Beowulf Essay

Javier Solis

September 8^th, 2013

Luke Skywalker: The Modern Beowulf

Heroes frequently live in immortality. While they might die, the stories of their heroism outlive them for centuries, perhaps even millennia, to captivate the ears of new listeners. These heroes give us an insight on the traditions and values of the culture that created them. Beowulf is often regarded as such a symbol of Scandinavian and early English culture. A more contemporary rendering of Beowulf would be Luke Skywalker. Both Beowulf and Skywalker are courageous, selfless, and act as windows into their respective cultures.

Beowulf and Luke are both selfless heroes. Neither of them had to go and do what they did. Grendel wasn’t terrorizing Beowulf’s domain. The Imperial Army was not threatening Luke or his livelihood. Both Beowulf and Luke went out of their way to defeat an evil (Grendel and the dragon and the Imperial Army respectively) to save the lives of others. Grendel was eating Hrothgar’s men while the Imperial Army was being tyrannical and oppressing its own citizens. They both did what was right and reaped the recognition from it. While they were selfless, they both understood that their actions would propel them into immortal fame and recognition.

Both characters, as strong and brave as they are, relied on the support of their friends and allies. Luke would have been unsuccessful in decimating the Imperial Army and Emperor Palpatine had his comrades not knocked down the Death Star’s defenses on Endor while Han Solo destroyed the second Death Star’s main reactor. Similarly, Beowulf would not have been able to slay the dragon that threatened his kingdom if it wasn’t for Wiglaf who shielded Beowulf from the dragon’s flames and proceeded to kill the dragon.

                Beowulf was never flat out described; the author never gave us his physical attributes or his personality. Rather, the reader inferred them through the character’s actions and dialogue as well as how other characters treated them. Through the use of indirect characterization, Beowulf surpasses the status of being simply a human, but becomes a symbol; a symbol of ancient Scandinavian culture. By transforming Beowulf into a symbol, the readers can imply that courage, bravery, and selflessness were three attributes that ancient Scandinavia valued greatly.

                Luke Skywalker comes from humble origins. His adoptive parents are simple folks that own a moisture farm on the desert planet of Tatooine. Despite these simple origins, Luke does something when faced with something that he sees as wrong and evil. He is symbolic of doing everything to the best of your ability and refusing to surrender in the face of adversary, traits that are valued in our contemporary society.

 Since Beowulf formed in an age when Christianity started to become widespread and replacing paganism in many European cultures, he became a symbol that represented Christianity and good while Grendel represented paganism evil. Like with Jesus, there were people who questioned Beowulf’s ability (namely, Unferth), but Beowulf prevailed regardless. There are also various times in the text where Beowulf thanks God or makes illusions to Christianity and the Bible, such as comparing Grendel to Cain.

 Luke Skywalker is also representative of Christianity, serving as a Jesus-like figure while Emperor Palpatine represents Satan. Much like how Satan lured Jesus to worship him return for all the kingdoms of Earth, Palpatine tempted Luke into turning into the Dark Side in return for a ruling hand in the Empire. Both Jesus and Luke fought temptation and refused. The battle between the light side of the force (Luke and the Jedi) and the dark side of the force (Palpatine and the Imperial Army) is symbolic of Armageddon: the final battle between good and evil. Much like in Christianity, good (Skywalker) prevailed over evil (Palpatine) and now good will reign for eternity as evil has been vanquished.

The monsters that Beowulf battles in the epic all have allegorical meaning behind them. For example, Grendel is said to have descended directly from Cain, who murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy. Grendel represents evil and the killing of others. The battle with the dragon is allegorical in the way that the dragon symbolizes any arduous task all heroes must surpass to prove their true worth. The battle with the dragon also results in the death of Beowulf, which is symbolic of however strong one may seem, death is inevitable. Star Wars and Luke Skywalker are allegorical in the sense that the ill-armed and heavily outnumbered rebels take down the galaxy’s tyrannical overlords with the help of a brave man with humble origins. It is symbolic of persistence and perseverance despite staggering odds against you.

Hundreds of years from now, if humans haven’t gone extinct, they will look back on late 20^th to early 21^st century culture and see Luke Skywalker as a symbol of our times and values, much like how our society looked at Beowulf. Both characters are symbolic of Christianity, bravery, courage, and selflessness.