Mrs. Hare
C Block
6676
Beowulf/Jaws Essay
The worlds of Jaws and Beowulf are portrayed as simplified, in the sense that there are
only two sides to any conflict, the good side and the evil side. This type of setting originally
appears to offer a simple and easy to understand, yet boring, tale. However, when one looks just
below the surface of the characters, much more depth is found. This extra depth causes the
illusion of good and evil to collapse. In Beowulf and Jaws, the simplified worlds of good and
evil are only an illusion.
Both Beowulf and Grendel’s mother are portrayed as purely good and purely evil,
respectively. In reality, they are not. The narrator describes Grendel’s mother as totally evil.
“…that swamp-thing from hell, a tarn-hag in all her terrible strength…” (Heaney 105). The area
of her home also fits the portrayed version of her. “…the dismal wood mountain trees growing
out at an angle above gray stones: the bloodshot water surged underneath” (Heaney 99).
Certainly, these passages suggest that Grendel’s mother is evil all the way through. However,
she cannot be, as she abides by the same morality as Beowulf. After the killing of her son, she
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:55 PM
Comment [1]: Make a better title next time
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:44 PM
Deleted: ,
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:45 PM
Comment [2]: What exactly do you mean
by “extra depth”? Be more specific here.
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:45 PM
Comment [3]: But what replaces them? Be
more specific
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:47 PM
Comment [4]: What do you mean by
reality? Beowulf and Grendel aren’t real –
they only exist in the text.
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:47 PM
Comment [5]: Incorporate your quotes
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:47 PM
Deleted: .
immediately becomes an “avenger” for him (Heaney 89). How can Grendel’s mother be evil if
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:47 PM
Comment [6]: Incorporate your quotes
Beowulf says less than ten pages later that “It is always better to avenge dear ones that to indulge
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:47 PM
Deleted: .
in mourning” (Heaney 97)? Because Beowulf is certainly on the righteous side of this twodimensional conflict in the two-dimensional world of Beowulf, Grendel’s mother must be at least
somewhat good. However, once one of the main villains of Beowulf is found to not be
completely evil, the entire illusion of a simplified good and evil world collapses. Grendel’s
mother is not evil, so it is not righteous for Beowulf to go and kill her. Sure, he says he is going
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:48 PM
Deleted: ,
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:49 PM
Comment [7]: Good thought but rhetorical
questions are terrible
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:49 PM
Comment [8]: Nice point
to revenge Aeschere, but the score is even at that point. If he just leaves Grendel’s mother alone,
the conflict will be over. The only motive for killing Grendel’s mother is to gain a reputation.
Therefore, Beowulf is not out to help anyone, but to help himself. Apparently, Beowulf is not as
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:49 PM
Comment [9]: Only?
righteous as he seems. Because Beowulf is not completely righteous, and Grendel’s mother is
not completely evil, what was once a tale of evil vs. good becomes a much more complicated
and interesting. The complex characters in Beowulf make the story much more interesting.
In Jaws, both the shark and Brody are not as pure good or evil as they are portrayed. The
movie describes the shark as the very epitome of evil through other characters and through
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:50 PM
Comment [10]: This is all a bit of a stretch
images. For instance, Mayor Vaughn labels the shark the “largest, meanest, most vicious shark
ever landed off Amity Island, and a known maneater!” (Spielberg). In addition, throughout the
movie, whenever the cameras show the shark, it always looks like some kind of horrible monster,
with huge teeth and blood dripping from its jaws. Clearly, the filmmakers are trying to depict
the shark as evil. Nevertheless, the shark’s goal is not to terrorize the people of Amity Island at
all. In reality, the shark is only trying to make it from one meal to the next. As Brody asks
Hooper, the shark “Picks an area where there’s food and hangs out as long as the food supply
lasts?” (Spielberg). If the shark is in fact just “hanging out as long as the food supply lasts”, then
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:50 PM
Comment [11]: Is this clear? Perhaps it’s
just terrifying – but not necessarily evil
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:51 PM
Comment [12]: Again, the shark isn’t real
– if the movie describes it as not entirely evil,
then it’s not portraying it as entirely evil.
it is not evil (Spielberg). All this shark is acting on is its natural instincts and will to survive.
Yet Brody, the portrayed hero in Jaws, seems to think he is exacting some kind of revenge on
this mindless animal. Just before he shoots the air tank in the shark, Brody mutters inwardly,
“Smile, you son of a bitch” (Spielberg). In speaking to the shark just before killing it, Brody
shows us that he sees the shark as an evil personal enemy. By seeing the shark as a personal
enemy, Brody may be trying to justify his vendetta against an instinct-driven animal. Sure, he’s
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:52 PM
Comment [13]: Good point.
justified in killing it, but slaughtering a mindless animal that was only trying to live will not give
him a sense of revenge. Therefore, Brody’s grudge against the shark has nothing to do with
revenge, but is actually about what the shark is doing to his career and his reputation. Brody, as
an outsider and a new police chief, is in a tenuous position before the shark comes. When the
shark comes, it forces him to upset business owners by attempting to close the beaches, and
causes Mrs. Kitner to lose all respect for him. Brody needs to kill the shark. This suggests that
Brody does not hunt the shark to save the town or help anybody, but to further himself.
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:53 PM
Comment [14]: Proof?
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:53 PM
Comment [15]: Proof?
Therefore, Brody is not as righteous as he was originally portrayed. Because the righteous side
of the conflict is not very righteous, and the evil side is not very evil, the illusion of good guys
and bad guys disappears. What was once a simple tale of good vs. evil, is now a much more
complex story involving the entire spectrum of morality. In Beowulf and Jaws, the simplified
world of good and evil is only an illusion.
You have an interesting point overall, Hugh. You’re certainly right to identify that good and evil
aren’t quite as clear-cut as they seem in both the film and Beowulf. However, contrasting
“reality” with the text doesn’t make that much sense – there’s no reality except that within the
text. You need to find something else to prop your argument up against. Also, and this is
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:53 PM
Comment [16]: Conclusion?
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:53 PM
Comment [17]: What does this all mean?
Hugh Koeze 12/23/2014 3:55 PM
Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
probably the most important point, you need many more paragraphs. These long paragraphs are
terrible to read – break them into small, logical pieces. One point per paragraph. Still, nice
work.
89
Works Cited:
Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2000.
Jaws. Dir. Stephen Spielberg. Universal Pictures, 1975.
Jaws Script. Horrorlair.com. http://www.horrorlair.com/scripts/jaws_late_draft.txt
February 12, 2005.