In continuation of my last blog post, I still do not believe that Grendel's mother was totally in the wrong here. Matter of fact, I believe that her actions are totally justifiable. That being said, I do not believe that Grendel's mother is good. She came from darkness, was made with darkness, and was created as innately evil. However, her actions were not malicious in the way that could be categorized as evil. Her actions were spurred by the death of her son. she simply did what any good mother would do and avenged her son. Now, naturally, this would spur a whole debate about the capabilities of something inherently evil doing something morally good, but if we're being honest, I don't currently have the brainpower to dive into that. All I'm saying is that even though Grendel's mother is supposed to be evil, she somehow managed to do something that many would argue is good. Obviously killing someone isn't good, but her motive was pure. She was grieving her son and wanted revenge and I feel like that's something that many of us can relate to. {Besides Hamlet did the same thing with avenging his dad (his uncle was a little worse though) and we still consider him to be a good guy..}
Aristotle says that the man who does not get angry at the things he should be angry at "is thought unlikely to defend himself; and to endure being insulted and put up with insult to one's friends is slavish" (Aristotle 41). While he states that passivity is preferred to excessive anger, he still gives great criticism to it. In contrast to Aristotle, the man who Christians believe to be the most just is Jesus who states in Matthew 5:39-40, "...do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well." Essentially, arguing that one is not to respond in anger when insulted or hurt, to not defend one's self. Most individual's are unable to achieve this. Our natural instinct is to defend ourselves, especially in physical cases. However, Christians strive to be like Jesus in this way. I would also argue that it is a very admirable wa...
I completely agree with you. This question this topic brings up is confusing, but nonetheless, I think it is true that Grendel's mother was evil, but also did a morally good action. I too do not have the brainpower to go into a discussion at this current moment.
ReplyDeleteIt’s kind of like a mama bear. The mother will do anything to protect their child even to the point of doing something that most people consider evil. Everything’s fine until their child gets hurt, then all heck breaks loose.
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