Essay: Human nature in Beowulf

Human nature has typically affected people for quite an extensive amount of time. Whether good or bad, human nature can cause us to qualities about the self. Indeterminacy in human nature is the leading consequence which can open up room for the manipulation of the human actions (Hill 58). This means that this is what differs our qualities from good and bad. It is why we don’t have all bad qualities or all good qualities. In the epic Beowulf, human nature is exploited throughout the course of the story. John M. Hill stated in his book The Cultural World in Beowulf that the epic helps reveal the possibilities for manipulation and ambiguity in social roles and character interaction (Hill 20). Going off the logic of Mr. Hill, a majority of the male characters of Beowulf had revealed fundamental flaws in their moral character throughout certain parts of the story, specifically the Danes and Beowulf. The Danes have invariably shown that they are prone to violent encounters due to the non-aggressiveness and self-assurance nature in themselves. Beowulf, especially in his younger self, was motivated specifically on selfishness which gets him killed in the end of the epic. In this moral sense, the men in this story have doomed themselves due to these attributes of human nature that they carry.
The Danes are non-aggressive as they majorly overcome their issues without the extensive use of violence, but rather with discussion-based conferences between both parties. It is not that they don’t necessarily want to use violence as the first logical step with resolving an issue, but more of a last resort if all other methods fail to work. A prime example of the Danes using the last resort option is undoubtedly when Grendel comes to the town, causing havoc and chaos all around Heorot. At first, the local people of the Danes tried to barter a deal or truce with the heinous demon, but the god-cursed devil “would never parley or make peace with a Dane nor stop his death-dealing nor pay the death-price” (“Heorot is Attacked”, l.153-155). This wasn’t like any group of people like the Geats, where they were able talk about their issues so that they can potentially forge a relationship between the two groups. This shows that the Danes had no choice, but to use some sort of violence to counter the demon’s attacks. The Danes self-assured themselves that they possess enough soldiers and a strong enough army that they would be capable of crushing the antics of this villainous creature. Yet, this would go little to no avail as Grendel was slaughtering a majority of Hrothgar’s soldiers. After brutally losing to the might of Grendel, the Danes dealt with about 12 years of him coming into Heorot and killing multiple people. The Dane’s self-assurance in themselves was their downfall in their case because it shows that they ultimately failed as a group as they vowed to protect their village from the dangers of the outside world, yet Grendel comes by every night and exterminates a bunch of people. At this point, this would ultimately lead to Beowulf, a part of the Geats, to enter Heorot and released the Danes from their despair and sorrow. Beowulf’s sudden arrival and progression into the cleansing of evil from Heorot is met with challenge not just accepted as a heroic given (Hill 65). The Danes had no other choice but to accept Beowulf’s help in this situation. For starters, a majority of the Dane’s army has been defeated which had led King Hrothgar and his family practically defenseless. King Hrothgar can’t defend the town himself anymore like when he was more youthful due to him being much older. If the Danes did decide to just completely ignore the help of Beowulf, then the family of the Danes might have faded away from the mass killings of Grendel the demon spawn.
Beowulf is presented throughout the story as this very prideful person who has come in to save the day. When he enters Heorot, he walks in as this overly confident person saying that he will defeat Grendel. Beowulf doesn’t have the intention to have a “fast friendship” with the Danes, but he plans on gaining a “firm friendship” with them for the Geats (Hill 29). He is helping the Danes because he knows that he will be able to gain a name for himself. Basically, Beowulf knows that this whole situation will mostly benefit him. He has a tendency with this battle and the battle with Grendel’s mother to over-complicate the situation. For example, with the battle with Grendel, he decides to not wear any armor when he fights him as Grendel “has no idea of the arts of war, of shield or sword-play, although he does possess a wild strength” (“The Fight with Grendel”, lines 681-683). Beowulf undertakes this challenge in an effort to brag that he can convincingly beat him with no weapons or armor. By doing this, Beowulf is indirectly showing to King Hrothgar that his army is completely weak if he can beat and kill Grendel with his bare hands instead of wielding a sword and shield. Now, the king doesn’t recognize this as he is absolutely delighted that the abuse towards his town and his family is finally over after 12 years. If Beowulf were to realize that his selfishness is reflected greatly throughout his communications with the Danes throughout the Grendel situation, this would’ve changed his viewpoints on his life and goals. This change could have prevented him from dying in the fight with the dragon. Later on, after the Grendel fight, we get to Grendel’s mother. Beowulf does the same talk that he did with Grendel as he’s not going to utilize any weapons when brawling with Grendel’s mother. He informed the people that “not to the dens under ground nor upland groves nor the ocean floor. She’ll have nowhere to flee” (“Beowulf Fights Grendel’s Mother”, lines 1393-1394). This shows that he was planning on coming back after his fight with Grendel’s Mother. However, he did experience a decent amount of trouble while battling with Grendel’s mother as she was swifter and more powerful than her son. Beowulf still managed to defeat Grendel’s mother, but definitely didn’t have the same attitude walking out of the fight than what he had walking in to it.
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