Adult Stage Of Beowulf's Life example essay topic

424 words
Beowulf authors, whoever they may be, often use events and things to symbolize stages in someone's life. Symbolism is the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of assigning meaning of importance to objects, events, or relationships. In the anonymous story, Beowulf, Beowulf fights Grendel, the monsters of the ocean and Grendel's mother. Beowulf's battles with these three evils symbolize the youth and adulthood of Beowulf's life. The battle with Grendel represents the Beowulf's life as a kid. The typical youth is very brave and fights for fame.

Beowulf shows how the battle with Grendel is a representation of the youth of Beowulf's life by going to Hrothgar and asking him if he can fight Grendel for him and his people. Another trait that a typical kid has is that they don't want to be outwitted. They also don't want people to think poorly of them. Beowulf shows this when he hears that Grendel does not use any weapons to fight and so Beowulf says that he will not use any weapons because he wants Hi glac to think worthy of him.

The typical youth likes to brag about what they have done. Beowulf shows this third trait when he brags to Hrothgar about how he swam all the way over and killed all the monsters in the ocean. This is seen when Beowulf says something about him swimming in the night, hunting for monsters out of the ocean and killing them one by one. The battle with Grendel's mother represents the adult stage of Beowulf,'s life. As adults get older they are less daring and more defensive. Beowulf shows this trait when he fights with mail armor and a sword.

This is seen when he goes to the lake where the monster,'s mother has her underwater lair. Then fully armored, he makes a heroic dive to the depth of the watery Hell. As adults get older they are less daring and wait for the battle to come to them. Instead of going to Hrothgar and asking to fight for him he waits and lets Hrothgar ask him. This is seen when Beowulf is awakened and called for again. The author of Beowulf used the battles to symbolize stages in Beowulf's life.

I have shown how the battle with Grendel represents the youth of Beowulf's life and how the battle with Grendel,'s mother represents the adult stage of Beowulf's life..