Writing's Workshop
1
A Light Shrouded in Darkness
All great stories have a defined protagonist and antagonist. Both protagonist and antagonist are broad terms for, in some stories, the protagonist can be the villain and thus the hero an antagonist. Moreover, in each of these tales, there is always a stark contrast between the hero and villain, one side consisting of good and the other of evil. Some authors add anti-heroes to represent the antithesis of the hero’s ideals without becoming an antagonist. Oftentimes, heroes transform into their author’s envisionment of perfection, whether it be from the start or the end of a story. Yet, when analyzing the story, the reader can notice that these heroes have blatant issues that are ignored by the society in which they live. In epics such as Beowulf and The Odyssey, or even in short stories including The Hanging and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, each hero has some shortcomings. James Thurber, George Orwell, and the Beowulf poet vilify heroes within their stories, either intentionally or not, in hopes of conveying the fact that the author’s idealized protagonists are evil at heart and their heroic attempts repeatedly fall short due to selfish ideals and opinions.
In Beowulf, the author establishes Beowulf’s bravery and heroicness through his blind acceptance of Hrothgar’s request. Upon arriving at Herot, Beowulf assumes Hrothgar’s plea to defeat the monster Grendel, who was promptly murdering many of the soldiers that deemed the palace their home, “‘Grendel is no braver, no stronger / Than I am!” (10.677-678). Beowulf takes no time for contemplation when Hrothgar asked him to take down Grendel. Beowulf’s absence of hesitation illustrates two pictures for Beowulf, one of blind foolishness, and the other of bravery. The reader can quickly come to the conclusion that Beowulf is simply a fool, jumping into situations to get himself killed. However, the Beowulf poet clearly demonstrates that he is not just a bumbling buffoon, which is seen through Beowulf’s tact and successful plan in slaying Grendel, by acting to sleep and catch Grendel off-guard: “Then he stepped to another / Still body, clutched at Beowulf with his claws” (11.746-747). The Beowulf poet distinctly shows the reader that Beowulf is no fool, but instead a cocky, brilliant-minded hero. Yet, the poet defines an unlit evil that remained dormant in Beowulf until this moment.
Beowulf, despite appearing to be this heroic figure who willingly risks his life to slay this beast, allows for that same beast to murder his crew, defining Beowulf as selfish and uncaring of human life. Beowulf conquers Grendel by disguising himself as one of the soldiers in Herot and pretending to be asleep; however, when his men begin to die to Grendel, Beowulf persists in lying down and not rescuing them: “Great bodies beating at its beautiful iron walls. . .” (Anonymous 11.772). Grendel retrieves the bodies of soldiers and throws them up against the wall until they die. Despite this, Beowulf sits, waiting patiently for his plan to enter fruition. Beowulf understands that he could end the killings before any more people died, “I could kill him with my sword. . .” (10.677). Yet, Beowulf willingly chooses to remain patient until Grendel arrives at his bed. The Beowulf poet appears to punish his pride, demonstrated through his death at the dragon’s poison, but he receives no punishment for letting his crew die. This provides interesting insight into what the Beowulf poet sees to be moral, and what he sees to be evil.
The Beowulf poet intended for Beowulf to be viewed as a perfect idol, as seen through the people’s love and admiration for him. The author confirms this through the continuous support Beowulf receives from the people of Herot, “Slowly towards Herot again, retelling / Beowulf’s bravery as they jogged along” (13.856-857). The people praised Beowulf for his bravery, but ignore the sacrifices that he made to reach his goal. This illustrates to the reader that the author wants Beowulf to be praised for his actions, despite the clear implications that are given through Beowulf’s allowance of his crew’s death. Yet, through the poet’s attempt at a flawless man in the eyes of the people, the reader is able to discern the personal morality and beliefs that the author had. The reader can see that the Beowulf poet believed that evil should be conquered, even if that transforms the hero into a villain in the process. However, this is not the only occurrence where Beowulf acts immorally.
