In the poem Beowulf, there is the main conflict good v. evil. Readers ask what is good? Or what is evil? I think everyone is good and everyone has good intentions but does that make them a hero? Holding the door open for someone is a good deed but you are not a hero. People are not born evil but something inside of them turns them evil or society provokes them. In Beowulf, Beowulf has this super strength and is a good fighter and is able to defeat predators that try to harm his people. Beowulf is viewed as a hero by his people because he defeated Grendel who is viewed as evil. But does Beowulf have the characteristics of a hero? In Spiderman, Spiderman is a hero because he saves everyone from crimes in the city. Peter Parker is viewed as a nerd and most people will not expect him to be a hero. When Peter got his powers he wanted to help the city after seeing his uncle die. Peter did not do it for himself. I think Beowulf fought these battles because he liked the glory and attention. Those are not good characteristics of a hero.
However, Grendel is described as a "fiend out of hell" but only because he eats people. But everyone has to eat, I eat chicken and cheeseburgers so does that make me evil to chickens and cows? I do not think we can call someone evil based on their lifestyle. When we read Grendel in class I felt sorry for Grendel because Grendel wanted to be friends with everyone but all they saw was a monster and did not accept him for who he is. People who make their main goal in life to hurt people are evil. For example, Hitler was an evil person and it's scary that someone has those intentions and hated a religion that much. But one of the issues in the world right now is shootings at colleges. The shooters are not evil but they were good people that might have a mental issue or were corrupted by society and had enough. Evil is a strong word to describe someone as but I think society is evil. Society has so many expectations that it's hard for everyone to fit in and that makes them go crazy. There is still good and there is evil and I think there is a little in all of us.
