The Old Man and Sea

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In general, Christ-like heroes offer themselves in service for others, even death. When Beowulf becomes an old king, the dragon comes to the Geatland and destroys people’s house. Beowulf is not that strength anymore, but, in order to protect his people, he decides to fight with the dragon by himself. In the poem, the poet wrote: “the warriors protector, prince of the hall-troop”(2337). The poet shows that Beowulf is important to people and he fights the dragon for people. However, Beowulf does not have the same capacity as before because his old age. So, Wiglaf says to others: “he[Beowulf] wanted this challenge to be one he’d face by himself alone”(2643-2644), and he decided to come help Beowulf. The speech of Wiglaf shows that the battle is difficult and hard, but Beowulf does not want to give up in order to fight this battle through to victory and brings peace for people again. Unfortunately, the dragon’s poison goes through Beowulf’s body; and he dies after he kills the dragon. Beowulf dies in the service for others, and his action verifies that he is a Christ-like hero.

Beowulf is a Christ-like hero who is important to people because he always thinks about people and brings peace to them. He helps people against the evil when they suffer the disaster; he brings hope to people when they meet difficulties; most notably, he dies in the service for others. Beowulf’s story is well known by people today, and his spirit should not be abandoned by people in today’s world.