Tara Parkman Mrs. Sidwell Literary Explorations 3 17 September 2015 Vengeance Moves Forward Motive is the leading intention for every act we partake in, every word we say, and every emotion we show others. Our motivation in certain actions are now and then obvious, but they can become confusing when negative emotions like regret, anger, and hatred come into play. On occasion a murderer has an easily identifiable intention for his crime, such as a victim’s harsh word or a foul argument. If no cause can be found many leap to harsh conclusions. It’s tough to understand why someone would commit such a vile deed. Professionals might diagnose them as a psychopath or sociopath. If humans were without motive there would be no reasonable drive for …show more content…
It was instead written in the modern day times where that is not accepted. While Ishiguro attempts to portray this through his writing, only so much can come across when this lifestyle isn’t seen at all anymore. Beowulf, however was written in an older time in a different way of life, and this shown in the text. Revenge motivates the characters that the poet refers to and it was simply the way life and death worked in hoary Germanic tribes. The poets recognized that ancient hatred will die hard, and will often disrupt the peace. When Beowulf returns to Geatland he speculates about a feud between Hrothgar's Scyldings and the Heathobards, a tribe in southern Denmark with whom Hrothgar hopes to create peace through the marriage of his daughter. Beowulf is cynical, imagining a rekindling of aggressions. In fact, the Heathobards later burn Heorot in events not covered by the poem but probably familiar to its audience. In the Finnsburh section (Heany 1068-1159), revenge overcame the peace of the land. The time period gave the morals of revenge a different appearance, but ultimately were still used to advance the plot …show more content…
If it wasn’t for revenge, there would be no battle, and no plot in The Buried Giant and in Beowulf. Glory or pride would initiate some battles, such as with the dragon Querig for the profit involved and something to be gained. Yet, the battle with Grendel and his mother was revenge alone as was the fight between Wistan and Gawain. In both the stories villains and innocents alike were killed, and for those consequences revenge would claim responsibility. In The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro and Beowulf, the incentive of revenge drives the plot of the story while advancing the character
Vengeance is punishment inflicted or a retribution exacted for an injury or wrong. Or better known by the saying “eye for an eye”. I feel that Grendel’s mother was morally right for seeking vengeance for her son. Any mother would feel that way, I know mine would.
In the 21st century, there are several key points in which our society believe masculinity stands for some would include being active, non-emotional, and independent. Although this may be the case for our people today it doesn’t for Beowulf. In Beowulf a man has to prove himself as masculine to earn others respect and to be looked up upon. It also seems to be a disgrace to the individual and the community if you can not prove that you have conformed to the standards that society has settled upon. To be a man is to be accountable for everything that he does. Beowulf represents, for this text, the ideal of what a man should be. The reader can see through his actions what traits the author believes a man should have to prove their masculinity. Thus, based off of Beowulf, masculinity is represented through actions, weaponry, and bravery. These different factors that define masculinity in beowulf are not bad however, they can be very limiting especially because everyone is born with a different built and different talents. With this said it can be assumed that the author purposely disregarded this fact. In Beowulf because of these limited views on what man should be there is a high chance of rebellion or some sort of revenge culture. If man can not conform to certain standards there is a way for them to prove everyone else that these so called traits to be a man is completely inaccurate, to prove this, revenge is a possibility. The non-masculine man would definitely take revenge
Monsters are everywhere. They can negatively affect the quality of life for everyone, and need to be dealt with. Beowulf did so in the epic of his life to teach readers the proper way to taking care of monsters. Three methods to handling a monster include, blaming others, ignoring the problem, and fighting the monster. The way one takes care of the problems a monster causes, determines whether a positive or negative outcome takes place.
Anglo-Saxon culture consisted of receiving fame, glory, and wealth through acts of vengeance and courage. “Beowulf” portrays these parts in great detail and shows how destabilizing it can be. Through acts of vengeance, a never ending war occurs.
In “The Battle with Grendel” we also see how Beowulf can be violent. For example, lines 385-397 demonstrates how powerful Beowulf is while fighting Grendel. The quote says, “Grendel/ Saw that his strength was deserting him, his claws/ Bound fast, Higlac’s brave follower tearing at/ His hands. The monster’s hatred rose higher,/ But his power had gone. He twisted in pain,/ And the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder/ Snapped, muscle and bone split/ And broke….Grendel escaped,/ But wounded as he was could flee to his den,/His miserable hole at the bottom of the marsh,/ Only to die, to wait for the end/ Of all his days” (385-397). This moment in the text shows how intense and extreme Beowulf’s actions were while fighting the monster. We, as readers, start to see how Beowulf slowly becomes who he is trying to defeat.
Vengeance is an important value that causes misfortune in the story of Beowulf. It brings not only Beowulf, but many others, fame and glory, plus, wealth as well. It is not a sustainable value for it brings everyone in the story only destruction. The tribes that have been bonded together by this value get destroyed but it. The value of courage is tied into the story since almost the entire story is based on vengeance.
