Beowulf Essay

      Beowulf, while being the stereotypical "hero", is a lot similar and different from today's modern heroes. Many stories today try to break away from the mold of the traditional hero, such as having the protagonist be an underdog, or an anti-hero. When you strip any modern story to the bare essentials, it's just as much of a hero story as anyone else's. That anyone could also be you. A hero's journey, like the one presented in Beowulf, has a few key points that define it and characters that support it. Each character has their own background that supports their involvement in the story, and each point has it's own purpose to push these characters forward in their journey.
      The hero's journey is a long, daunting, difficult challenge. In Beowulf's case, he sought out danger, and completed his tasks that he set out to do by using his strength and willpower. He was initiated into this by the challenge of defeating Grendel, and from the get-go he went head on into defeating these monsters and winning the fights. King Hrothgar is a friend/father figure that helps him on this journey, by not only initiating him as someone to accomplish a task, but as someone to guide and reward him for this. In many modern stories, this isn't the case for how the protagonist acts. Some stories have the protagonist placed into unfathomable odds, or into a situation he does not want to be in. While these stories try to be different, ultimately they fall into the typical "hero's journey" in one way or another. It's an untold but universally used method to tell any type of story. In that way it's similar to those stories, but at the same time vastly different in content.
     We can all relate to this type of story in a way. One discussed example was this class. We were initiated into it by our own curiosity or want for a better chance at college, and Dr. Preston is our initiator. Our journey is ultimately up to us, but fate will always play it's part. The determination of the protagonist will have the most effect on the outcome of our story. We will overcome challenges, small ones such as homework and procrastination, and larger ones such as tests and college applications. These are the "monsters" beowulf faces, just reimagined into the real world.
     Beowulf serves as an important story to have not only because of the tale it tells about it's time period or moral values, but of the fact that it is a basic template to set all stories to. It shows us the guidelines of a hero's tale, one we can resonate with and use ourselves.