The Courage, Strength, and Integrity of Beowulf :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

The Courage, Strength, and Integrity of Beowulf "He who had come to them from across the sea, bold and strong minded, had driven affliction off, purged Herot clean." Beowulf has traveled a great distance to help people in need. Even though Beowulf is a fictional character, he is clearly the heroic symbol needed by the people of the chaotic Middle Ages with his extraordinary characteristics of courage, strength, and integrity. To be a hero a person needs to be admired for courage, strength, and integrity. A hero is any person admired for courage. A person with courage can easily take on any task. Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the know-how to control it. To be a hero is also one that is strong. To be strong a person needs not only brawn, but the knowledge to use it. Strength without direction is like trying to hit a cloud with a bow and arrow. A hero is also anyone that posses integrity. With integrity a hero knows how to do without a doubt what is right. A person with integrity is unimpaired, so he is able to accomplish the task at hand. A person who upholds these qualities and more is truly a hero. Beowulf, a hero for heroes overcomes the hideous creature Grendle, in order to aid the Danes, whom are in the need of aid. Beowulf sits awake in uncertainty of what comes in the depths of the everlasting night. This shows that Beowulf has an uncanny amount of courage. He, as any human in this predicament is obviously full of fear, but with courage he is able to control this fear. As the infamous Grendle rushes towards Beowulf with great might, the mighty Beowulf catches the viscous monsters claw and tears the whole limb from its now empty socket. This definately shows a great amount of strength. To have such great power to pull an arm from its socket he must be strong. Beowulf traverses a great distance in order to help a foreign people whom are in the need of aid. By helping the Danes, Beowulf shows that he posses an elevated

Conflict Presented in of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men is set in America during the years of the Great Depression. The depression, that was caused by the Wall Street Crash 1929, left people without a job or house. People had barely enough money to afford necessities such as, food, water and clothes. The pressures of the Great Depression led to many different forms of conflict. Steinbeck shows a variety of these conflicts throughout the novella. One form of conflict shown in the novella is Jealousy. The fact that Lennie is a ‘huge man', results in Curley's jealousy towards Lennie.While describing Curley, Slim says, ‘He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em because he aint a big guy'. This foreshadows the fight between Curley and Lennie in which Lennie crushes Curley's hand. The adjective ‘mad' connotes the irrationality of Curley's simmering anger. Curley's covetousness towards Lennie's size represents that the world of Dust bowl America was a harsh and unforgiving place, where physical strength was especially valuable.The adjective ‘mad' has specific connotations which is why, Steinbeck chooses to use ‘mad' rather than a word such as, angry to maybe suggest that Curley is slightly insane for picking fights with men considerably bigger and most likely stronger than him. ‘Mad' also means that Curley is simply angry towards taller men because he envies them. This description of Curley makes the reader think of Curley as an insecure person as, the description shows that he feels inferior because of his diminutive stature. Resentment is also shown in scenes of conflict.George shows resentment towards Lennie as a consequence of Lennie losing him his job; that is so significant to achieving his desires. George says, ‘I got you! You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. ‘ The repetition of the word ‘you' demonstrates that George sees Lennie as the cause of the conflict and as the person who endangers his cha nces of achieving his dreams. The abbreviation of the word every with ‘ever† implies that George is almost spitting out his words due to the aggravation that he feels.George loses his temper with Lennie despite the fact that Lennie is George's best friend. This portrays the great importance of having a job during Different conflicts or events can bring out certain characteristics in people. The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck has numerous conflicts that bring out the protagonist's innermost characteristic, kindheartedness. George brings out this characteristic through the conflicts between Lennie and himself. Judging him from most of his words, he does not seem like a caring person, however, it is through his actions that verify that he is.One example of this man versus himself conflict is when George has to kill Lennie. However, the main conflict of this novel is man versus man, which basically goes on throughout the entire novel, while George watches af ter Lennie; The majority of George's time is devoted to looking after Lennie, whose faults prevent George from working toward his dream, or even living the life of a typical rancher. Based George's selflessness, and devotion to Lennie, George Milton is an extremely compassionate person. Throughout the book, George has explicitly whined that Lennie is a real pain.He dreams of what he could do if not caring for his mentally handicapped friend, and pictures himself not burdened by Lennie. â€Å"‘ You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out. ‘ His voice rose nearly to a shout. ‘You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all of the time. ‘† Through this passage, you can clearly see George's feelings towards Lennie; he gets sick of having to deal with a man with the mentality of a child. However, in the innermost part, he really cares for him because he never truly leaves him, he watches out for him and guides him through life.Imag ine if you had just gotten the part of a play that you have been waiting all of your life to get, you feel as if your dreams had just started to take its roots; when suddenly, your friend messes up his role and is fired, and as a result, you to have to leave too, so he won't be alone, well, that is the case with Lennie and George. You have to be as incredibly strong minded and kindhearted as George in order to take care of not only yourself, but also a man with the mentality of a child as well.Consequently, most people go crazy having to repeat themselves more than three times, as for George whom had to repeat himself constantly, and at times, that still did not cut it. This brings me to the next major conflict of the novel, man versus himself. At the end of this novel, when George comes across another crisis that Lennie has caused and, he finds himself stuck, because, for the first time, he can't get Lennie out of the awful situation that he has got himself into, leaving him no oth er choice but to kill his dearest companion. George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. † Through this passage, you can see that George was struggling, not wanting to kill Lennie, however, he unfortunately had to kill him for everyone's benefit, including his own. This situation resembles cheating on a test; you do not want to cheat, but you would be in trouble by your parents if you do not pass.George had to protect Lennie one last time; as much as it would hurt, George knew that if he did not kill Lennie himself, Curley and the rest of the workers at the ranch would have found Lennie and given him a more painful and severe death George gave him. Based on George committing an act that will haunt him for the rest of his life, just to give his dearest companion Lennie a more serene death than a brutal one proves that, at heart, George is an extremely empathetic person.

