Why is it considered a bad thing to
make sure people are aware of your influence and achievements? In Beowulf, the majority of people have no
problem with Beowulf flexing his muscles constantly. Beowulf seems cocky, full
of himself, braggadocious, and other words to describe the same thing, but his
achievements seem to completely justify his actions as far as the Danes are
concerned. Yet somehow, an overwhelming majority of our class saw this to be a
bad thing.
If Beowulf were placed in modern
times, he would be Kanye West. Just stop and consider the implications I just
made. Did you sigh at the name Kanye West? To the majority of people (including
my parents), even hearing his name conjures up the same feelings we feel
towards Beowulf as he continues to boast about his accomplishments. While Kanye
never killed nine sea monsters (574-575) or slayed Grendel (817-819), his
influence on hip-hop is undeniable, and he will let you know.
So why does this bother us? Does
this boastfulness symbolize a lack of true confidence in one’s self due to a
need to constantly remind people of one’s achievements? No one wants to be
told, “I’m better than you” by anyone else, even if it’s completely true.
Beowulf swam for DAYS, and killed NINE sea monsters. Kanye West released “The
College Dropout” in 2004 and completely revolutionized modern hip-hop, paving
the way for future rappers like Drake, Childish Gambino and countless others.
At face value, an Old English white
Geat has almost nothing in common with a modern American black rapper. However,
their personalities are fairly identical. Beowulf and Kanye both take on the
world by themselves. Beowulf is one of the greatest warriors to ever live and
Kanye is one of the greatest rappers to ever live. Both of them will let you
know this. For Beowulf, this is justified because otherwise people may spread
misinformation, such as Unferth’s incorrect version of Beowulf’s swimming
contest (506-524). Though he sounded like a jackass, Beowulf was merely
correcting Unferth’s incorrect assessment of the contest in order to uphold his
name. The same tends to be true for Kanye West, as almost every show he’s ever
put on features a long 15-20 minute “rant” about whatever is troubling him at
the moment. When I personally saw him live, his “rant” was about how he wanted
to get into fashion designing, but the companies he was working with only
wanted him to be a face, rather than a contributor. He wanted to fight this in
order to fulfill his dreams, yet most people simply write off his impassioned speech
as just another rant.
In the end, it seems that, though
they are different, Beowulf and Kanye West’s boastfulness and cockiness are
vital parts of their characters, as they have gigantic legacies to live up to.
Though we may dismiss it as an ego trip, it seems important to realize that
sometimes people do need to hype themselves up to accomplish great things, such
as slaying a dragon or releasing “Yeezus.” A humble man likely could not do
either, and thus, the humble man would not receive that same critical acclaim.
