Real Hero: Beowulf vs. Grendel

The story of the famous battle between Beowulf and Grendel are told in two stories in The story of Beowulf by an unknown author and Grendel by John Gardner. The story of Beowulf is told in 3rd person by someone recounting the events and Grendel is told in a 1st person view of Grendel himself. There is lots of controversy whether which of the two is the real hero, so here is the gist of both stories for you to decide: There is a small town full of people that is being tormented by a monster who comes only to kill and bring terror among the people, the attacks continue and after a short while comes a famous warrior named Beowulf. He comes to defeat the town’s monster to save the people and end the mindless killings of Grendel. Both stories result in Grendel being killed and Beowulf being praised for his actions and he eventually becomes a great, fair king that all the people adore and love. The Anglo-Saxon definition of a hero is typically a man who is strong, brave and an intelligent warrior. They had to be willing to fight to the …show more content…
Point of view might affect people’s depiction of who is the hero since Grendel’s side is told in first person, but both stories still show that he is just a psychopathic monster who kills without a purpose. Beowulf is a strong, brave warrior who fights selflessly, and also is a humble man who has a kind heart. Beowulf also has self control and is responsible with his power while Grendel is not any of these things. Yes, anybody can be a “hero” to someone, like Osama bin laden can be a hero his followers, but a real hero is someone who has good morals no matter what their beliefs are, they know the real meaning of right and wrong, they chose to enforce what is right and get rid of the wrong in a