Analysis Of The Killing Of Grendel - 1532 Words

The killing of Grendel lets the reader experience a combination of the vital elements. The pity is experienced from the reader not towards the death of Grendel but towards the Danes and Geats who have been harmed by his attacks. Fear is experienced as no one would like to be terrorized and live in fear of another. Fear, as well as Mimesis is found in the form of Grendel’s attack on Heorot. The vivid language that the unknown author of Beowulf uses to describe Grendel’s vicious descent on Heorot not only places the reader in the shoes of the victims and allows them, in a way, imitation of fear experienced by those being attacked at Heorot. As Aristotle points out, reversal and suffering are two critical components in the nature of tragedy (Poetics 30). Reversal being the change in direction of events from good fortune at Heorot to bad fortune; although this should be expected as only good fortune in a poem, or any written work for that matter, would make for a monotonou s story. Suffering is another part that makes a poem a tragedy. It involves the pain or destruction of something (Poetics 30). Suffering will also cause the reader to experience mimesis as it involves extreme agony not unlike in the case of the Danes the night after Grendel’s attack. After Grendel’s attack, the reader sees the downfall of the Danish society under King Hrothgar, the king lost hope and was â€Å"numb with grief† (134). Even the people were hopeless as they turned to pagan gods and feared raids fromShow MoreRelatedGood vs. Evil Found in Beowulf807 Words   |  3 PagesBeowulf is Grendel; he is a complete monster. The good character found in the story is Beowulf, along with other characters that fight against Grendel. 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