Joseph Campbell had a theory about the hero’s journey in a story or poem. He believed that the hero was introduced sympathetically so the reader could try to identify with what the hero was going through. Beowulf is introduced when he hears about a monster who is terrorizing a town. Beowulf does not waste any time and rushes off to the town where the monster is located. He shows the courage characteristic of a hero. Another characteristic of a hero is selflessness, which Beowulf also showed when he wanted to fight monsters and did not care what would happen to him.
In the hero’s first fight against Grendel, he did not have any problems. Beowulf was sleeping when Grendel attacked. Grendel had just ripped someone else apart and drank all of the blood. Beowulf was courageous in fighting Grendel because he did not even use a sword to fight the monster. Beowulf ended up cracking Grendel’s fist, barely breaking a sweat. Grendel did not fight back, so Beowulf ended up breaking his shoulder off, which tore his arm and claw off too. Another component of
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Grendel’s mom was mad because her one and only son had been killed. She wanted revenge. Grendel’s mom went looking for revenge and took one of King Hrothgar’s closest friends and killed him. Hrothgar alerted Beowulf immediately. Beowulf did not even wait for anyone to answer him. He immediately jumped into the water where Grendel’s mother lived. Beowulf faced a problem in this fight. His sword could not hurt the monster. Beowulf was courageous during the battle; he did not give up even when he was losing. He got stabbed with tusks, clawed, and had holes in his helmets but he did not give up. He continued to put others before himself for the good of the town. Beowulf got angry and stabbed Grendel’s mom after fighting her with his hands. He then chopped off Grendel’s head and brought it back to the King to prove what he had done. Beowulf put his life at risk for a town