Importance of Identity and Good vs. Evil in the Epic Story Beowulf Essay Example for Free

Importance of Identity and Good vs. Evil in the Epic Story Beowulf EssayThe epic story Beowulf narrates the story of the hero named Beowulf and his known battle with the monster Grendel and by and by on, Grendels m opposite who longed for revenge because of the death of her beloved son (Kennedy). This epic story, along with many other epic stories, has primal themes on the importance of identity and the popular topic on untroubled versus evil.The purpose of this paper is to discuss these 2 central themes of Beowulf. This paper is cut into two sections. The first section discusses the theme of importance of identity in the epic story while the second section discusses the depiction of good and evil at bottom the story.Importance of Identity The story of Beowulf emphasizes the importance of identity (Raffel, p. 135). In the story, almost everyone introduces himself in terms of who his parents or ancestors were. Moreover, almost everyone in the story has an act or wants to a ct to continue the legacy of their ancestors (Anderson). This very belief mirrors the principles of the people who lived in those times. These people believed that there is no afterlife and thus, his soul can live always if and only if he does something of great value that can never be surpassed or forgotten. In the story, Beowulf illustrates the pride of their ancestry by helping King Hrothgar who one time aided Beowulfs father.In addition to the eternal glory of the soul, these people also believed that by doing something great, he brings pride and eternity to his ancestry. This is what they call the heroic calculate (Fellow, p. 7). They further believed that once you defy the heroic code, you will be dishonored by your ancestors, your reputation will be destroyed and your soul will be punished with death you will not be remembered forever and your childrens children will also inherit this dishonor.Good vs. Evil Along with many other stories, Beowulf also tackles the ever famou s battle between good and evil. Our hero Beowulf is the symbol of everything good in the story. He went to Denmark and bravely told King Hrothgar (king of Denmark at the time) that he will battle with the monster Grendel sailing with only a few men by his side (Raffel). His bravery also led him to defeat Grendel and later on, face the monsters mother. The evil side is symbolized by Grendel, his mother, and his future brother and Beowulfs son, the dragon.When Grendel hears any kind of noise (to him any sound is considered a noise), he goes on to kill whoever makes that noise without any consideration who this person might be. Grendels mother is an visitr who killed one of Beowulfs loyal advisers to avenge the death of her son (Anderson). Beowulf, however, was not threatened by this act and comes to the monsters lair to kill her.He becomes the storys messiah he bring throughd the lives of the people of Herot by slaying all that is evil. He embodied the good side because of his cour age to fight with the dragon. He sacrificed himself in order to save his people. Moreover, he is the bringer of more treasures to his own kingdom. Thus, good and evil in this story symbolizes the eternal battle between God and Satan and light and darkness. And as always, good triumphs over evil, God wins over Satan, and darkness will never exist in the presence of overpowering light.Works CitedAnderson, Carolyn. Gaest, gender, and kin in Beowulf Consumption of the boundaries. April 12 2008. http//www.heroicage.org/issues/5/Anderson1.html.Fellow, W.P Ker. Epic and romance Essays on medieval literature. New York The Macmillan Company, 1897.Kennedy, Charles W. Beowulf The oldest English epic. London Oxford University Press, 1978.Niles, John D. Understanding Beowulf Oral poetry acts. Journal of American Folklore 106.420 (1993) 131-55.Raffel, Burton, ed. Beowulf. reproduce ed Signet Classics, 1999.