I would
like to revisit Socratic Seminar Question 1, part E for Beowulf. The quote given from the poem is, “A warrior will sooner
die than live a life of shame,” and the questions that follow are: What values
are expressed? How do they exemplify the culture in which Beowulf lived? And do
they reflect values that exist in our culture?
Let’s start
with the first two questions since they go hand in hand. Many family related
values are expressed through this quote. To boil it all down this quote is
about honor, and bringing honor to yourself and your family. And with honor
comes with making good decisions and bringing about a good aura to your family
name for generations to come. Otherwise if you don’t bring a good name to your
family you will look like a complete fool and will probably be dishonored by
your kin. The same holds true in Beowulf’s culture. The pagan society was all
about upholding the family name and living up to your family’s expectations. A
direct instance in the poem where these values apply occurs from lines:
2435-2471. Here, Beowulf tells the tragic death of Herebeald. So it goes that
Haethcyn accidentally shot his brother, Herebeald, with an arrow and killed
him. Hrethel, their father, grieved continuously afterward and later disowned
Haethcyn. Rather than live a life of shame, Hrethel who was, “Heartsore,
wearied, he turned away from life’s joys, chose God’s light and departed.” In
this case the warrior, Hrethel, would rather die than have the accidental
killing of his son ruin his family name.
Hearing
this quote instantly reminded me of Mulan.
At one point the lizard…I mean “dragon”…sent to rescue Mulan (who has joined
the Chinese army to fight the Huns in her father’s place) exclaims to her “Dishonor!
Dishonor on your whole family! Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your cow!” and
Mulan wants to bring honor to her family since she has been previously shamed.
She made a fool out of herself in front of the matchmaker who even says to
Mulan, “You are a disgrace! You may look like a bride but you will never bring
your family honor!” And Mulan speaks out of turn in front of imperial soldiers
and her father basically tells her she is a dishonor right then and there. So
how does this all relate back to the Beowulf quote? Well Mulan is risking her
life to bring honor back to her family and ultimately to please her father.
Once again characters like Mulan and Hrethel are in that mindset of placing
their family’s name before their lives and are willing to do anything to sustain
it.
The final
question that follows the quote is: Does this quote reflect values that exist
in our culture today? I think, in an essence, yes. We as human beings strive to
do well in our lives, try to live by an honorable lifestyle, and make good
decisions for ourselves. I know that I wish to do well in my family and not
degrade my family’s name by making horrible choices. But on the career path, my
philosophy is not as strict as in Beowulf’s culture. Like I said earlier it was
all about living and fulfilling your family’s expectations. Today, I’m not
going to follow in my parent’s footsteps for a career and I’m going to do what
makes me happy. I’m pretty sure that seeing me in a successful career will make
my parents just as happy. On the flipside, there are people out there who have
made poor decisions, have brought a wretched name to their family, and instead
of living a life of shame these people fall into depression and may even do the
unthinkable. Once again, this follows the quote exactly. These people would
rather die than live a life of shame.
Ok this is
getting extremely depressing, and it’s Halloween, and I have digressed. So to
quickly sum it all up so I can get on with scaring small children: I believe
that the quote “A warrior will sooner die than live a life of shame” all comes
down to honor and giving honor to your family. Especially in Beowulf’s culture
because honor was a big value that the people followed and respected. Also in
today’s society, I believe our culture still lives by this quote but only to
some extent in that our lives are to please us rather than to please our
family. Alas! I leave you with one final thought, “will you bring honor to us
all?”