Lawyer+5+(E+Block)


 * Thesis:** DISPROVE “The world and everything in it is unplanned accident, existence is meaningless; the past is irrelevant; nothing matters.”

Existence is meaningful. The mere fact that we are discussing whether existence is meaningful proves so. Why, if not, do cultures exist? Why, if not, does tradition play a role in our lives? Thus, dismissing the meaning of life would be potentially threatening to our civilization. Our heroic culture and our respect towards our gods would be gone, and chaos would occur. So we can see that our belief in the meaning of life keeps us going. Getting to the main argument, past is indeed relevant because men strive towards creating a name and reputation for himself. In the case of Beowulf, his life had been meaningful because he sought for honor and glory. Had life not been meaningful, it would be doubtful as to whether Beowulf would have gone to extreme ends to gain fame. As Beowulf had said, "For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark." (1386-1389) the function and cultural importance of heroes are even stated as the means to find out the meaning of life, because "Except in the life of a hero, the whole world's meaningless. The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile." (grendel, pg 89) At the same time, Grendel being labeled as a "descendent of Cain" supports my argument too. Because of his historical ties with Cain, the evil being, he is ostracized by men. Had the past not been relevant, would Grendel been treated that coldly? No, of course not. Finally, the existence of god(s) shows that life had been created by a supreme form. "He told how the earth was first built, long ago: said that the greatest of gods made the world, every wonder-bright plain and the turning seas, and set out as signs of his victory the sun and moon, great lamps for light to land dwellers, kingdom torches and adorned the fields with all colors and shapes, made limbs and leaves and gave life to the every creature that moves on land." (Grendel pg 51) Here, the phrase "set out" stands out, since it points out that it was never meant to be accidental, but something that had been planned prior to the creation. Therefore, life is definitely not meaningless and neither is our existence.
 * Statement**

I think the letter did provide me with a new insight to the story, as well as the intentions of Gardner for writing such a letter. After reading, it certainly let me think of the book as more than just a __Beowulf__ from another perspective, but more of a book questioning established beliefs and certain qualities, like victory. The novel tries to answer both questions at the same time, or at least readers can interpret the book art two contrasting levels: that of a meaningful life and that of a meaningless life. Also, it allowed me to rethink about the real position of Beowulf, and whether he was a real hero. According to Gardner, he was not; though he brought treasures to the people for winning wars, it did not actually save people. And actually, at first, I thought __Grendel__ was too against my group's argument. But after I read the letter, I realized that there might be more than a single position in a book, as Gardner had portrayed in his book. In addition, I have to admit that this letter did provide me with better knowledge of the book and of the story. Since there were overall confusing parts of the story (at least to me), I could not get the overall picture of the book, but this letter did help me a lot in viewing the book from a broader perspective. Thus, I think there were several useful informations that I could use for the arguments and also several points that I can predict the opposition is going to make. Finally, I realized there is purpose to every novel, and that a good writing does not answer questions but create questions. By allowing the reader to solve these questions himself or herself, it allows a freer space of interpretation, none of which can be wrong.
 * John Gardner's Letter:**