People hear many stories about heroes in childhood, because everyone loves stories with a heroic element. There are two heroic stories which happened in different time periods, countries, and cultures. One heroic story is the story of Beowulf, which is set in Scandinavia. Beowulf as a hero of Geats came to Denmark to kill the monster. Then he killed Grendel, Grendel’s mother to save the country. Finally, he also killed the dragon to keep his country safe. But he died after fighting with the dragon. Another heroic story is Dong Cunrui’s experience. Dong was a soldier who served in the Chinese army from the year 1945 to 1948. He died in the Longhua War, and he gave his life to complete the mission. From then on, he was famous. People think these two men both are heroes. But what we want to know is, what is a hero? How can these two totally different people both be heroes in people’s minds? What are their similarities and differences?
Beowulf is the oldest and only existing Old English heroic epic. It’s the greatest poetic achievement of Anglo-Saxon times. Most of the characters in this literature are historical. The story of Beowulf laid in Denmark and southern Sweden. The poem claims about Beowulf, as a Geatish hero who freed the court of the Danish king, Hrothgar. He killed the monster Grendel and his monstrous mother. Finally he became the king of the Geats, and ruled the country for 50 years. 50 years later, there was a fire-breathing dragon appeared and threaten his country. He gave his life to kill the dragon. Finally, the poem ends with his cremation on a huge obsequies pyre amid (Daiches).
Beowulf is a hero in some different ways. Firstly, he leaded people to revenge for the kingdom. When Grendel attacked the kingdom, he killed many people. So Beowulf went there to revenge for the people and country. He is a hero by exerting his power and strength to protect and help others. Secondly, he wanted peace in his country. After he killed Grendel, his mother came to revenge for her son. Beowulf knew if he doesn’t kill his mother. His mother would kill more people. So for his country’s peace, he went to battle with Grendel’s mother. He is really bravely and fearless. Finally, he killed Grendel’s mother and made the country peace for a long time. Thirdly, we can see Beowulf was strong and powerful. When he battled with Grendel’s mother, he could use the huge sword to slay her neck. That sword can only be lifted by a person strong as Beowulf. When he cut her head in the sea. It was not very difficult for him to carry it, but it took four men to lift and carry it back to Heorot (Frank). From these ways, we can see Beowulf is a real hero.
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The other heroic story happened in China, it is Dong Cunrui’s story. Dong was born in 1929 in the poor peasant family in China. He wanted to join and served army since he was little. So he participated in the Children’s group and was elected as the head of the children. At the age of 13, he covered Chinese military to avoid the arrack from Japanese army, from then on, he was known as the little hero. Then when Dong got 16 years old, he became a soldier of he People’s Army and later served as deputy squad leader and squad leader. He leaded the militaries involved many wars, so he has made three great achievement, four small achievements, he also won three brave medals and one Maozedong medal(ChinaDaily).
Dong is a hero as sacrifice way. On the May 25, 1948. The People’s Liberation Army attacked the Longhua County, where the Chinese National Army was stationed. Dong’s company was responsible for attacking the defense key Longhua Middle School. During the charge, it was blocked by the fierce firepower of a bridge-type dark castle. Dong resolutely picked up the explosives pack and prepared to blast. After rushing to the bridge with his injured legs, the bridge was found to be too high from the ground, and there was no place to place explosives. In an emergency, Dong used his left hand to hold up the explosives package as a support, and right hand fired fuses. At that time, he was only 19 years old(Joel). We can see that Dong is a real hero in sacrifice way.
The main characters in these two stories are both known as heroes. They haves some similarities. Firstly, they both saved many people’s lives. For Beowulf, he killed Grendel and prevented him to kill more people in the kingdom. Then he also killed Grendel’s mother to make sure the kingdom would be safe. Otherwise, Grendel’s mother must come to revenge for her son. Finally, Beowulf killed the dragon and died. He paid his life to protect his people. They wouldn’t get any attack anymore. Beowulf used his whole life to protect his people’s life. For Dong, he served in Chinese military and saved many people’s life. In his last mission, he blew up the bunker that made it easy for their troops to break through the enemy.
Dong’s action saved many people’s life, because if he didn’t destroy the bunker, it would be so hard to go in and attack enemy. Dong’s troop would sacrificed much more people. So, it was Dong, saved many people’s life. One more similarity between these two people is that they both helped their countries. Beowulf helped his country to revenge and keep the country peace for long time. For Dong, he helped country to finish the mission and destroyed the main part of enemy in the war. So as heroes, they have some similarities.
For these totally different people, they still have some differences. Such as their facticity. Beowulf’s story has mythology elements. In his story, there were some monsters’ presence, which include the Grendel and his mother. Later on, there was a dragon appear. These things are not really exist in our world, so Beowulf’s story is a mythology story. For Dong’s story, it was his own experience, which means it’s really exist. What’s more, these two people’s identity were different. Beowulf had the amazing power that made him much more power that normal people. He was leader for his army, and he became the kings of the kingdom later on. He leaded the country on the really good way. So what he did are all for his people and his country. But for Dong, he was from a really poor family and he was a normal people. He didn’t have any extraordinary power. So he did all the things for his country and sacrificed himself(Hua).
From the compression, the heroisms between there two heroes are similar. They have the similar goals. Beowulf and Dong both wanted their countries be peace and both of them protected their countries by their actions. Beowulf killed the monsters and the dragon to save country. Dong blew up the bunker to help country. The heroes always have the same goals. Then the heroes always want to do something good for their people and countries. From the beginning of Beowulf’s story, he did the revenge for the kingdom. Then he kept doing the good things for the country. What’s more, Dong kept doing the good things as well. He joined the Chinese army since he was little. He wanted to serve for his country.
We also learned something about the society from the compression. Firstly, we knew the peace is really important for each family and each county. For nowadays, there are still some countries are in the war. Many people are dying everyday. The society still need be peace in these area. Secondly, our world still need the heroes. Sometimes when something happen. The heroes can stand out and help others. Especially sometimes the heroes can be the leader to lead people to do the right things, make sure they do not get confused.
All in all, Beowulf and Don’s experience are both really wonderful stories which with the heroic elements. They are the totally different people from different countries. But the heroes are always have the similarities, they protect others in emergency. We need heroes in our life.
Work Cited
- Martinsen, Joel. “Guo wei on Dong Cunrui.” Danwei,www.danwei.org. Accessed 16 April 2007. 14 Oct 2018
- “Honored models: Dong Cunrui.” ChinaDaily,www.chinadaily.com.cn. Accessed 29 July 2010. 14 Oct 2018
- Wen,Hua. “Dong cunrui is Mao Zedong’s son.” XinTangren,http://www.ntdtv.com. Accessed 15 June 2018. 14 Oct 2018.
- Daiches, David. English Literature.New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company. Accessed 1971 14 Oct 2018
- Frank, Robert. Beowulf. Signet Classic.Accessed 2007 14 Oct 2018
