Epic Of Beowulf Essay: The Naked Truth Versus The Epic
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The Naked Truth versus the Epic Lie
“History is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging.” George R.R Martin say these very truthful words. Mankind loves a story that tells the deeds of an epic hero. They let us know that world is not totally filled with evil people. They can give us hope in our darkest time. It is unfortunate that this hope is built on a lie. Many of the great deeds we hear about our hero are just exaggerations. In the book Beowulf readers are told of the heroic deeds of the great Anglo-Saxon hero Beowulf. While the book paints a picture of great heroicness, the movies gives us the more truthful version of what really transpired. Readers are able to see the difference between the two through the use of characterization of Beowulf, how fame and glory is shown as a blessing in one but as a curse in the other, and the actions taken by certain characters.
One of the main differences between the movie and the book is the characterization of Beowulf. In the poem readers are shown to a character who is not hubris and is a very flat character. He is an exemplary Anglo-Saxon. He does everything thing he can to say the…show more content… The movie tries to paint it as a curse, while the poem on the other hand paints it as a blessing. In the poem readers are shown how the people would give adulation for his victories of the different monsters. People would say that he would make a great king. But in the movie people are yet again shown a different side of the story. Beowulf is disdain by all the young men he would killed seeking to fight the great Beowulf. In the end it was overrated in his opinion. For all the great things he had the guilt of the lie he told was always haunting him. Yet all the gold and glory turned back on him, when the son he made caused his death. While one says that fame and glory is great the other say it’s a curse that is not worth it at