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Harry and Beowulf, Why is Harry the anti-Beowulf?
Ravenclaw_Runner...
post May 29 2009, 10:16 PM
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Recently I read the epic tale of Beowulf where the major character Beowulf lives as a god among his people. He is their hero and savior. His life is devoted to protect the people, which causes him to never be able to be part of a city. He must always live on the outside.

This theme is common in other places, such as Froto not living in the shire at the end. He can no longer within the society.

Also, Batman in the new movies is a perfect example too. He is a hero, whose life is devoted to the people. However, he is not accepted by his society. He lives on the outskirts. In Dark Knight, Rachel tells batman that she cannot live him because he will always be needed. Batman can never just stop and settle down.

Harry Potter is a hero, who gives up his life for everyone else. However, he is not like the characters listed above. He is different. He is able to live within the society. He is able to settle down and be the average joe in the wizarding world.

My question is why Harry is like this. Why can Harry be the hero that you could have over for dinner? Why is Harry able to save the world, and then go back to his four-poster bed? Many characters in movies and literature cannot do this.


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angelcakes
post Jun 6 2009, 03:52 PM
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Rowling, of course, summed up on her (website? interview? I saw it posted on LC, but it's been a while)... anyway, she said his heroism involves becoming an "average joe." He is able to recover from fighting a war and become normal. That involves a heroism all on its own.

As for Beowulf and Frodo... Harry's not a traditional outsider hero. He is on the outside, but not the the point that he becomes less "human," like Frodo and Beowulf and Hercules and any of the other epic heroes throughout literary history. Harry is more like... well, I'd like to compare him more to Spider-man, my other favorite hero. Peter Parker does live apart from everyone else: he has to, to be Spider-man and keep his identity secret. He has power that he must use to protect people, but that means he often has to alienate himself from people he loves. In the meantime, he does have a massive support structure of family and friends who help him and guide him. In the end, he always knows that he can go home to Aunt May or MJ (ignoring the recent years in comic continuity).

Likewise, Harry is separate but a part of a greater whole. He had to face Voldemort by himself in the end, but he still keeps the support structure. I think the difference is that modern readers want the hero to be human, and humans need people who love them. That's why I'm not sure how much momentum the new Batman movies will have: Bruce Wayne has no support structure (other than Cockney Alfred). He's just not human enough.


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chloe squibbulus
post Jun 7 2009, 12:14 PM
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QUOTE(angelcakes @ Jun 6 2009, 03:52 PM) *
As for Beowulf and Frodo... Harry's not a traditional outsider hero. He is on the outside, but not the the point that he becomes less "human," like Frodo and Beowulf and Hercules and any of the other epic heroes throughout literary history. Harry is more like... well, I'd like to compare him more to Spider-man, my other favorite hero.

I don't think I agree about Frodo. I find Frodo to be the same sort of 'accidental hero' as Harry. I think Frodo would have just lived out his life happily in the Shire if the ring hadn't been passed to him. I actually wouldn't call Frodo an 'outsider' either as a personality or character type. I think that his 'outsider' status was the result of his trials and experience in the world. I think it was Tolkien's attempt to show that some people can never recover from 'wounds' they receive in life...and Frodo was one of those (and I think it was an indirect reference to Tolkien's experiences in World War I and with both the physical and emotional 'wounds' from the war). But the classic 'outsider' character is more someone who is and always will be 'outside' the norms of society. In the Tolkien books, I would say Aragorn/Strider is more of the outsider type.

I agree a bit with Spider-man. However, I don't know enough about how Spider-man became the 'superhero' that he became. Wasn't it because he wanted to 'save the world'? I think this is where I would see a difference between Spider-man and Harry and Frodo. I think that neither Frodo or Harry chose their fate, they just chose to be heroic when confronted with their fate. Spider-man wanted to be a hero - it was a goal - if I am remember correctly.

This post has been edited by chloe squibbulus: Jun 7 2009, 12:27 PM


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Posts in this topic
- Ravenclaw_Runner92   Harry and Beowulf   May 29 2009, 10:16 PM
- - Gandalf's Beard   Actually, throughout the series Harry is the Outsi...   Jun 2 2009, 05:47 AM
- - Luce_depp   I understnad what you're saying Gandalf's ...   Jun 2 2009, 07:21 AM
- - chloe squibbulus   I think my opinion on this is quite different than...   Jun 6 2009, 01:29 PM
|- - Ray243   QUOTE(chloe squibbulus @ Jun 7 2009, 04:2...   Jun 19 2009, 09:45 AM
- - SeVeRuS<3   well i think harry isnt an outsider because his pu...   Jun 6 2009, 02:53 PM
- - cooncatbob   Spiderman didn't choose to become a hero ...   Jun 7 2009, 11:41 PM
|- - chloe squibbulus   QUOTE(cooncatbob @ Jun 8 2009, 12:41 AM) ...   Jun 8 2009, 07:46 PM
|- - Ravenclaw_Runner92   QUOTE(chloe squibbulus @ Jun 8 2009, 10:4...   Jun 8 2009, 09:49 PM
- - cooncatbob   In the original comic book Peter Parker used his p...   Jun 9 2009, 11:46 AM
- - Gandalf's Beard   I have been saying for years that Harry Potter and...   Jun 9 2009, 12:46 PM
- - Ravenclaw_Runner92   I am liking reading about Peter compared to Harry ...   Jun 9 2009, 06:54 PM
|- - cooncatbob   QUOTE(Ravenclaw_Runner92 @ Jun 9 2009, 04...   Jun 9 2009, 08:28 PM
- - Gandalf's Beard   Ravenclaw Runner, for the traditional archetype of...   Jun 9 2009, 09:07 PM
|- - Ravenclaw_Runner92   QUOTE(Gandalf's Beard @ Jun 10 2009, 12...   Jun 19 2009, 10:20 AM
- - Gandalf's Beard   Thanks Ravenclaw Runner . The cool thing about ar...   Jun 19 2009, 11:34 AM
- - ShanksForte   Interestingly enough, Harry Potter didn't figh...   Jun 19 2009, 12:28 PM

 

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