Beowulf’s robbery of Grendel’s mother portrays that his first goal was to acquire more power, and not to save Herot from the monster’s horrific genocide. During Beowulf’s second expedition to attack Grendel’s mother, who sought revenge for Beowulf’s horrific actions, he comes across a magical sword. The sword is unable to be lifted by most men, however, Beowulf manages to unsheath it and quickly uses it to kill the monster, “Sword, hammered by giants, strong / And blessed with their magic, the best of all weapons” (Anonymous 23.1558-1559). Beowulf, in the midst of a battle against Grendel’s mother, grabs this sword in an attempt to kill the monster. This permits the Beowulf poet to demonstrate that before others’ needs, Beowulf would always put his own desires first. It could be contested that Beowulf only received the “Sword, hammered by giants” to slay Grendel’s mother, as her skin was too tough to pierce with the weapon he had already owned. However, if this were the case, Beowulf could have easily left the sword once his uses for it were complete. He, also, wouldn’t have, with the magical sword, beat the previously murdered Grendel. From this, the reader can plainly understand that Beowulf is not the heroic perfection that the Beowulf poet hypes him up to be. In fact, it is clear that Beowulf has some very apparent and frightening traits that the author appears to ignore.
Beowulf’s attempt to fight Grendel whilst lacking a weapon exhibits his selfish hopes for a thrill, instead of humility and heroicness. Despite hearing the atrocities that the monster, Grendel, had displayed, Beowulf decided it was better to give the beast a fair fight. While Beowulf could have decided to slay the beast with his sword then, finishing the ordeal and saving tens of lives, he persisted that he must duel Grendel with his bare fists: “... seeing a soldier waiting / Weaponless, unafraid” (Anonymous 10.684-685). Beowulf could have killed the beast then, yet, he had already envisioned in his mind the reality that Grendel would watch “a soldier waiting / Weaponless, unafraid.” Due to Beowulf’s own delusions, he assisted in Grendel’s killings by observing them, not ceasing them. His hopes of having a thrill-filled fistfight, whether unintentionally or not, led to the deaths of his own crew, the people he swore to protect by slaying Grendel. However, Beowulf is not the only hero to allow evil to take over in hopes of conquering it, in fact, some heroes create their own enemies.
In James Thurber’s The Secret Life of Water Mitty, Thurber uses Walter to portray that some heroes build their own nightmares and that sometimes, the heroes are the real villains. Thurber describes that a hero is easily able to create conflict themselves, leading to the endangerment of others. For example, as Walter Mitty and his wife drive past a hospital, Walter becomes absorbed in his own thoughts and erects an entirely new universe within his mind palace: “‘. . .Obstreosis of the ductal tract. Tertiary. Wish you’d take a look at him.’ ‘Glad to,’ said Mitty” (Thurber 2). While in the real world, Walter is simply driving a car, he fantasizes that he is the hero in a story. By doing so, he creates a reality where someone is in dire danger. Although “Obstreosis” is not an actual word, Thurber illustrates that it is in fact harmful through the fact that there were three doctors performing on the man. By setting himself as a hero, Walter constructs hurt and pain that were unnecessary. Whilst he could have simply allowed for life to continue, he made problems in hopes of becoming an idealized hero. This shows the hero’s constant lust for validation, leading to the point of having to create evil to destroy it. Despite these realities appearing to be illusions that Walter creates, it allows for the reader to look deeper into his psychology. He yearns to be a hero so eagerly that he is willing to create evil that he must conquer. Yet, Walter also invents realities where he becomes the subject of conflict.
James Thurber defines in his story that a hero who creates his own conflict is the evil itself, which others must rebel against. During Walter Mitty’s walk, newsboy went around, telling people about a trial that was taking place. As he hears this, Walter envisions a world where he is on trial for murder, which he even admits to: “‘I could have killed Gregory Fitzhurst at three hundred feet with my left hand’” (Thurber 3). Thurber uses this scene to villainize Walter in hopes of portraying to the reader that eventually, a hero who formulates enough conflicts will transform into the very thing he sought to destroy. This is seen through the slow evolution of Walter Mitty from becoming a heroic figure in his fictional realities into the villain who eventually perishes fatefully, giving the reader insight into Thurber’s thoughts and opinions.
Thurber utilizes Walter Mitty’s execution to punish him for his creation of realities which led to further suffering. As Walter awaited for his wife’s arrival from the drugstore, he stood against a wall, lit cigarette in hand. He then threw his cigarette to the ground and stared at a firing squad, “. . ., he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last” (Thurber 4). Through Walter Mitty’s apparent demise, Thurber defines his view on Walter Mitty’s actions. Thurber could have justified Mitty’s actions by praising him through characters, however, Walter’s death from the same characters he created. Thurber’s punishment for Mitty demonstrates his views for the character he created, showing that he believes that heroes that create their own conflict are inherently flawed and have become the villain by doing so. Yet, not all heroes attempt to enact heroic actions, some simply sit and watch the world burn.
