The hero and the anti-hero are opposed, it will not be argued. However, the definitions of both, and therefore the qualities that surround them, come immediately from the arguments. Beowulf and the Stranger are two works with protagonists that can be argued to lie at either end of the hero spectrum. Beowulf can be said to demonstrate the qualities of a hero and Meursault an anti-hero.
Beowulf is set in England and was written at a time when Christian beliefs were already beginning to permeate our time, but also when pagan beliefs were not completely dismissed. Beowulf, a follower of the king of the Geats, Higlac, and the strongest of the Geats, hears the news of a monster that is ravaging the land of the famous king Hrothgar of the Danes. At once with the men and manners of the Danes, the nocturnal troubles, which entered into the mode of Grendel, would drive away the monster that was slain in the darkness. This is how the epic poem begins, but Beowulf’s heroic qualities began before the knowledge of Grendel’s presence and continued after the monster’s death.
Beowulf goes to Hrothgar’s aid because it is his duty to do so, which he simply declares that he will sail to Hrothgar when needed. The ability to do what is necessary because of the knowledge that he alone can accomplish a certain task is a heroic quality. It is the same thing again and again in Beowulf. When Beowulf is surrounded by Herot’s warriors in the halls, Grendel fights alone. Likewise, when Grendel’s mother was angered by the death of her son, Beowulf alone leaps into the giant stake to kill him.
As Beowulf fights three creatures in the epic poem, not without fear. But still he makes both a monster and a fear. When he does this, he describes another heroic quality, namely, having courage, which is the ability to overcome fear against it. On the one hand, as strong, he is to be considered by the proper society. Beowulf holds the faith and reverence of both the Geats and the Danes. By undertaking every action, he shows his understanding that, even though they honored him and exalted him above the common man, he is the one who serves the people, not the other way around. This is the quality that most of all creates a hero.
Albert Camus‘ Peregrine is about Meursault’s seemingly empty actions. Many of the novel takes place in Algeria, but it begins with the death of Meursault’s mother in Marengo. The novel is written in the first person giving the reader a personal view of Meursault. Narrating the sequence of events that lead to his man’s shooting and his eventual imprisonment and death. From all that Meursault does and does not do, one can rightly call him an anti-hero. But what is an anti-hero?
Meursault, though not absolutely honest by his own admission, is quoted as agreeing with people, if only at the end of the conversation, but it is still honest with the reader. The reader knows his thoughts, which he arranges quite candidly. The reader and those around Meursault come to see Meursault holding few thoughts or judgments about the actions of others. The qualities of these anti-heroes are difficult to contend with. The reader, however, immediately holds the note indifference, which Meursault has towards the death of his mother. as the funeral is described with great skill by the following.
This indifference to some events is part of the plot, which wants to show that Meursault is an anti-hero. Mother’s death causes of back pain no mourning from the pregnant woman. But in that place, in which his vigil is kept, and in the heat of the sun of the following day, which elicits from him the senses and affections, they were more trouble (gathered from pain) than pain. One, though, cannot say that Meursault is indifferent to everything. He feels that his definition of joy is in prison when the police question him, reporting that he has been up to date.
Meursault has what he wants; He has things to look forward to. He anticipates the weeks when he knows he will spend time with Mary. Perhaps the main difference – what could characterize Meursault as an anti-hero – is that he could live without them. To live without expectation and absence would make no pain last. Everyone doesn’t want to be pure. In prison, he wants to tell Mary how beautiful he thinks she is. He himself does not suffer, but he does not suffer any conscience, that he has not done. For he suffers no extended consciousness of what he does.
Beowulf and Meursault, despite their heroic and anti-heroic qualities, respectively, are examples of walking the upper spectrum of the hero. As Beowulf fights his final battle with the treasure dragon, he decides to enter the field alone for once. All but one of his men flee in his time of need, but knowing himself, and knowing his age and present capabilities, Beowulf, like a brave man, instructs his men to fight with him. Perhaps what a strong man thought would do the opposite, but what could be made of that “strength”? The news of the death of Beowulf, the mighty king, before the feuds with the Swedes were settled, would surely bring the power of the Swedes into a period of lasting transition.
Meursault’s honesty (of course, only to the reader) is a noble quality. Marcus is not an anti-hero. It can even go so far as to say that honor is a characteristic to be considered when someone is a hero or not.
During the twenty-first century, the ideas of the essay prevailed: Beowulf is the hero and Meursault the anti-hero, but not without contradictory qualities. Beowulf was written in the seventh century and The Stranger was written in the twentieth. People have always, for the reason of the times, always thought about heroic and anti-heroic qualities. Ultimately, everyone forms their own idea of heroes and anti-heroes and will sometimes unconsciously gravitate towards the end of that spectrum.
Report:
- Beowulf, Albert Camus’ Pilgrim
