Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

of duty to defend those that cannot defend themselves. RichardKearney quotes Jacque Derrida when he defines other as, “host or asenemy” (Kearney, 69). On a literal level, Beowulf could have viewedHrothgar and the people as the host of a tyrannical monster andtherefore, “other”. Given Beowulf’s nature it is likely that the islandof meaning he places the people of Heorot on is labeled as “weak”or pitiful. In a roundabout way, this makes him a monster, but amonster the people need.In all, it could be said that the deeds of a person is what definesthem. Beowulf, although born into the military lifestyle with apowerful man as a father, did not rise to kingship by chance. It wasnot a gift or a bestowing that made him powerful, it was what he did.The medieval era may have been a time of beautiful words and prosebut it was a world that had been pulled into a dark pit of violenceand cruelty. It was not the boasts or words that Beowulf spoke but itwas the actions that he had taken that made him the legend he was.Five day swimming marathons and the slaughtering of sea monsterswere among these actions. His life was wrought with danger, mostlyof his own making but most of it was necessary. His size and staturemade him physically equipped for the job and on a few occasionsthe only thing that saved him was luck, such as the fact that hiswillingness to fight Grendel unarmed was only a coincidence. Howcould he have known that Grendel was immune to weapons.The military is not the only occupation that seems to blendviolence and labor. Butchers, executioners, exterminators, scientistsand exorcists are also members of our society that seem to walkthe line between what should be done and what needs to be done.Butchers in particular are some of the most despised and beloved ofthe occupations on the list. Every day they wade in blood and stenchto do the job the popular culture deems unbearable and barbaric.Yet, the eating of meat is a large part of the human diet. The jobitself is back-breaking, violent and not for the light of heart. They136 afternoons of alterity