No New Tale to Tell

The Pardoner's Tale does an excellent job demonstrating how one should not easily trust another no matter how much of a bond or common interest exists between you and that person/group. In the Pardoner's Tale, three men are brought together by the common desire of wanting a glorious title. They try to find death and earn the right to say they have defeated what most people fear. This goal of theirs made them think they could trust each other because ultimately, they needed each other in order to find the death. However, they become distracted when they think about all the gold that will be left behind when they do indeed kill Death. They soon turn on each other because of greed and realizing they each want all of the gold to themselves.
Greed is a highlighted idea in this tale. It shows you how greed is normally the root of all evil. The three men originally sought out to take care of each other, but once the idea of having a whole sack of gold to themselves came to mind, they threw all that out the window. In the case of the tale, the men were so greedy they thought of murdering as a solution to who would be left with the money. The irony is they all end up dying in the end. I guess the message in that ending was if you commit evil acts, there will be consequences to face. Although this is a tale, therefore fictional, greed over money is an everyday thing. Greed is actually the source of a lot of bad traits and evil acts and I believe that's what the author wanted to convey.

Modern Day Grendel

Grendel can sometimes be perceived as an evil monster whose only desire is to bring dismay among the townspeople. But after reading the book Grendel and learning about his background, I realized that he didn't know any different because that's how he was raised. He was raised to be evil and think that destruction was acceptable and what he was supposed to do. So it makes us wonder, is he less of a monster because he doesn't know any better? Should he not be looked at as evil since his upbringing is what caused him to act this way? Honestly, I think it does make him less of a monster.
In today's world, people raise pitbulls to be fighters. They train them to annihilate other pitbulls and nothing else. As a result, the pitbulls only know to destroy; they don't know how to love or be around people, let alone other animals. So many people are terrified of pitbulls when it's really not their fault they are the way the are. Grendel is very similar to these animals in the sense that he was born into a world where being evil was expected from him due to his ancestry.

Truth

The Shaper has an interesting role in the book, Grendel. His words contribute greatly to the pride the Danes have of themselves because he gives them this idea that they were glorious in their past and they are glorious now. However, most of the "history" the Shaper sang about was false and inaccurate. But this is who the Danes believed; the things the Shaper told them was the only thing they knew, therefore they didn't question what they knew was the truth.
Throughout the entire book though,  the truth was often manipulated or not fully told. Even omitting the truth is still allowing people to formulate a false perception. It's very easy to believe someone you love or believe a source that is being provided to you from someone who has your best interests. A perfect example of this in Grendel is the whole purpose behind writing Grendel. The book is supposed to give readers a chance to understand both sides of the story. When reading Beowulf, many readers form the conclusion that Beowulf is the good guy and Grendel is the bad guy. It's easy to assume this since you don't have the other story, just how it was easy for the Danes to believe the Shaper when he portrayed them as wonderful beings. By reading the book Grendel we see how the Danes aren't as heroic as they make themselves seem to be. If anything they are more barbaric and monstrous than Grendel. Ultimately, it's safe to say that what you're being told is not necessarily the truth or all of it.

Modern Day Beowulf

Beowulf was portrayed as a hero who fought off a great monster, Grendel, in order to protect his family, country, and serve God. Beowulf was more of a person while Grendel was a creature, far from a human. In today's society, we consider our soldiers our heroes, however, soldiers are still fighting their own species. So who is more similar to Beowulf than soldiers? I believe Martin Luther King comes very close to a person with heroic traits and he was also a person who had to fight a horrid monster, a prejudice society.
Of course a prejudice society is more of a metaphorical monster, but a monster nonetheless. Martin fought for the rights of his people and although he didn't use weapons, he still won the battle of racism and equal rights with his words. In my opinion, Martin Luther King Jr. had a tougher battle than Beowulf. His challenge was to change the minds of a HUGE society of white people, while Beowulf had to fight one enemy. Both heroes fought because they believed God wanted them to take action and protect their country as well as their families.

Me

My name is Iliana Elias, Ily for short and I just had a birthday September 4th (yay!). Out of my three years at Whitney Young, my favorite classes have always been my English classes. I've always loved how liberal the class was - yes, there were assignment rules, but at the same time you were allowed to express your own style. Improving my writing skills is a great interest of mine so I'm hoping to learn new techniques and also use British Literature as an influence for my writing.
Aside from academics, I played basketball my freshman and sophomore year on the JV and varsity team for Whitney Young. This year I decided to go a different route and get into cross country and track. I love it so far because I appreciate the independence of the sport. I think all sports have a mental toughness factor, but running in particular focuses a little more on this area. You have to do it for yourself at the end of the day.
Music has consistently contributed to my happiness. My taste in music dips into so many different genres. I like everything from India Arie to Kendrick Lamar. My all time favorite artist however, is Lauryn Hill. There is not one song by her that I didn't like. I feel like all her music is genuine and raw.
I am the middle child of 5 kids. I have an older sister, 22, an older brother, 23, and two younger brothers, ages 12 and 14. My family is probably the most valued group of people in my life.