Beowulf: Changes In People :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

The tale of Beowulf is unity of constant tranformation. Great warriors and leaders turn into cowering peons. Faithful Christians convert to deuce worship. Devout followers flee at the sight of trouble. M both batchs morality permute quickly and drastically at the sight of change. Personal turbulence abounds with changing values brought by changing times. People remain meaning as long as nonhing challenges them, but at the prime(prenominal) sight of change chaos occurs. One case of how change causes people to forsake their values happens when Grendel makes his first appearance at Herot. In Herot lives Hrothgar who "...led/ The Danes to such glory that comrades and kinsmen/ Swore by his sword, and young men swelled ( Beowulf lines 64-67). Hrothgar is a powerful leader of the Danes, but at the sight of a different foe, a change, Hrothgar turns tail and runs. He does not once try to face Grendel. He instead lets his people live in terror. The Hrothgar that is described be fore the comer of Grendal is a completely different person, mentally, than the Hrothgar that is terrorized by the monster. He knows only star type of enemy, humans, and once that changes he loses all his leadership power. A dependable man of value will keep his values no field of study what change takes place. Fate does not play a role in Hrothgars actions. He is caught up in pride about all his achievements. This makes him half-hearted to being caught by change. He beomes so comfortable in his rank that he narrows his comfort zone to such a level that any amount of change will throw him off. Everything that happens is by his own accord. Hrothgar is a perfect example of how people cannot mentally fight unholy. Without the constant charge of evil, one will not be able to patronage with it when it arises. Hrothgar is not exposed to evil, so when it rears its ugly head his only reaction is to flee. If mortal lives in a utopia and leaves, they will not be able to deal with the evil they find because they have never dealt with it before. Good cannot combat evil if it has never known evil. The only way to resolve Hrothgars situation is to demand in someone who knows evil and faces it well, is not prideful, and can adapt to change well. In the tale, that is exactly how the problem is solved.