George Orwell, in his story The Hanging, attempts to illustrate to the reader that a hero who recognizes and watches pain ensue is as corrupt as a villain. Orwell acts as a prison guard at a camp as he and others fetch a prisoner to go and be hung. As they do so, Orwell notices that the man carefully stepped to avoid a puddle, causing a wave of understanding of the evils he was committing to crash upon his mind: “It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man” (Orwell 2). Orwell uses this moment to illustrate that the protagonist has understood the atrocities that he is committing of killing “a healthy, conscious man,” ensuring that the reader understands there is no excuse for his coming actions. This is further defined as the story continues and Orwell follows through with the hanging. Afterward, he and the guards share drinks and laugh, while only being a few hundred yards away, “I found that I was laughing quite loudly. . . The dead man was a hundred yards away” (Orwell 4). Orwell’s lust to become like the guards who appear to not be phased by the dead man overpower his moral to stop their murder. By filtering in himself as a part of the guards and describing the horrors of his crimes, Orwell clearly and precisely demonstrates that he found himself to be a villain in some way. Despite acting as the hero of the story, by the end he transforms into a villain, much like Walter Mitty. Orwell, instead of simply sitting by and lacking the bravery to combat the guards’ cruelty, chooses his side. He joins the guards, no longer only watching. However, instead of becoming a villain through creating problems, he evolves into one through no action whatsoever. Both James Thurber and George Orwell illustrate that heroes can easily become villains through their flawed characters and selfish lusts for fame and acceptance. All three authors allow for their character’s evils to shine through, whether on accident such as in Beowulf or on purpose like The Hanging.
Thus, each author has slightly differing views on how heroes evolve into villains, yet all manage to vilify their heroes to almost make them seem worse than their enemy. Each protagonist is tempted with forms of selfishness, be it power, praise, or the lust of acceptance, they all face a deadly enemy to which they eventually succumb. Through this, Thurber, Orwell, and the Beowulf poet clearly condemn these idealized heroes into a world of imperfections that demonstrate to the world the fact that heroes can never be perfect, and that selfishness will cower in darkness until it sees the opportunity has arisen that it cannot be conquered.
*Works Cited is there*
A Light Shrouded in Darkness
All great stories have a defined protagonist and antagonist. Both protagonist and antagonist are broad terms for, in some stories, the protagonist can be the villain and thus the hero an antagonist. Moreover, in each of these tales, there is always a stark contrast between the hero and villain, one side consisting of good and the other of evil. Some authors add anti-heroes to represent the antithesis of the hero’s ideals without becoming an antagonist. Oftentimes, heroes transform into their author’s envisionment of perfection, whether it be from the start or the end of a story. Yet, when analyzing the story, the reader can notice that these heroes have blatant issues that are ignored by the society in which they live. In epics such as Beowulf and The Odyssey, or even in short stories including The Hanging and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, each hero has some shortcomings. James Thurber, George Orwell, and the Beowulf poet vilify heroes within their stories, either intentionally or not, in hopes of conveying the fact that the author’s idealized protagonists are evil at heart and their heroic attempts repeatedly fall short due to selfish ideals and opinions.
In Beowulf, the author establishes Beowulf’s bravery and heroicness through his blind acceptance of Hrothgar’s request. Upon arriving at Herot, Beowulf assumes Hrothgar’s plea to defeat the monster Grendel, who was promptly murdering many of the soldiers that deemed the palace their home, “‘Grendel is no braver, no stronger / Than I am!” (10.677-678). Beowulf takes no time for contemplation when Hrothgar asked him to take down Grendel. Beowulf’s absence of hesitation illustrates two pictures for Beowulf, one of blind foolishness, and the other of bravery. The reader can quickly come to the conclusion that Beowulf is simply a fool, jumping into situations to get himself killed. However, the Beowulf poet clearly demonstrates that he is not just a bumbling buffoon, which is seen through Beowulf’s tact and successful plan in slaying Grendel, by acting to sleep and catch Grendel off-guard: “Then he stepped to another / Still body, clutched at Beowulf with his claws” (11.746-747). The Beowulf poet distinctly shows the reader that Beowulf is no fool, but instead a cocky, brilliant-minded hero. Yet, the poet defines an unlit evil that remained dormant in Beowulf until this moment.
