A-Level Literature Review On Accidental Heroes For Free Use

After more than two hundred years of the first publication, the heroic poem about the adventures of Beowulf is still of high interest to the public. Not only do the scholars investigate Beowulf as an example of Old English literature, but a wider audience also finds this epic poem an important representation of Scandinavian culture. What attracts them is the fact that Beowulf is the only complete surviving text dates from the 8th and the early 11th century. The poem is indeed written in Old English language, but the stories take place in Denmark and Sweden. England is not mentioned in the poem because the focus of the author is mainly on the deeds overseas which he calls the “whale-road.” Although Beowulf is considered to belong to the Anglo-Saxon mythology, the existence of some events and characters could be actually proved historically. In the paper, we are going to search for the acts of courage. It is worth mentioning not only about Beowulf’s courage, it’s given. We find an image of an accidental hero that joins the fight against a fantastic creature that wants to destroy the local community. This hero makes the final attack in order to kill it and save the others.
The poem itself consists of two parts. In the first one, we could see Beowulf as a great warrior of the Geats who is eager to help King Hrothgar to save his kingdom from Grendel. For 12 years, king’s warriors have been suffering from this evil monster. Every night Grendel comes to Heorot and takes warriors’ lives away. Beowulf comes to Heorot with his soldiers, and during the first night, he manages to fatally wound the manlike creature. He keeps Grendel’s hand as a trophy. After the day of a great feast, the night brings another threat to the kingdom. Grendel’s mother comes to the palace looking for vengeance for the death of her son. Beowulf shows exceptional courage following her to the cave where he kills her. He takes the head of Grendel with him and becomes a genuine hero for Hrothgar as now people should not be afraid of fantastic monster and his mother. In the second part, we could see Beowulf as a wise king who is going to face his last battle. He becomes a king after the death of King Hygelac and rules peacefully 50 years until a slave disturbs a dragon stealing his treasure. Only Beowulf with his warriors could beat the angry dragon who burns everything on his way. Unfortunately, the warriors run away when they saw the dragon. Only Wiglaf remains and gives the dragon a fatal wound. Beowulf together with Wiglaf wins another battle against the fantastic creature, but he also receives a serious wound. The story ends with the funeral and mourning. Geats burn the body of their king and bury him on a great pyre. Wiglaf becomes a new hero and king.
While reading the poem, we perceive the heroic adventures of Beowulf. Every battle is memorable and shows him as a courageous hero who is eager to save people from danger. He is the one who will risk his life for serving the others and achieving his aim. Unfortunately, he cannot do it alone in the last fight. His strength is fading away. Wiglaf comes to help his king and becomes a new hero. He also makes his snap decision to conquer the fantastic creatures to bring justice to the local. Together they manage to kill the dragon and save other people. Wiglaf shows real courage during the fight as once Beowulf did in the fight with Grendel. Wiglaf’s actions continue the heroic stories in fighting the evil monsters. This detail is important in the poem because it supports the former adventures of Beowulf by eliminating the future risk and gives an idea that those who are not afraid can save others from danger. We could also assume that Wiglaf portrays those who will not run away in front of death as the majority usually do. Thus, Beowulf is the heroic poem where exceptional courage brings peace.
Cash, Johnny. By John S. Hurt. Casey Jones. 1970. YouTube. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd0EmkQUGqY>.
The song sang by Johnny Cash about Jonathan Luther Jones, known simply as Casey Jones, is only one music variation of the true heroic story that took place in the beginning of the twentieth century. From the song, it is clear that “Casey Jones was the roller's name on a 68 wheeler course he won his fame.” He was really working for Illinois Central Railroad, and his dramatic death inspired people to make ballads commemorating the courageous man. On April 30, 1900, he worked and took orders as every other day. The day was foggy and rainy. Casey John was trying to catch up with the lost time. However, when his train reached Vaughan, Mississippi, he was killed trying to save the passengers from an unexpected collision. His death was an accident, but his actions show how brave and caring Casey was. In the song, Johnny Cash depicts a man who became a folk hero for Americans.
“Casey John climbed in the cabin” while Wiglaf finds a weak spot and attacks the dragon. They both should react quickly even if one faces the dragon in real time and another fights against the dragon in a heroic poem. However, no one could be confident whether the author of Beowulf did not simply show his respect to the actions of Wiglaf in the same way as the singers show in the ballads about Casey John. Wiglaf might have been a real person. Still they have a very important feature in common that is not imagined or exaggerated by the genre. They are both ready to sacrifice their lives in order to save others. It makes them heroes among people who live around. Unfortunately, the heroes from real life are not so strong as the heroes in the epic poems. Casey John also saves people while being extremely brave, but he loses his own life.
