The Primordial Struggle of the Good against the Evil - Essay Example

The Primordial Struggle of the Good against the Evil Since times immemorial, human consciousness has been deeply influenced and troubled by the primordial battle of the good against the evil. The human mind has resorted to varied genres and forms to narrate, symbolize and pass on the battle of the forces of the good and the evil. It is understood that almost every extinct or existent culture and civilization has its stories of creation in the backdrop of which are waged the battles of the light against the darkness. Literature being a salient form of human expression has always been concerned with this engrossing theme. The writers in English literature have resorted to varied methods to symbolize the fundamental concerns of the human intellect and its pivotal realities. In that context, Beowulf, which stands out in the world of literature as one of the earliest Old English works of verse, explores the protagonist’s virtue and heroism from two different dimensions and tends to be a symbolic presentation of the struggle of the good against the evil, in which the poet successfully uses a range of literary and thematic devices to turn out the work into a piece that is amazingly illustrative, extremely engrossing and occasionally intimidating at one and the same time. In the first part of the story, the Beowulf that the reader sees is a man of unfettered spirit and in the second part, he matures into a man of wisdom and valour. In fact, the emphasis of the story [Line 25: “Behaviour that’s admired is the path to power among people everywhere.”] is more on virtue than on valour and that adds a human touch to it without which Beowulf would still be a hero – but just an ordinary hero. For a work of literature to be able to present the battles fought between the good and the evil effectively, it is imperative to have a hero who is not only goodness incarnate, but also a larger-than-life character, having the requisite strength, character and worth to be able to stand up for the forces of the good. It is even more so in the Germanic tradition of story telling and in that sense, Beowulf is an exemplification of a perfect hero in every sense of the word. Though Beowulf is presented, in his encounters with Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the dragon, to the readers essentially as a formidable fighter, he is also endowed with immense character and virtue apart from his tremendous skill as an astute warrior, to keep crusading for the cause of the people to whom he owes his allegiance. The story is replete with instances and incidents that glorify Beowulf’s courage and ferocity typical of a great warrior. Repeatedly, Beowulf is shown to challenge sea monsters, the embodiments of evil and filth and come out victorious against them. The other noticeable trait attributed to the character of Beowulf is that he is a staunch believer in the principle of fair fight and never resorts to guile or deceit to overpower the enemy. It is not just winning that matters but winning without losing grace that really matters [“Let whoever can win glory before death” (Lines 1387-88)]. The real value of the plot of Beowulf lies in the moral implications it has for the reader and not in the adventurous fights that seem to constitute it as exemplified in Hrothgar’s exhortation. He points to the danger of being carried away by success, which makes the success unsustainable [O flower of warriors, beware of that trap” (Line 1758)]. Another trait essential for a super hero to be as well as seem to be viable is to be endowed with abundant raw strength that is capable of subduing the evil. Beowulf dexterously fits into this ancient mould of combining strength and valour, which continues to be a timeless parameter of heroism in literature. The poem is set in the warrior culture in which weaponry and armor are indispensable as may be seen from the lines “Beowulf got ready, donned his war-gear, indifferent to death; his mighty, hand-forged, fine webbed mail would soon meet with the menace underwater” (1442-45). However, while engaging in a fight with Grendel, a monster, which is the embodiment of evil lurking in heaths and swamps, entirely inimical of goodness and justice, Beowulf does away with armor and weapons and confronts Grendel in a hand-to-hand fight - certainly, a feat that warrants infinite strength and confidence. This portrays Beowulf as a representative of the forces of the good, who is bold and determined to annihilate evil without compromising on being just and fair. One of the questions that engage human curiosity is about the causal factors that impart timelessness to a work of literature elaborating on the struggle between the good and the evil. It goes without saying that it is the demonization of the evil and the apparent vulnerability of the good (which, however, proves to be invincible in the end) that makes a work of literature eternal, evoking fear, sympathy and admiration in its readers. It is the demonization of the forces of the evil in Beowulf that act as a foil against which emerges and stands out the awe-inspiring of Beowulf. The writer’s immense creativity and foreplay of imagination bring out vividly the evil residing in characters like Grendel and his mother. Both Grendel and his mother are shown as representatives of evil residing in infested bogs and mires, given to man-eating and possessed with shattering and intimidating strength and guile. They are also the characters that represent the forces responsible for the dread and caution residing in the inner recesses of the human mind. Beowulf, on the other hand, represents the forces that generate faith and the inevitability of redemption. All said and done, in the larger context, evil does play some role in balancing the equanimity of this universe. When a hero is larger than life, capable of wrestling against the evil in all its forms, it is likely to make a work of literature quite boring and mundane. The readers not only expect a hero to be bold and courageous, but they also expect him to be vulnerable and human who must have his challenges too. Even the greatest of men must succumb to death, but that is not to be viewed as a defeat, for, “When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark” (Lines 1388 – 89). It is the eventual vulnerability and humanness of a hero that ultimately make him a source of inspiration; someone to be cherished and celebrated. Hence, as expected, by the end of the story, Beowulf, irrespective of his integrity and sportsmanship, is shown to be susceptible to the ravages of time and age. This susceptibility set aside the meekness and cowardice of the helpers and friends of Beowulf, as Beowulf fights with the dragon towards the end of the story amply brings out the feelings of fear and pity from the reader’s heart, rendering the story ever inspiring. Beowulf is indeed an inspiring work of literature. It is as much the physical and moral strength of Beowulf as the appropriate demonization of the characters representing evil that make the story so engrossing. Read More