1/16/20 Dejon Kurti PD 7

10/10/2019

Dejon Kurti PD 7           

Aim: How are the themes of “loyalty and kinship” developed and contrasted against “jealousy and pride”?

At the start of today’s lesson, we reviewed yesterday’s lesson with Kelly asking the first question.

"What does Grendel represent and how did it relate to contemporary times?"

Kelly expanded on this initial thought by saying that she believed Grendel symbolized the heathens of the world, for he was a spawn of Cain, a man who committed one of the most atrocious sins against his brother. 

It became clear that Grendel, in a sense, represented “otherness,” or those who did not conform to Christianity.  This sparked a discussion of the Christianization of the Scandinavian region. Steven talked about the cultural blend that occurred, explaining Diego’s previous statement that the Anglo-Saxons believed you were destined to prevail if you were on the side of God.

Interestingly enough, Ms. Fusaro asked us why we thought people chose to convert over time.  The answer boiled down to social mobility and forgiveness. What made Christianity appealing was that it made forgiveness attainable to anyone who sought it.  Eternal afterlife was accessible to everyone, and that was a big deal.

After briefly talking about how the Russians went shopping for their religion of choice, we started the Do Now: “What are the reasons you think Beowulf came to the Danes’ aid?”

Cornelia mentioned how Beowulf wanted to gain pride given his cockiness at times and Billy added on by saying that he had to maintain his reputation.  Ms. Fusaro, however, brought up the point that Beowulf’s family owed a blood-debt to Hrothgar, which sparked an interesting point: loyalty functioned as a currency of sorts.  After all, Hrothgar sheltered Beowulf’s father and Beowulf was a known monster hunter.

Stemming off of loyalty, we discussed Unferth as a character.  He was a man jealous of Beowulf’s reputation, and as Billy pointed out, tried to bring Beowulf down so he could lift himself up.  Allen mentions how, like Cain, he was jealous: proof that no matter how great you are, there will be people who put you down. In a sense, Unferth is Beowulf’s human antagonist.  He’s what we shouldn’t be: someone who complains yet does nothing. Not only that, but he killed his brother much the same way Cain did, connecting him further to Grendel (a connection I’m excited to explore more deeply).  Sure, Beowulf is a little cocky, but at least he has the resume to back it up and is intent on helping the Danes.

The lesson ended off on a challenge: if you could ask anyone one question to get a feel for how loyal someone is, what question would that be?

Loyalty.  It seems to be a major theme that this story will continue to explore.

Reflection: 

    Today’s lesson, surprisingly enough, taught me a lot about human nature when the main antagonist of the story is a monster.  The obvious juxtaposition of Beowulf with Unferth set a clear line between loyalty and jealousy. On one hand, we have a man who’s dedicated to repaying his debts and is set on helping others with the help of God.  On the other, we have a man who’s killed his own brother, criticizes Beowulf even though he’s there to help, and yet does nothing to defeat Grendel. There’s a clear line set between right and wrong here, a clear boundary between the merits of loyalty and the downfalls of jealousy.  This charts back to the story of Cain killing his own brother, Abel, out of jealousy, and yet applies to our lives today. In learning this boundary, we got a feel for the major morals of the story and learned about what drives these characters. What better way to know Beowulf that to know what motivates him?  That same question can be applied across all our lives today. It’s important to recognize those who’ll be your friends during your times of need and those who will prosper during those times, boosting themselves at your own demise. In many ways, it’s as sad of a reality as it is a blessing, but it’s the one we live in.