Erin Brockovich. Dir. Steven Soderbergh. Perf. Julia Roberts, Albert Finney and Aaron Eckhart. Universal Pictures (USA), Columbia Pictures (International), 2000. DVD.
Erin Brockovich is a bibliographic drama that shows an inspiring story of a strong woman. Erin Brockovich is a single mother trying to overcome all the problems in her life. She has three children and only $16 on her account. Moreover, she cannot win the case of a car accident and find a job without any diploma. Fortunately, all these challenges motivate her to be stronger. She goes to her lawyer, Ed, and stays in his office until he agrees to let her work there. While she seems to be a down-to-earth and sometimes rude, she turns to be courageous and sympathetic. She starts her investigation on a real estate case involving Pacific Gas & Electric Company that poisons people living near with illegal dumping of chromium. She did not expect to take part in the biggest lawsuit in the USA. However, she cannot do anything else when she finds about a suffering of other people and future threats.
The heroic stories take root in real life when ordinary people inspire with their persistence and courage. The link between Erin Brockovich and Wiglaf is in their readiness to act no matter how hard it might be to succeed. Erin Brockovich did not listen to the warnings of others in the same way as Wiglaf did not follow the warriors. Their actions are based on the inner urge to help and are not influenced by someone else. The character of Erin Brockovich develops despite all the problems that a single woman should face. However, to do own research on Pacific Gas & Electric Company is a snap decision which she follows till justice is brought up again. Both the character from the movie and the character from the book are depicted as the strong personalities who prefer honesty to cowardice and will fight they win.
Morabito, Rocco. The Kiss of Life. 1967. Florida. First Aid Corps: Simplify Saving Lives. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://www.firstaidcorps.org/tag/kiss-of-life/>.
Rocco Morabito was a journalist in Jacksonville Journal. In July 1967, he was going on the assignment to take pictures of the strike. On the way back, he stopped seeing a crowd of people staring at a power pole. He saw a utility worker hanging down. It was Randal G. Champion who had a contact with a Low Voltage line while carrying out routine maintenance. Morabito called an ambulance. In the next second, he took a picture of J.D. Thompson who started performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He kept doing it until he felt Champion breathing. After, he descended with Champion on his shoulder and continued rescuing the life of his co-worker. Champion was saved. The following year, Rocco Morabito won the Pulitzer Prize for his photo, The Kiss of Live.
Thompson’s performance remains an example of human courage and determination to help others. He is also a hero from a real life who was not scared of losing his life. He reacted instinctively in order to save the life of another person. Obviously, he did not have to attack a dragon as Wiglaf, but he also was trying to take another twist of fate in the life of another human being. He did not want to accept the death of his co-worker in the same way as Wiglaf did not want to accept the death of people that might be caused by the dragon. They are both fighting for life in the particular moment without thinking about any future reward. It is in their nature to help with full devotion. Thompson fights to hear the breath, Wiglaf fights to take the breath away. Their courage inspires to be heroes in a daily life and to believe in the strength of own actions. It seems that they both do not think that their deeds should be over glorified. Such actions should be familiar for every living soul.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973. Print.
The Hobbit belongs to the genre of heroic fantasy. It was written by J.R.R. Tolkien during his service in World War I. Although the author did not want to make an allegory to the war, the audience could find vivid connections between the events in the book and real life. The story takes place in Middle-earth where Bilbo Baggins starts an unusual adventure together with thirteen dwarves and a wizard, Gandalf. Unusual because he is a respectable hobbit, and hobbits do not tend to go far from the Shire. After some hesitation, Bilbo decides to embark on the journey which will change him greatly. The company is going to the Lonely Mountain, near Lake-town, in order to take dwarves’ treasure from a dragon, Smaug. Before reaching the mountain, they face other dangers. With every new threat, Bilbo believes in himself more. Eventually, he becomes brave enough to go to the dragon alone. His courage saves citizens of Lake-town from an angry man because it is Bilbo who finds a weak spot on Smaug. As a result, Bard is able to kill the dragon with the last arrow. The story ends with the Battle of Five Armies which is only the beginning of the dark times.
Both Wiglaf and Bilbo become heroes by accident. What unites them is that they do not lose their courage in the most important moment. Wiglaf does not escape to the woods as other soldiers and attacks the dragon. Bilbo continues his journey even when he could lose his life and finds how to save people in the town. They are doomed to face dragons without any personal intention to fight against them. Of course, Bilbo does not actually wound the dragon as Wiglaf in Beowulf. However, Bard would not be able to choose the right target without Bilbo’s knowledge. The heroes from these works of literature show genuine courage under the threat to own life in order to save others. To tell the truth, Tolkien had been working with Beowulf for many years. He might have borrowed Wiglaf’s devotion to bring it to an image of Bilbo Baggins. However, it only makes them more inspiring for the audience.