beowulf essay

Beowulf and Iron Man

     Heroes have been idolized everywhere throughout history. A hero is one who steps up to the plate when people are in need of assistance. Most heroes just do good deeds for the sake of the people, but others such as Beowulf and Iron Man do it for the fame of being a hero. Even though the two characters come from different time periods they have many things in common that the author illustrates in different ways.

    

     Beowulf is a character who is symbolized as the strongest man alive. The authors draw attention to this when he is first introduced in the poem. They talk about how whenever he comes across anyone new that they stare in bewilderment at his strength. Symbolism is a major technique used in Beowulf because they convey the messages through intense symbolism and imagery, since the poem was originally supposed to be told orally. Iron man is a movie, and was created to be told visually which slightly changes the effect of the symbolism and imagery. In Beowulf you create what you think is an accurate version of the characters but in Iron Man you are given the image of how visually strong he is. Nonetheless Iron Man is still symbolized as a character who is virtually indestructible because of his high tech suit which protects him form harm. This is a difference between Iron man and Beowulf as well, because Iron man is not the same with out his armor, but Beowulf finds himself a stronger warrior with out his armor on to protect him from danger.

    

     The authors  of both stories help set the tone and mood of each story by the way they make the characters act and respond to certain things that happen. In Beowulf the character Beowulf is enthusiastic to take on the task of help the Danes kill Grendel, but you cant help but feel that he had a second agenda. The time period from which Beowulf comes from the "family name" was very important to people and it makes you wonder if he was helping the Danes just for the fame and advertisement of his families success. In my opinion he is portrayed both ways and either vibe can be felt from the text which is why the tone and mood can be interpreted differently. On  the other hand Iron Man is portrayed immediately as cocky and arrogant. He lives an extravagant lifestyle and is all about the fame of being Iron Man. The mood of Iron man is action-packed but also comedy, because of this it helps the viewer to understand Iron Mans motives for helping citizens in the first place.

      Between the two characters there is a lot of irony. Its almost as if the creators of Iron Man had influences from Beowulf. Its also ironic how so many things can be different between the two characters but then at the same time they are also very similar. The two stories were wrote in two different time periods and meant for different appeals but still amount to the character becoming a hero. The irony is only seen when you look at the two stories  as a whole, each story individually is not ironic.

     Even though Iron Man and Beowulf come from completely different time periods they have many things in common. Their reasoning for becoming a hero is the biggest thing that makes them alike. And the mood of each story is the biggest comparison. Throughout history there has been many characters like Beowulf and Iron Man that can be considered arrogant or just confident, and the author basically leaves it for the reader or viewer to figure that out through the imagery, symbolism,and moods they set up in the  story line.