The Relevance of Beowulf to Modern Life: Theme of Good Versus Evil

Introduction

Beowulf can be compared to modern day relevance because we still have battles today, they are just more advanced and more deadly. There are many stories of brave and courageous soldiers going into war and a few coming out as heroes. Many of these heroes died in war just like Beowulf, trying to save others. Even today we live in a technologically-advanced world, but humans still act like they did in Anglo-Saxon period.

Life Lessons from Beowulf: Main Themes

The story of Beowulf shows many themes that can be related to today.

Some of them are good versus evil, life is hard, and that there is always darkness in the world. The evil today is criminals and murderers but in Beowulf it was Grendel, Grendel's Mother, and the dragon. Courage is still considered valuable today just as it was in the Anglo-Saxon period, many soldiers die to save others, gaining respect among people even if they die in battle.

The continuous battle between good and evil is still relevant today.

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In Beowulf the Anglo-Saxons fought monsters and other evil creatures, in today's world we fight criminals that plague our world. But like in Beowulf, the men that are cowards, cause others to be hurt or die. People are still greedy and want fame. Today people want to stick out and want wealth, they will do whatever it takes to get what they want even if its hurting someone else. Many historical events happen because of one's own interest. For example Hitler wanted to conquer the world, because of this millions died.

Today there are many who pursue fame and wealth, but not all those that climb to the top are morally good.

In Beowulf one of its themes is good versus evil, and good always wins. This is true today because people that climb up the chain by cheating, will get knocked back down eventually. Another theme in Beowulf is that he helped the people of Geats defeat these monsters to repay them, people today still repay each other. The best leader is not always a good leader, many leaders might only want what is in their best interest, but others care about the people they are leading. Today a leader of a country might want to have things his way instead of listening to the people he is leading. This could cause the country to collapse because the people would disagree with their leader and rebel.

Comparison of Life Developments in Beowulf and Today

Life is not always easy. In Beowulf he gets called to battle three times, first to fight Grendel, second to fight Grendel's Mother and then the Dragon where he gets mortally wounded. This can be compared to people's life today, one problem keeps popping up after another. In today's world its terrorism, drugs, more drugs and trade wars. There will always be problems popping up around the world and in people's everyday lives. Fighting techniques has changed over periods of time, in Beowulf the soldiers used swords and chainmail. Today we have all sorts of sophisticated weapons that are deadlier than swords, armor adapted to stop the projectile of that weapon. Just like chainmail was made to stop the sword from cutting into the skin, kevlar armor is made to stop bullets.

Conclusion

Religion and lifestyle have significantly changed since the Anglo-Saxon period. Religion does not play a big role as it did in those times, it has also declined. People are becoming more healthier and hygienic, we live longer. We are more aware of many diseases and have cured most of these with vaccines. Much as changed and will continue to change as time progresses.Entertainment has grown large as well, back in the Anglo-Saxon periods people would tell their life stories and all other types of stories while drinking in the mead hall. Today we have movies, tv shows, video games, music and many other forms of entertainment. But they still bare the same purpose: to provide entertainment and laughter to one another. My conclusion is that even though much has changed since the Anglo-Saxon period, a lot of human morals remain the same. The battle between good and evil is a never ending battle, they will always balance each other out. Beowulf killed the three monsters but lost his life doing so, I am sure evil would have returned to battle Geats once again.