2/27/20 Derek Coffey PD1

Derek Coffey Period 1

February 27 2020

Aim: How are philosophies of religion and government constructed by the characters in Grendel?

Do Now: Is Red Horse an anarchist? What is the purpose of explaining this to a prince? Argue: is this true or false?

• The Red Horse is an anarchist because he believes that all government is violent and therefore inherently wrong and pointless
• Red horse constantly mentions how the plight of the peasantry in the Hrothgar’s kingdom to Hrothulf
• He also believes they are being taken advantage by the people at the top which echoes similar aspects to a marxist philosophy of thinking 
• I disagree with this way of thinking, as communism always has the opposite effect of what it attempts to achieve by giving too much power to those on top

Consider Tolstoy’s perspective on government compared up to Red Horse and the Priest. Are government and religion synonymous? Are they ubiquitous? Are they necessary? 

• I believe that government and religion are synonymous because humanity gets its moral code from religion and it is important to have compassion for a leader in government
• Both government and religion provide crucial structure to the people
• Others in the class argued that there must be a separation of church and state because not everyone is religious and holds the same values to be true 

Ork? Orc-Like Lord of the Rings?

The “Great Destroyer”?

Black Sun with Spiders

Ork’s a priest… What about his friends?

Wings

Snow

• Snow is a symbol of purity and cleansing throughout literature, as well as the end of something
• Black Sun is a bad omen 
• Winter is foreshadowing for the end of Grendel’s life by the hands of Beowulf

Reflection:

    I found the discussion about religion and government to be of particular interest to me in this lesson. It is clear from Chapter 8 that Hrothulf and the Red Horse differ in their political philosophies. The Red Horse proposed a revolution as a simple act of violence because he views all sides of violence and equally evil. However Hrothulf does not believe in all the unnecessary violence and supports a state with more freedom. He thinks only a crazy person would praise such bloodshed. Hrothulf’s refusal to praise violence for its own sake differentiates him from the bloodthirsty Grendel, and establishes Hrothulf as perhaps the most noble character in the book.