Beowulf Versus The Preacher:

4 Pages 1015 Words

The epic poem Beowulf, composed in 70 A.D., describes three battles between the ancient hero Beowulf and monsters. More than 1200 years later, Foster’s Pale Rider depicts another hero, the Preacher, who restores justice and peace innocent gold miners. Both works deal with heroes, who fight with monsters and face death. Yet, despite these similarities, Beowulf and the Preacher embody sharp differences in the way they fight, the benefits that they provide to community, and the motives of their heroic action.
The way that Beowulf and the Preacher fight monsters is quite different from each other. When Beowulf becomes aware that the monster Grendel is not armed, Beowulf “began to remove his iron breast-mail,
took off the helmet and handed his attendant
the patterned sword” (671-673).
Beowulf makes the duel impartial by fighting himself and wrestling with his bare hands. Unlike Beowulf’s unusual physical strength which is endowed by nature, the Preacher in Pale Rider, thin and pale in his appearance, fights smartly and shrewdly. Prior to the Club’s sledge touching its target, the Preacher “casually brought his weapon around and up lightly, to catch the giant square between his legs” (Foster 104). The brisk movement helps the Preacher to offset the physical strength deficiency and to give Club and his boss a lesson. The next opponent that the Preacher faces is Stockburn, a professional killer, with his six deputies. They insults and cruelly kills old Conway altogether. The Preacher praises Conway’s courage, but do not choose to participate that one-to-seven game. He smartly shoots the six deputies to create a fair condition, one-to-one and face-to-face, for his fight with Stockburn.
It also should be noted that the Danish and the residents in Carbon Canyon obtain different benefits from Beowulf and the Preacher, respectively. When the monster Grendel rampages in Denmark, the citizens including the King, are depressed ...