Chapter 8
Welcome fellow bloggers,
In this blog, I sing a song like a shaper about Hrothulf and Hrothgar. It is very interesting but sadly I was not in this story. When Hrothgar’s brother, Halga, is murdered, Halga’s fourteen-year-old son, Hrothulf, comes to live at Hart. By this time, Hrothgar and Wealtheow have two sons of their own. Hrothgar suspects that the boy may be plotting against him. In the first soliloquy, Hrothulf describes the system that keeps the two classes apart as a violent one, no more legitimate or just than the violence of savage animals. Hrothulf wishes the laboring class could view the aristocrats critically and see that the rich people depend on the peasants’ labor. I think that "any action (A) of the human heart must trigger an equal and opposite reaction (A1)" (113). I learned that Hrothulf's bad actions is balanced with Hrothgar's good actions.
https://youtu.be/qOvcp97PrZs
In a soliloquy immediately following, Wealtheow stands above the sleeping Hrothulf and marvels that such sadness can exist in one so young. Wealtheow knows that Hrothulf, though he shows kindness to her sons now, will come to resent them when they ascend to Hrothgar’s throne. This is because she knows that he wants to be ruler of the area one day. About a year later, Hrothulf is planning a revolution against his own uncle. I say,"If the Revolution comes to grief, it will be because you and those you lead have become alarmed at your own brutality"(117) It is important that the reader, after seeing Hrothgar in such a pitiful state, must be wondering how I can stand to torment the Danes any further. I have learned that my attacks give men dignity and nobility. I made men what they are and, as their creator, has a right to test them. I then come up with a dream that I will “impute” to Hrothgar, about a tree with two joined trunks that gets split by an ax. This is because I learned that all systems are evil. Just like Machiavelli said, if you keep all your subjects happy then they will turn against you. That is exactly what Hrothgar's nephew is trying to do.
Works Cited
Gardner, John. Grendel. Gollancz, 2015.
“Hrólfr Kraki.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrólfr_Kraki.
In this blog, I sing a song like a shaper about Hrothulf and Hrothgar. It is very interesting but sadly I was not in this story. When Hrothgar’s brother, Halga, is murdered, Halga’s fourteen-year-old son, Hrothulf, comes to live at Hart. By this time, Hrothgar and Wealtheow have two sons of their own. Hrothgar suspects that the boy may be plotting against him. In the first soliloquy, Hrothulf describes the system that keeps the two classes apart as a violent one, no more legitimate or just than the violence of savage animals. Hrothulf wishes the laboring class could view the aristocrats critically and see that the rich people depend on the peasants’ labor. I think that "any action (A) of the human heart must trigger an equal and opposite reaction (A1)" (113). I learned that Hrothulf's bad actions is balanced with Hrothgar's good actions.
https://youtu.be/qOvcp97PrZs
In a soliloquy immediately following, Wealtheow stands above the sleeping Hrothulf and marvels that such sadness can exist in one so young. Wealtheow knows that Hrothulf, though he shows kindness to her sons now, will come to resent them when they ascend to Hrothgar’s throne. This is because she knows that he wants to be ruler of the area one day. About a year later, Hrothulf is planning a revolution against his own uncle. I say,"If the Revolution comes to grief, it will be because you and those you lead have become alarmed at your own brutality"(117) It is important that the reader, after seeing Hrothgar in such a pitiful state, must be wondering how I can stand to torment the Danes any further. I have learned that my attacks give men dignity and nobility. I made men what they are and, as their creator, has a right to test them. I then come up with a dream that I will “impute” to Hrothgar, about a tree with two joined trunks that gets split by an ax. This is because I learned that all systems are evil. Just like Machiavelli said, if you keep all your subjects happy then they will turn against you. That is exactly what Hrothgar's nephew is trying to do.
Works Cited
Gardner, John. Grendel. Gollancz, 2015.
“Hrólfr Kraki.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrólfr_Kraki.
Very nice touch on the principles of Machiavelli. Great choice on the photo and the YouTube link. I enjoyed the brief summary that you included within your blog post. The only thing I would fix is if you included something along the lines with philosophy and Machiavellian principles within the first paragraph. Either that would be a short definition of Machiavelli's principles or a brief summary of how it was found within the book. The quotes add a good touch, because it explains Hrothulf's behavior. Please make sure to add a period after the quoted citations in paragraph 2. Formatting may look something like this "quote" (page number). Overall, I enjoyed reading this chapter post on your blog very much.
ReplyDeleteHrothulf's perspective on the story so far and your analysis of it is really helpful. I probably would have forgotten about how Hrothulf would later turn on his uncle, so it was another good fact to note.
ReplyDeleteWhen you discuss the equal and opposite reactions with emotions, since it is the human heart Grendel is discussing, you should solidify your claim the Hrothgar's good deeds and the bad ones of Hrothwulf. Personally, I thought that Grendel explained this through the perspective of someone seeing the deplorable promise of Hrothwulf's possible betrayal that made Hrothgar a better man such as all the other hardships Grendel puts Hrothgar through.
ReplyDelete