Essay #3 Beowulf

Beowulf & Harry Potter

As everyone hailed to the greatest hero of all, Beowulf; he has defeated every blood thirsty and revengeful monster. During the Anglo-Saxon era, the great epic story of Beowulf was pasted down from generation to generation, creating the most heroic story of the century. This classic hero has abnormal powers and ultimately fights evil. Similar to a modern film/book Harry Potter, one of many modern heroes, he also fights the evil and puts himself before anyone else. Three literary techniques that both involve Beowulf and Harry Potter are the hero’s characterization, the themes and the imagery in the context. Both of these characters have similar motive and heroic characteristics in themselves.

Beowulf was simply a tragic hero who he died with courage and bravery. The author of Beowulf characterized him as a courageous man with mysterious abnormal powers, similar to Harry Potter who is a wizard that holds a source of power in his wand. They were both “special”; stood out from their peers, Beowulf was described as a savior and the “only hope,” and Harry Potter was known as the “chosen one.” The side characters always looked up to them and treated them with respect and honor: Beowulf, the companions and Hrothgar and Harry Potter, his friends and few professors. The difference between the two characters would be the fact Beowulf shows greatness on the outside. He tries to show up to people who believe he can’t do it. During, the fight with the dragon, Beowulf tells his companion to step aside and watch. On the other hand our modern hero, Harry Potter is more humble and does not boost about his fame and bravery. Both heroes are different in their ways, but what makes them heroes is the characterization of each character’s action such as their efforts to defeat the evil.

What makes Beowulf and Harry Potter heroic stories is the fight between good versus evil. In Beowulf, he fought Grendel and his mother, and in Harry Potter, he fought Voldemort and home of his classmates in Slytherin. There were some success and failures in both stories. In Beowulf, he was defeated and killed by Grendel’s mother. In Harry Potter, Voldemort was not defeated until the end of the series, but along the way he has defeated other enemies. Another theme that was in both books was isolated/solo. Harry always saved his friends and put himself before everyone else, but he was all by himself. His good friends Hermione and Ron were there but never all the way. In Beowulf did not have any “friends,” but the companions would observe while Beowulf fought the monsters. Beowulf and Harry Potter seem to be both reliable by other company.  

               
             Beowulf and Harry Potter involve fantasy and mystical creatures, but the difference between a classic and modern literature is the usage of imagery. In Beowulf, they seem to focus mainly on Beowulf’s success and never his failure. His success was expressed deeply, “quoth that of all the kings of earth, of men he was mildest and most beloved, to his kin the kindest, keenest for praise..” He rarely had any suspicions about his powers or no detail of his past was mentioned in the story. Ultimately, the tale empowered his greatness, even after his death. In Harry Potter, the difference was that it evolved around his past and mistakes he did in Hogwarts. There was imagery in the dialogues between characters, “The world is not split into good people and Death Eaters. We have all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the power we choose to act on. That’s who we really are,” Sirius Black. The imagery used in both books allows these stories to become more realistic and serious rather than a typical hero in a children’s book.

             The classic tale of Beowulf is evolved in to many of the modern films and literature today. The classic “superheroes” all share a similarity with Beowulf. Especially in the book, Harry Potter, Potter was one of the heroes that were no ordinary human being and neither was Beowulf. Both Harry Potter and Beowulf possessed a mysterious power that was never fully explained, but they are known as great heroes because of their defeat of evil and bravery. The classic tale of Beowulf was the bases of heroic tales; in modern books you can see parts of classic hero tales in Harry Potter. What creates a hero is ultimately the situation and the actions that makes a character heroic, as Harry said, "I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me."