Week 3: Hanna Burdick

There are many cases in which an author of a text tries to convey either a feeling in the reader or the image of a scene without writing more than necessary. In the case of the epic poem Beowulf, while some scenes may not be elaborated on with extensive detail, the reader still feels as though they can picture what is happening without having to read additional explanations or clarifications.

As Culler explains in depth in chapter four of A Very Short Introduction, which talks about literary theory, an author’s choice of diction can make all the more difference to any reading experience by giving more meaning to a given passage. In Beowulf, the monster known as Grendel attacks Heorot without warning. There isn’t much of a transition from Grendel approaching Heorot to him actually attacking, it simply notes that he was suddenly “creating havoc” (line 121). He then begins to viciously murder the people. At the end of the scene, it is said he had “[blundered] back with the butchered corpses.” (line 125). The scene of Grendel’s first attack is touched on only briefly. In most cases, a brief scene such as this would not be looked at for long, most likely just passed over quickly. However, by using words such as “havoc” rather than just “trouble”, or by choosing to further describe the corpses as “butchered” instead of just leaving the word alone, the reader then gets more of a sense of the scene that is being laid in front of them. “Havoc” gives much more of chaotic picture, just as “butchered” helps illustrate the great level of brutality being shown – two aspects that would not be there if those words hadn’t been included. Throughout the story these well thought-out words are carefully placed, simply with the hope it will add to the story as a whole.

Another significant thing that the author did with Beowulf was make the narrator an omniscient narrator. If the narrator had been Beowulf himself, or even Grendel, the information we would be given would be limited. For instance, the narrator informs the reader that Grendel is “malignant by nature” and that he “never showed remorse” (line 137). This is just an example of the kind of information that is given to the reader that we would not have should the narrator be limited to one person’s personal experiences and opinions.