Pre-AP Grade 11 English Literature, the only setting it would make sense for a teenager to be pondering an Anglo-Saxon legend. You're probably wondering what this is doing on the already peculiar blog of Vancouver-Girl. Yes, I'm publishing my English Essay on my blog. No, it's not lazy, it's smart, but I promise you I do believe that this isn't such a far fetched post for my blog. My teacher tasked us with comparing Beowulf, a hero from an Anglo-Saxon (old English) legend to a modern day hero. (If you're curious about the legend you can read it translated here.) Me being the fan girl I am, I chose the hero, Hiro from Big Hero 6 So without further a due, the comparison nobody (except my English teacher) asked for, I present...
The Evolution of Heroic Protagonists
Heroic characters have always been popular throughout many cultures’ stories. Today they continue to be a major component of mainstream storytelling. The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf and the Disney film Big Hero 6 were created over a thousand years apart, making the two seem like quite the strange comparison. Nevertheless, upon a closer analysis, we can use this contrast to see how characters have evolved over time to be more intricate. Upon a first glance, Beowulf and Hiro respectively, seem to be quite similar brave heroes as both responded to the call to action/adventure in the catalyst. On one hand, Beowulf, for all his perfection, is a static character, with little character development in the epic. On the other hand, Hiro gains depth and complexity through growth.
Both Beowulf and Hiro share bravery as a heroic trait; however for Beowulf that seems to be where his personality ends. Hiro is a much more dynamic and relatable character. When audiences have something to relate to, particularly if this element is incarnated in the protagonist it’s a great way to connect and invest them in the story. Despite the fact that Beowulf could be observed an exciting work of it’s time, perhaps the story could have been stronger if the protagonist was furthered. The epic does not show him in any other emotion than bravery or pride. Even when he’s faced with a deathly battle he remains confident and unafraid. To the contrary, Big Hero 6 explores Hiro through a wide range of emotions as he grows throughout the movie. At the start of the film we see his passion for bot fighting. Later on we explore his grief of a loved one, while he’s experiencing high stakes of saving the world. What deepens him as a character is his emotional journey is both full of lows and highs. This is most clearly demonstrated with how he ends up bonding with a very close group of friends throughout the traumatic adventure.
Another contrast between both characters is their origins. In regards to Beowulf, other than bravery, that seems to be where their shared traits end. Beowulf is a warrior while although it was never defined, with seemingly god like powers. The story begins with Beowulf “In his far-off home […], Higlac’s Follower and the strongest of the Geats” (126) which even if he does not possess god like powers, he is above average in strength. That phrase also references him as Higlac’s follower because he’s also Beowulf’s uncle. It could be assumed because of that connection Beowulf comes from a well-off family and benefits from his name’s status. In the legend we do not get to experience much of Beowulf’s growth as a person, or his personality at all, other than the fact he’s a warrior. The majority of his character set up was done in the first few lines of the coming of Beowulf as cited earlier. We don’t learn much else about him in that passage other than his homeland and profession. Like Beowulf, Hiro possess many talents, however he is much more of a balanced person with strengths and weaknesses. This dichotomy makes Hiro more relatable to the average viewer. He also comes from a much more average seemingly middle-class family. Due to his parents’ death, he lives with his aunt who runs a cafe in San Francisco. Throughout the movie we see Hiro grow from a small shy and nervous boy to someone more confident and capable in his abilities. His growth is something the audience can aspire to as he started off as an ordinary boy just like everyone else.
Both heroes choose to take on the challenge of saving the world when a threat arises, but their motivations for fighting are very different. Both heroes choose to take on the challenge of saving the world when the threat arises, but their motivations are very different. The epic never defines Beowulf’s intentions or motivations for wanting to slay Grendel. However using the context of his social/family status it could be assumed his goal was to bring more honour and glory to his name. Contrary to this, Big Hero 6 uses Hiro’s motivations as a main driver to the plot. Less than twenty minutes into the film, Disney drops their signature type of catalyst, devastating the audience by killing Hiro’s brother Tadashi in a seemingly freak accident where Tadashi dies a hero saving a beloved professor. The blow is intensified later on in the film, as the man he saves ends up being the villain. This twist gave Hiro more motivation to fight to save the world, so his brother didn’t die in vain.
Epics and stories of mighty heroes have existed for many millenniums and have evolved in many ways however, it seems humanity tends to favour stories of mighty characters saving the world. Although heroic characters have always been a major party of storytelling, they have evolved overtime to become more developed and complex. Perhaps humanity has always sought out a role model from these stories, with the collective taste now evolving to desire relatable characters that are actually somewhat within reach to aspire to.
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