Humanity In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Today in society, people are often caught in between what they actually are and what they ought to be. Everyone wants to be better than what they actually are. But only a handful of everyone is going to realize what they actually should be and do something about it. I feel as if the world thinks and revolves around the idea that being what we ought to be is something that is too good to be true. I beg to differ. The knowledge that I have gained from our readings this year in world literature could definitely help out with this argument in today’s society. In my opinion, the human population as a whole is recognized as doing just enough. We do what we think is right and hope to maybe become remembered. What we ought to be is a different story.

At the first of the story, the Green Knight challenges all of the knights of King Arthur’s Round table to a game. “This ax, that is heavy enough, to handle as he likes, And I shall bide the first blow, as bare as I sit….In twelvemonth and a day He shall have of me the same….Who dares take up the game…If he astonished them at first, stiller were then All that household in hall, the high and the low” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines 289-302). Once again the human race is embarrassed by being proven what we truly are. The Knights of the Round Table that are supposed to be brave and prideful in fighting act cowardly. They hope that someone will rise and take on this challenge. The don’t want the burden to be on them. They would rather someone else accept the challenge that way they will not have to go down and remembered as a fool. We are often caught up in this idea in today’s world. We worry more about what the next person is going to do. We hope that someone else rather than ourselves will take the lead role while we stand in the back and follow at a safe distance. We are all so scared to achieve something that is above the average. We are scared of what others will think or even worse what others may do to us because of actions in taking a step forward. This is foolish and human race is