Timeless Greed

Greed is the excessive, selfish desire to have more of something. From this definition, it can be inferred that one can be greedy for anything- wealth, fame, attention. This leaves the trait to become restricted", which is why it can be said that greed is "timeless". The earliest example that comes to mind, and that we discussed, is the story of Cain and Abel. The idea is that Cain killed Abel because Abel was favored, meaning that Abel received all the praise and attention. Out of lust and greed, Cain killed Abel. From that first murder and act from greed, greed has been and is continually present in everybody’s life.  

It’s amazing how much greed can change a person, and how big of an influence it plays when it comes to decisions. But I think greed only takes a big role if you succumb to it. So maybe greed shouldn’t be described as a trait, but more of an instinct. Everybody has some sort selfish instinct within them, which may be extremely pessimistic, but that’s just how I see it.  But returning back to my point, everybody has the instinct, but I think what really matters is whether or not a person falls into the instinct or rejects it. Once they choose to accept it, greed begins to control their life- changing their perspective, their priorities, and their morals. It ultimately changes the person. The Pardoner, for example, became a preacher who rather focused on forgiveness of sins, became obsessed with attaining wealth and goods. I would like to believe that before he decided to take on the role of “the pardoner”, he had some innocence and pure intentions, rather than selfish desires. But maybe he already adopted greed into his life, and saw the role as a gateway to wealth.

In our world today, greed plays a similar role as it did for the Pardoner and Cain. It somehow has the manipulating power to change a person entirely, and acts like a drug. You become obsessed with just getting more, not only pertaining to wealth. And it doesn’t just stop once you attain your desired object, but it just continues as you become greedier for more.  

Truth

    What is the truth? In Grendel's perspective, truth became a concept that was no longer valid.  With the arrival of the Shaper, the word itself lost all of its meaning. The Shaper would sing of past events, which consisted majorly of praises, thus leaving Hrothgar and his people with great pride and confidence. The only problem was that Grendel knew the truth, and he knew that everything the Shaper sang of was not it, as he said on page 43 "I crept away, my mind aswim in ringing phrases, magnificent, golden, and all of them, incredibly, lies. The man had changed the world, had torn up the past by its thick, gnarled roots and had transmuted it, and they, who knew the truth, remembered it his way- and so did I." The Shaper had this ability that could somehow transform memories and persuade people to believe his lyrics. This is evident, as Grendel admits that he too, while knowing and witnessing everything the Shaper sang of, began to believe what he [Shaper] said. Another example of this confusion of "truth" is from the movie we watched in class on Friday- after the Shaper sang his song, the people, and even the Hrothgar himself, didn't recognize half of the things he [Shaper] sang about, but they took the credit anyways. Rather than wondering what the truth is, there should be more focus on why people should believe in the Shaper's version of the "truth". There are people who know the truth, such as Grendel. The real question is why do they drop their knowledge so easily when the Shaper comes around. 

I guess we'll never know. 

Today's Beowulf

                Throughout the story, Beowulf has been described as brave, fearless, strong, daring, etc; and after reading about his adventures and his battles, I can see why he deserve all of those titles. But when dealing with a “modern-day Beowulf”, I tried to abridge the main ideas from the story. Now-a-days, we don’t have monsters that have flesh of evil, or warriors that can naturally swim to the bottom of a lake, or dragons. With that being said, it made me wonder how great Beowulf’s deeds would be if he was put in our reality. I managed to simply it to Beowulf going out of his comfort zone to help others. Beowulf went to Denmark to help Hrothgar and his men, all of whom he was unfamiliar with, who have been harassed by this demon named Grendel. So by my definition of a “modern-day Beowulf”, I believe that anybody can achieve that title. Of course it may not be as dramatic as slaying a demon, and bringing the demon’s head back, but if you really think about it, with our society, many people won’t go out of their way to help others. I think that every person has their own personal “Grendel” that constantly harasses them, causing them stress, or discomfort; and sometimes, having a “Beowulf” to be there and reach out to help can change a person’s world. It sort of goes in a cycle, people don’t realize that others have “Grendel” because they’re dealing with their own personal “Grendel”. But going back to what I said earlier, people can achieve being like Beowulf simply by trying to help others.