was too strong for some of them. Grendel is arguably the most brutal and unkind character of the poem because he attacks and kills people because of jealousy and revenge for the death of his parents. As a result, the poet hints that some people do not care how they affect others by their actions. However, he does kills discriminately, he goes for the soldiers, and those he thinks may offer resistance. In doing so, he weakens the people’s ability and resilience to fight back, making vulnerable each day. Such are the cruel and brutal people in the societies. It took the courage and sacrifice of Beowulf to end the oppression, which the people had suffered under Grendel. Brevity is, for this reason, a virtue that people should use to fight against cruelty. The poet also uses the character of Grendel to stress that humans are passionate to one another, especially during difficulties. The people in the poem wept for the loss of their loved ones after the beast attacked them every night. They wished they could put up spirited fights and defeat their common adversary. People from the neighboring areas sympathized with the victims of Grendel’s attacks. Such passion and love for one another caused Beowulf to offer life for the neighbors (Rafael 44, lines 41-44). Conclusion The poet depicts Grendel as having the anguish, hatred, jealousy, and even fear, which are human characteristics. After he had sneaked to the land of humans to listen them sing in worship of God, he develops hatred. He lived a lonely life in the swamp, a place that the poet describes as hell on earth. Such a creation by the poet indicates that humans may grow emotional because of loneliness. The communion of the Vikings is a contrast with the solitary lifestyle of Grendel. Even while he attacked his enemies, they did so discriminatively because he thought they were less potent. The poet also depicts humans as religious, peaceful, courageous, passionate, and warring. Works Cited Rafael, Burton. The Beowulf Poet. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. . Read More