12 A.P. English
Ms. Fitch
April 7,2017
Learn To Swallow Your Pride
For centuries humans have been influenced by the success of others within their respective society. In the first civilizations, we lionized kings and warriors through storytelling that twisted the truth of horrendous events to make influential figures more appealing to the common folk. Today vanity is clearly shown by well-known celebrities who befuddle their self-image as a result of consistent praise and fortune. In Seamus Heaney's translation of the classic poem Beowulf, he explores the idea of human vanity through the admiration they hold for their status and warrior code. In contrast, John Gardner's Grendel tells a drastically different story over humanity's pride and paints it as one that is both morbid and destructive to everyone involved.
Within the opening lines of Beowulf, Heaney portrays the Heorot Hall, a symbol of both community and common ground for gloating about one's achievements. Heaney recounts that King Hrothgar's motivation behind constructing the hall was simply to let it be "a wonder of the world forever" giving the mead-hall instantly an aura of glory and significance before it was even built (Beowulf 7). Even upon the …show more content…
Humanity's vanity has resulted in both wars, destruction, and envy amongst both monster and man. Heaney's Beowulf and Gardner's Grendel, both equally present a sense of warning for their readers that we should learn from the tragedy of these fictional characters, to keep ourselves from leading ourselves down a path of corruption and destruction. For the fabled fiends of Beowulf and Grendel are not real, but the perilous effects of pride's clutches certainly