Literature Discussion - Beowulf (and the Anglo Saxon Ideal)

There are many pieces of literature that have been written down through the course of time. Many of these pieces were written in Europe, and depict epic quests and fantastic journeys. The earliest piece of European literature ever printed was a piece of Anglo Saxon poetry known as Beowulf. The Anglo Saxons were a Germanic tribe that had many values and ideas that their people lived by and kept sacred in their day to day lives. These values include; bravery, loyalty, generosity, and heroism. Beowulf, the main character in the poem Beowulf is the man who has all of these values, and is the epitome of the Anglo Saxon.
Beowulf is the image of bravery throughout the story Beowulf, and there are two examples from the story that depict his bravery best. The night Beowulf fights Grendel, before the actual fight Beowulf claims that he will fight Grendel without his sword or his armor, nothing but his bear hands against Grendel’s hell forged claws. In the end Beowulf prevails due to Grendel’s hide being impervious to swords, but Beowulf making the claim that he would willingly fight Grendel without a sword prior to the knowledge exhibits Beowulf’s bravery. Another example from the story that demonstrates Beowulf’s bravery is towards the end of the poem when Beowulf must face the dragon that is terrorizing his people. He knew going into the battle that he was getting old, and that this would most likely be the last battle he would ever fight. Beowulf did slay the dragon in the end, but his premonitions were true; Beowulf died from the venom in the dragon’s fang, and won his last battle. Beowulf knowing that he was going to die in this battle, yet still following through in his intent to fight clearly portrays his bravery.

Beowulf also displays his generosity and loyalty throughout the story. When Hrothgar gives treasures to Beowulf for defeating Grendel and Grendel’s mother, Beowulf generously distributes the riches around to all of his remaining men. This can be seen as generosity because none of his men did anything to help contribute to the annihilation of Grendel or Grendel’s mother. Another generous act of Beowulf’s was when the Geats were leaving Denmark he gave the guard watching the boat an ancient sword which immediately elevated the guard up to warrior status. When the Geats finally returned home Beowulf gave the remaining treasure to his king, Higlac. This demonstrates that Beowulf is generous enough not to keep the remaining treasure for himself, and that he is loyal to his king.
Beowulf being the main character of the story is also the hero. The definition of a hero is “A man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” Beowulf is undoubtedly comprised of all of these qualities and clearly falls under the category of a hero. Beowulf has inimitable courage, and has incredible abilities that can be matched by no other man; such as immense strength and the ability to hold his breath underwater for hours on end. Beowulf is admired by all; his name is heard all around the world. His brave deeds such as the defeat of Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the fierce dragon all contribute to his fame and his heroic status. Selflessness is a quality that a hero must also possess; a hero must put the needs of the many before themselves. Beowulf shows his selflessness when he dies in battle fighting the dragon that was terrorizing his people.
Beowulf embodies the ideas and values of Anglo Saxon life. Beowulf displays bravery when he willingly goes to battle with demons and dragons. Generosity and loyalty are also revealed as some of Beowulf’s when he divides his riches among his men and pays homage to his king with the riches that were rewarded to him from Hrothgar for the defeat of Grendel. Beowulf also displays heroism when he puts himself in danger and fights for the good others, instead of for personal gain. These are the values Beowulf upholds, and are the values of Anglo Saxon life.

Psychology - Pro-Social Behaviour and the Factos that influence it

What is pro-social behaviour? It is the voluntary actions that are intended to help or benefit another individual or group of individuals. This definition refers to the consequences of a person’s actions, motivations and their behaviour; behaviours which include a broad range of activities: sharing, comforting, rescuing, and helping.
But there are a many different factors that influence this behaviour, that affect one's decision to give, share, and help.
A lot of social psychological research focuses on anti-social behaviour. This essay will look at the other side of the coin and focus on pro-social behaviour, specifically helping behaviour and altruism. It will look at what causes people to help or not help and the phenomenon of altruism, the act of helping other for no discernable reward.

The factors that influence pro-social behaviour include cultural differences, personality variables, gender differences, the effects of religion and rural-urban differences. These factors fall under two categories; 1: equality, the equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences, and 2: reciprocity, a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence. These factors have their own bearing on pro-social behaviour and each influence it differently. Here we’ll have a look at some of these factors:
Cultural differences, in relation to pro-social behaviour, is expressed differently between individualistic and collectivistic societies: for instance; someone living in the U.S. is least likely to help someone in need than someone living in Australia, India or Kenya.
Personality Variables are personality differences that affect pro-social behaviours by way of the helper’s feelings and different concepts of morality and values, their motivations are based upon internalized standards of justice and responsibility and greater empathy, self-control, and integrity.
Subjects who help have been found to be more socially oriented and more internal than subjects who do not help.
Gender differences that effect pro-social behaviour is restricted to the helper’s gender, whether the helper is male or female. For instance, women have been found to experience a more vivid emotional response than men, perhaps this is because men have traditionally been trained to suppress emotional displays. From this, we might expect women to be more empathic.
Effects of religion is the influence religion might or might not have on those who are in a position to help someone in need. Such an influence can be attributed to individuals who may believe that helping others is a religious duty and that these people are more likely to volunteer help.
Rural/Urban differences or, location differences confer that where a person lives, either rural or urban; will have a bearing on whether or not a person will be helped. Research has shown that people living in urban environments are less likely to help than those in rural communities. This can be simplified as; someone living in a larger city or town might feel a diffusion of responsibility, feeling as though they do not ‘need’ to help nor do they have the responsibility to help.

All the factors stated share one interaction – they are all part of altruistic factors. Each factor is based upon altruistic motivations; where one feels empathy and a need to help others without any benefit to ones self, as opposed to motivation based upon heroism and want of rewards and other benefits to self.
The main interaction shared between these factors is the mood and beliefs of the individual in the position to help. The altruistic mood of a person can be greatly influenced by personality, gender and the location; and beliefs can be influenced by culture and religion.
Seeing someone in distress may cause us to feel distress, and we may act to relieve that person’s suffering simply as a way to reach the ultimate goal of relieving our own. It has also been shown that people are more likely to help the more empathy they feel for someone.
This factor of mood and belief binds all other factors (under Pro-social behaviour) together.

It seems that there are many factors and theories relating to the question of helping and altruism and why some people help while others stand by. For a person to offer assistance it would seem that certain situational determinants must be met. However mood research indicates that even if the situation is right for an individual to offer help but they have had, for example, an argument with their partner just before and are in a bad mood the chances are greatly reduced they will actually help.


References
Steve R. Howell – Introduction to Social Psychology – Chapter 9: Pro-social Behaviour
Nelson Psychology – VCE Units 1 & 2 – Chapter 2: Social Relationships – Altruism Pg. 83