Themes in Beowulf Essay

There are many themes throughout Beowulf such as loyalty, bravery, courage, or never give up. But to me one theme stands out to be the universal theme of Beowulf. The Universal theme of Beowulf is Good vs. Evil. Examples of Good vs Evil are everywhere in Beowulf.

Beowulf is the epic hero of this poem. He embodies all the characteristics that a hero should, such as bravery, loyalty and strength, both physical and mental. He is the archetypal hero. And not only does he fight for good, but he also represents it. The monster Grendel and his mother are that evil. The mere look of them leaves you with an impression of fear and sin. "He strode quickly across the inlaid floor, snarling and fierce: His eyes gleamed in darkness, burned with a gruesome Light." (P. 1, L.15-18)

I know this is a universal theme because the story follows the pattern of other stories throughout history, in which good comes out victorious over evil. It references a lot to the bible almost like Beowulf is representing God and Grendel and his mother represent the devil. It even compares to the modern day Harry Potter movies that are extremely popular. Beowulf is a lot like Harry in a way. The both are very heroic and try their best to defeat evil.

Good vs evil still plays out in our lives today. With our soldiers out at war representing the good, are fighting the evil for the bad things that they did. Not only do we face that we also deal with every day decisions. We have to decide whether the decisions we are making are the right ones or the wrong ones. I believe that parents are faced with more decisions than anyone. The have to decide how to raise their children, what to feed them, how to discipline them, and making sure they set a good future for themselves.

There are many things that contribute to showing that the universal theme of Beowulf is Good vs. Evil. Everything from the Bible to Harry Potter to our every day lives. We might even be able to learn from the story of Beowulf to contribute to the decisions we make every day. Therefore Good vs. Evil is the appropriate universal theme for Beowulf.