One of Beowulf's main characteristics is his ever present pride. To most protagonists
their pride is usually explained by a friend or narrator. However, Beowulf is one who
likes to show the whole world how important and valuable he is to them. Through out the
chapters which we have read it seems as though the whole point in the book is to show off
his strength. He presents himself before a fight with boasting and an ostentatious
manner of fighting.
When Beowulf was a little boy he wanted to show his strength and entered a race with his
friend Breeca. He knew that he would win with no effort at all, but then, due to a
storm, he lost his way. While Beowulf was trying to return to land he managed to kill
nine sea monsters with his bare hands and still caught up to Brecca. He apparently
bragged to such an extent that everyone in Scandinavia knew about this race and the
courageous way he cleared the sea of evil. He, at this young age, had no need to think
about death. All he thought about was foolishly having fun and proving himself to the
spectators.
When Beowulf fought with Grendel, the demon who was terrorizing Herot Hall, he came
there boasting about how worthy he was to fight for Denmark. The people accepted him as
a deserving warrior and permitted him to do what ever he needed to rid them of Grendel.
Beowulf wanted to fool Grendel into thinking that he was sleeping so that Grendel would
try to kill him, but instead Beowulf would terminate him. That night Grendel did come
and fell right into Beowulf's trap. Beowulf had Grendel in his hands, but no matter how
strong Beowulf was the demon escaped missing only an arm. Grendel would soon die in his
lair because of blood loss, but Beowulf was unhappy that he could not stretch Grendel's
body on the floor. However, he still hung Grendel's arm, just to show how only he was
strong enough to kill the monster. This time when Beowulf went to fight he told the king
that if he would die then the king should give Beowulf's armor to its rightful owner.
In Beowulf's next fight with Grendel's mother, he showed once more that he was capable
of such an adventurous task. There was no soldier brave enough to take on a monster that
lives in the pits of hell and thrives on the bodies of innocent men. However, Beowulf
ostentatiously jumped into the fiery lake and once more showed to the whole world that he
was the greatest warrior of all time. Beowulf, maturing, told the king to take care of
his armor and more importantly, to make sure that his soldiers don't remain leaderless.
He realized that there are other people he has a responsibility for besides himself.
Throughout Beowulf's three fights he constantly had self pride and showed his worth to
everyone. However, as he got older and fought more battles he realized that there was a
possibility that he could die. As Beowulf gets closer to death, he sees that his pride
won't watch over his men or wear his armor. After he realized that with fame came
responsibility, he still was a proud and boastful man.
|