Macbeths Transformation from Soldier to Tyrant - 1122 Words

macbeths transformation from soldier to tyrant In the tragedy of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, starts out as an honorable nobleman and a heroic swordsman who descends into pure evil because of his lust for power. We see this lust for power and control becomes stronger and stronger even as he is King. He makes three fatal mistakes throughout the play: he allows himself to succumb to the witches’ temptations, he allows himself to be manipulated by Lady Macbeth, his wife, and he also ignores his conscience. If it were not for these critical errors, Macbeth would not have become the tyrant he did. The initial mistake of Macbeth is adhering to the witches and what they prophesied. The temptation and desire of becoming†¦show more content†¦Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to kill the King for her benefit along with his, but she never would have thought what kind of a man it would turn Macbeth into. The third and final mistake of Macbeth was the suppression of his conscience leading to: the vicious murder of Banquo, The slaughter of Macduff’s family, and the whole country despising him. This furthermore results in Macbeth bringing down his country and himself into a state of destitution. When Macbeth was about to kill Duncan, he was afraid, because it is a sin to commit murder. However when he was hiring murderers to slay Banquo and his son Fleance, there was no sign of hesitation. When the murder was about to take place a third murderer appeared but this may have been Macbeth himself for at the time he did not trust anyone. If it really was him, it is one of the first signs that Macbeth is enjoying inflicting pain upon others. After he sought out the witches for the second time, his doubts of Macduff are confirmed. In his aside he says: â€Å"give to the edge of the sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls†, what is meant by this is that since Macduff has fled, leaving behind his family and servants, Macbeth is going to slaughter them like pigs. At least there was a motive for killing Banquo, butchering woman and children whose only crime is to have a blood relation to Macduff, does not. It is almost asShow MoreRelated Blood Imagery In Macbeth Essay590 Words   |  3 PagesShakespeares Macbeth a play, a man named Macbeth goes through a great transformation; Macbeth goes from being a heroic general in the kings army to an assassin and a tyrant. The theme of the play is never give into evil because it destroys no matter what the benefits are. Blood Imagery is very important in the play; it shows Macbeths evil ambition in the beginning, middle, and end of the play. 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