Beowulf's Quest For Success

Beowulf, after defeating Grendel, has gained a reputation and has proved his strength, “But Beowulf longed only for fame”(lines 502-503). He wished to be at the top of the food chain and strive for greatness, which is why he went after Grendel’s mother. This relates to most humans in the quest for success. In most jobs, the goal is to work up in the business to earn more money as a higher position is acquire. While working to get a better job, the trade off is it gets much harder. The workload gets bigger and life becomes more difficult, but that is the price that has to be payed in order to have an easy more enjoyable life after retirement. Beowulf displayed this when he fought Grendel’s mother, knowing that he would increase his reputation
and have a chance at becoming king, which eventually did happen. He set his future up for success by taking on tough challenges early in his life. Fighting Grendel's mother was a monster that Beowulf had to deal with in his adult life. The monsters that Beowulf faced can be compared to the challenges or roadblocks that every adult faces such as finding jobs and paying bills. Even with a 3 thousand year difference, whether it’s Beowulf or Michael Jordan, everyone faces some type of challenge in their adult life. As humans get older, they learn for their past experiences. “I swam in the the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean and killing them one by one”(250-253). Beowulf fought these monsters before he sailed to Denmark and then slayed Grendel in Denmark. Both of these past experiences prepared him to battle Grendel’s mother. Many humans in modern day can relate very well to this. As children, there are many struggles and failures that everyone encounters, which prepare them for future situations.