Beowulf, despite appearing to be this heroic figure who willingly risks his life to slay this beast, allows for that same beast to murder his crew, defining Beowulf as selfish and uncaring of human life. Beowulf conquers Grendel by disguising himself as one of the soldiers in Herot and pretending to be asleep; however, when his men begin to die to Grendel, Beowulf persists in lying down and not rescuing them: “Great bodies beating at its beautiful iron walls. . .” (Anonymous 11.772). Grendel retrieves the bodies of soldiers and throws them up against the wall until they die. Despite this, Beowulf sits, waiting patiently for his plan to enter fruition. Beowulf understands that he could end the killings before any more people died, “I could kill him with my sword. . .” (10.677). Yet, Beowulf willingly chooses to remain patient until Grendel arrives at his bed. The Beowulf poet appears to punish his pride, demonstrated through his death at the dragon’s poison, but he receives no punishment for letting his crew die. This provides interesting insight into what the Beowulf poet sees to be moral, and what he sees to be evil.
The Beowulf poet intended for Beowulf to be viewed as a perfect idol, as seen through the people’s love and admiration for him. The author confirms this through the continuous support Beowulf receives from the people of Herot, “Slowly towards Herot again, retelling / Beowulf’s bravery as they jogged along” (13.856-857). The people praised Beowulf for his bravery, but ignore the sacrifices that he made to reach his goal. This illustrates to the reader that the author wants Beowulf to be praised for his actions, despite the clear implications that are given through Beowulf’s allowance of his crew’s death. Yet, through the poet’s attempt at a flawless man in the eyes of the people, the reader is able to discern the personal morality and beliefs that the author had. The reader can see that the Beowulf poet believed that evil should be conquered, even if that transforms the hero into a villain in the process. However, this is not the only occurrence where Beowulf acts immorally.
Beowulf’s robbery of Grendel’s mother portrays that his first goal was to acquire more power, and not to save Herot from the monster’s horrific genocide. During Beowulf’s second expedition to attack Grendel’s mother, who sought revenge for Beowulf’s horrific actions, he comes across a magical sword. The sword is unable to be lifted by most men, however, Beowulf manages to unsheath it and quickly uses it to kill the monster, “Sword, hammered by giants, strong / And blessed with their magic, the best of all weapons” (Anonymous 23.1558-1559). Beowulf, in the midst of a battle against Grendel’s mother, grabs this sword in an attempt to kill the monster. This permits the Beowulf poet to demonstrate that before others’ needs, Beowulf would always put his own desires first. It could be contested that Beowulf only received the “Sword, hammered by giants” to slay Grendel’s mother, as her skin was too tough to pierce with the weapon he had already owned. However, if this were the case, Beowulf could have easily left the sword once his uses for it were complete. He, also, wouldn’t have, with the magical sword, beat the previously murdered Grendel. From this, the reader can plainly understand that Beowulf is not the heroic perfection that the Beowulf poet hypes him up to be. In fact, it is clear that Beowulf has some very apparent and frightening traits that the author appears to ignore.
Beowulf’s attempt to fight Grendel whilst lacking a weapon exhibits his selfish hopes for a thrill, instead of humility and heroicness. Despite hearing the atrocities that the monster, Grendel, had displayed, Beowulf decided it was better to give the beast a fair fight. While Beowulf could have decided to slay the beast with his sword then, finishing the ordeal and saving tens of lives, he persisted that he must duel Grendel with his bare fists: “... seeing a soldier waiting / Weaponless, unafraid” (Anonymous 10.684-685). Beowulf could have killed the beast then, yet, he had already envisioned in his mind the reality that Grendel would watch “a soldier waiting / Weaponless, unafraid.” Due to Beowulf’s own delusions, he assisted in Grendel’s killings by observing them, not ceasing them. His hopes of having a thrill-filled fistfight, whether unintentionally or not, led to the deaths of his own crew, the people he swore to protect by slaying Grendel. However, Beowulf is not the only hero to allow evil to take over in hopes of conquering it, in fact, some heroes create their own enemies.
