Flat Characters In The Epic Of Beowulf

Battle after battle, Beowulf fights off evil for his people. Beowulf has three encounters in this poem. Those encounters are Grendel, Grendel's mom, and the dragon. Each time he fights he seems to have a different motive, it could be that he starts to realize his impact when he fights. Grendel is a man eating demon and Beowulf is the hero. Although these two characters sound so different, their motives are alike. These two characters did not change throughout the whole story, which is called a flat character. A epic story must have flat characters to be classified as an epic. But the problem with Beowulf and Grendel's character is that they are too flat, which took away the suspense and made the story very predictable. Beowulf is considered the “good guy” but almost too perfect. He is victorious in all his battles except for his last. Beowulf's superhuman strength is a major key to his heroism. Beowulf isn't afraid to die, which is a proof of his flat character. His flat character takes away the suspense in the epic, there is no surprise of what he is capable of doing. Beowulf only does good for his people, he is loyal to Hrogther, his men and his king. He is loyal to his men by doing his very best to protect them and by fighting Grendel.

Grendel was born a monster into exile, his life was cursed. He …show more content…
He comes to save the people from Grendel, not because he gives a hoot for the people but because he wants glory. The fact that Grendel is such a dangerous, horrible monster emphasizes the greatness of Beowulf when Beowulf destroys him. He then eventually becomes king of his own people which are the Geats. That is what makes Beowulf and Grendel's motives alike, they both do not care they are only doing it for themselves, and themselves only. When it comes to their motives, both characters are very

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