In a story a author can decide to kill off a side or main character. Death scenes are significant in a story; it could either destroy the plot or make the plot more compelling. In the Epic Of Gilgamesh and Beowulf, they both show the significance of a death scene showing how it affects the plot of the story.
In the story of the epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu died by an illness. He was portrayed as a powerful person, a person that could match the main character strength; it states in the book that Gilgamesh and Enkidu bore ten times sixty pound each referring to the weight of their weapons (111). This shows that Enkidu has an inhuman or god-like strength. The story quotes Enkidu lay in his bed, he called for Gilgamesh, roused him with his cry (132). Giving his final words to his best friend as he died, this scene was so dramatic and compelling that we forget that this is a fictional character. We feel this way because we were shown movies that contained sad death scenes, in many movies they tend to kill off a character and we feel empathy toward these characters because it is portrayed with visual effects. That is why when we read fiction we can sometimes relate to the character because we know that even the strongest person can die making the story more interesting. The author was smart to include a death of a side character because it shows the significance of death.
This Artwork shows the death of Enkidu, you can see Gilgamesh mourning for Enkidu. Also you can see Gilgamesh in pain by looking at his face, he is expressing a lot of emotions in this artwork.
In the story of Beowulf, the main character was being shown as an inhuman person just like Gilgamesh. He defeats many of his opponents throughout the story and eventually he stumbles upon his greatest challenge ultimately dying to defeat this enemy. The books quotes “So he came to the place, carrying the treasure and found his lord bleeding profusely (referring to Beowulf), his life at an end” again he began to swab his body” (174). Beowulf dies giving his last words to his followers. Then comes his funeral, his followers gave speeches mourning for Beowulf. Just like The epic of Gilgamesh the author of this story decided to give a lengthy and descriptive story showing the significance of Beowulf’s death. His death was significant because the books quotes “they will cross our borders and attack in force when they find out that Beowulf is dead.” Showing that Beowulf dying may lead to his enemy raiding his city because they don’t need to fear him defending his kingdom.
This artwork shows Beowulf’s funeral, you can see all the solider’s and his followers gathered around. This artwork shows the funeral after the speeches because you can see some of the solider’s looking disappointed. The book quotes “Every one of you with freeholds of land, our whole nation, will be dispossessed, once princes from beyond get tidings of how you turned and fled and disgraced yourselves”.
In Beowulf the death was portrayed as a closure of the story, Beowulf was shown as a great warrior that overcame any obstacle that was presented in front of him. Throughout the story he gained fame and glory however in the end when he got old and became a king a dragon attacked the book states that “Beowulf spoke, made a formal boast for the last time: I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning.” (168) He takes on his final challenge and dies to the dragon but taking the dragon with him. This death intended to show the end of the warrior’s life. Beowulf could have avoided this battle however he decided not to because he wanted to die heroically. The author made sure he died heroically giving closure to the story. The author could have gave him a happy ending where he lives and stays king however he was going to die of old age therefore the author decided to end the story by having Beowulf die heroically.
This artwork shows Beowulf dying, this artwork carefully depicts the scene well. You can see the dead dragon and the treasure and Beowulf giving his last words to his solider.
The significance of the death scenes were shown in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf, they both had an impact in the story. Throughout the story of Gilgamesh, Enkidu was a important friend to Gilgamesh their relation grew as time passed however when he died it turned the story around he ended up not being able to accomplish his goal. In Beowulf he fought many hard battles gaining fame and glory throughout the story however when he faced his ultimate enemy he ended up dying. This death shows how heroic he was even though he didn’t have a happy ending.