In James Thurber’s The Secret Life of Water Mitty, Thurber uses Walter to portray that some heroes build their own nightmares and that sometimes, the heroes are the real villains. Thurber describes that a hero is easily able to create conflict themselves, leading to the endangerment of others. For example, as Walter Mitty and his wife drive past a hospital, Walter becomes absorbed in his own thoughts and erects an entirely new universe within his mind palace: “‘. . .Obstreosis of the ductal tract. Tertiary. Wish you’d take a look at him.’ ‘Glad to,’ said Mitty” (Thurber 2). While in the real world, Walter is simply driving a car, he fantasizes that he is the hero in a story. By doing so, he creates a reality where someone is in dire danger. Although “Obstreosis” is not an actual word, Thurber illustrates that it is in fact harmful through the fact that there were three doctors performing on the man. By setting himself as a hero, Walter constructs hurt and pain that were unnecessary. Whilst he could have simply allowed for life to continue, he made problems in hopes of becoming an idealized hero. This shows the hero’s constant lust for validation, leading to the point of having to create evil to destroy it. Despite these realities appearing to be illusions that Walter creates, it allows for the reader to look deeper into his psychology. He yearns to be a hero so eagerly that he is willing to create evil that he must conquer. Yet, Walter also invents realities where he becomes the subject of conflict.
James Thurber defines in his story that a hero who creates his own conflict is the evil itself, which others must rebel against. During Walter Mitty’s walk, newsboy went around, telling people about a trial that was taking place. As he hears this, Walter envisions a world where he is on trial for murder, which he even admits to: “‘I could have killed Gregory Fitzhurst at three hundred feet with my left hand’” (Thurber 3). Thurber uses this scene to villainize Walter in hopes of portraying to the reader that eventually, a hero who formulates enough conflicts will transform into the very thing he sought to destroy. This is seen through the slow evolution of Walter Mitty from becoming a heroic figure in his fictional realities into the villain who eventually perishes fatefully, giving the reader insight into Thurber’s thoughts and opinions.
Thurber utilizes Walter Mitty’s execution to punish him for his creation of realities which led to further suffering. As Walter awaited for his wife’s arrival from the drugstore, he stood against a wall, lit cigarette in hand. He then threw his cigarette to the ground and stared at a firing squad, “. . ., he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last” (Thurber 4). Through Walter Mitty’s apparent demise, Thurber defines his view on Walter Mitty’s actions. Thurber could have justified Mitty’s actions by praising him through characters, however, Walter’s death from the same characters he created. Thurber’s punishment for Mitty demonstrates his views for the character he created, showing that he believes that heroes that create their own conflict are inherently flawed and have become the villain by doing so. Yet, not all heroes attempt to enact heroic actions, some simply sit and watch the world burn.
George Orwell, in his story The Hanging, attempts to illustrate to the reader that a hero who recognizes and watches pain ensue is as corrupt as a villain. Orwell acts as a prison guard at a camp as he and others fetch a prisoner to go and be hung. As they do so, Orwell notices that the man carefully stepped to avoid a puddle, causing a wave of understanding of the evils he was committing to crash upon his mind: “It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man” (Orwell 2). Orwell uses this moment to illustrate that the protagonist has understood the atrocities that he is committing of killing “a healthy, conscious man,” ensuring that the reader understands there is no excuse for his coming actions. This is further defined as the story continues and Orwell follows through with the hanging. Afterward, he and the guards share drinks and laugh, while only being a few hundred yards away, “I found that I was laughing quite loudly. . . The dead man was a hundred yards away” (Orwell 4). Orwell’s lust to become like the guards who appear to not be phased by the dead man overpower his moral to stop their murder. By filtering in himself as a part of the guards and describing the horrors of his crimes, Orwell clearly and precisely demonstrates that he found himself to be a villain in some way. Despite acting as the hero of the story, by the end he transforms into a villain, much like Walter Mitty. Orwell, instead of simply sitting by and lacking the bravery to combat the guards’ cruelty, chooses his side. He joins the guards, no longer only watching. However, instead of becoming a villain through creating problems, he evolves into one through no action whatsoever. Both James Thurber and George Orwell illustrate that heroes can easily become villains through their flawed characters and selfish lusts for fame and acceptance. All three authors allow for their character’s evils to shine through, whether on accident such as in Beowulf or on purpose like The Hanging.
Thus, each author has slightly differing views on how heroes evolve into villains, yet all manage to vilify their heroes to almost make them seem worse than their enemy. Each protagonist is tempted with forms of selfishness, be it power, praise, or the lust of acceptance, they all face a deadly enemy to which they eventually succumb. Through this, Thurber, Orwell, and the Beowulf poet clearly condemn these idealized heroes into a world of imperfections that demonstrate to the world the fact that heroes can never be perfect, and that selfishness will cower in darkness until it sees the opportunity has arisen that it cannot be conquered.
*Works Cited is there*