Revenge can turn into such a vicious cycle of never ending punishment. Within Beowulf, there's a strong need to seek out that revenge, the revenge sadly being killing. When we see Beowulf, we see him as a hero. One who is held to a high standard and has achieved many goals. But we also see that Beowulf tells Hrothgar the he should fight for revenge for ones that are causing him true pain instead of sitting there mourning for what has happened. Revenge is a solid boomerang effect, an unending cycle. Each of act of retaliation brings another. It is a boomerang that cannot be thrown without bringing damage to the thrower. The revenge cycle can be held to a stop in two different ways: the first being getting revenge unit; there is no one to seek revenge out to OR a the nice, humane way by halting revenge by forgiveness. Do you ever feel the urge to "throw" revenge at someone?
I commented on Lily and Caroline's post.
I always appreciate looking at the villain's point of view, because, often, there are similar motives on both sides of the story. Beowulf sought revenge for Hrothgar against Grendel. Grendel's mother sought revenge for her son against Hrothgar's most trusted counselor. You are right in the two ways the situation could end. Unfortunately, pride was regarded higher than forgiveness in this story. One side was completely obliterated because of it.
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