However, revenge motivates the people in this pagan society, and before long, news of Hrothgar's troubles reach far and wide, including Geatland. Beowulf feels compelled to come to Hrothgar's aid, not only for fame and glory, but also to settle an old feud between their kin. Before long, Beowulf, "the Geat captain had boldly fulfilled his boast to the Danes: he had healed and relieved a huge distress, unremitting humiliations." (L. 827-830) Before Beowulf killed Grendel, one of his Geats had to die by the hands of Grendel. According to the honour of the heroic code, vengeance had to be imposed "and compensation, a price in gold, was settled for the Geat Grendel had cruelly killed earlier." (L. 1052-1054) This is another example of how revenge is intricated into their society, and in this case Hrothgar, being the noble king that he is, pays the
Beowulf, the defender of Hrothgar and Heorot, exhibits far more complicated (and less sincere) shades of revenge than the Grendel’s mother. At the end of the day, Beowulf’s goal is to become the preeminent warrior in all the land. In his society, the only way to gain such widespread celebrity is through courageous and self-endangering acts. Beowulf masks these deeds with a façade of seeking revenge; he supposedly comes to Heorot to save the Danes from Grendel’s terror, but his true motives lie in becoming a hero. His reward is not the pride of doing a good deed; Beowulf is rewarded with lavish and expensive gifts.
Throughout the book Beowulf by Seamus Heaney there were many instances of revenge demonstrated by different characters. An example of when a character tries to get revenge is when Grendel’s mother comes to fight Beowulf. Grendel’s mother shows up to fight Beowulf since Beowulf had previously killer her son in battle. Another example of when a character exacts revenge is when Grendel comes to fight Hero and his people. Grendel wants revenge because he strongly dislikes Heorot and the cultural practices of the Danes. Next, at the end of the book the dragon attacks due to an accidental theft of a treasure that was the dragon’s. In the poem Beowulf, which was written, by Seamus Heaney, it is human nature to demonstrate the concept of revenge which was shown by Grendel, Grendel’s mother, the dragon, and Beowulf.
revenge.The characters in the book, they all have their own survival skills also have their own revenge plan .Beowulf fight for his people in the country;Grendel’s mother revenge for her son; Wiglaf fight for his King and loyalty; They all did really good revenge for their own people, for their family and for their loyalty.In the epic poem Beowulf, the idea of vengeance is exemplified through the actions of Beowulf, Grendel’s mother and Wiglaf.
A huge theme in Beowulf is the revenge ethic that all of the characters possess. During the time in
Overall consensus on living-learning communities is resoundingly positive from both the students who take part in them and the colleges that administer these programs. In terms of the past research, LLCs benefit students in a variety of ways. As described by multiple students in a conducted interview, LLCs provide a “home away from home by creating a sense of hearth that is unparalleled to anything else found on campus” (Brower, 2010). This creation of a specific type of environment that feels welcoming to the students helps ease the transition from the experiences of either a community college or highschool, to that of a university. Specifically in the case of at-risk students, undergraduates deemed likely to drop out of schooling for academic,
The care for the mentally retarded has competition on other organizations that offer the same as Jay Carlos’s facility, but however it is on friendly terms. Although there may be of new threats that new homes are popping up to help care for mentally retarded individuals, it does not seem too much of a threat because ultimately they are doing the same as in caring for each individual.Jay seems to be concerned about these individuals as much as his wife and they are working hard at keeping OSHA at bay on the terms of the procedures and policies of blood-borne pathogens and Hepatitis vaccines. The conclusions that can be drawn are; OSHA is only there to ensure that the homes are safe and in healthful working conditions, Jay has not been in contact
While both blood feuds and wergild deal with murder, a blood feud requires a death for a death, while wergild uses gold to make amends. When looking at this in a biblical perspective, it is important to understand how these relate to justice. Biblical justice is a far cry from revenge. Vengeance, however, takes the shape of both blood feuds and wergild, and while blood feuds are fueled by revenge, wergild is important to bring justice in Beowulf’s society. Vengeance in Beowulf takes two main forms: the blood feuds, such as that of Grendel’s mother, and the concept of wergild; only wergild, however, conforms to the biblical definition of justice.
Throughout a lifetime the things that make us, as individuals, feel joy give meaning to our lives, without these things we have no meaning to be on Earth. Hemingway takes the reader on a journey of adding meaning to life. He shows the reader that the soldiers feel nothing towards the war and it is just something to do. Frederick Henry, a soldier, gives up on the war and decides to no longer be apart of something he does not care for. When Henry meets Catherine Barkley, she does not affect his existence until later in the novel. He lies to her and does not realize how important their time spent together truly is. Eventually, Henry realizes he does love Catherine. She changes his life for the better and when he is not around her he feels empty. His entire existence revolves around her. At the end of the novel, Henry gets the meaning of his life stripped away from him when Catherine dies after childbirth and he no longer feels any sort of emotion. In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway explores through detail, setting, characterization, symbolism, and imagery that life is a useless, blank canvas until it is painted to evoke meaning and demonstrate a story.