Traditionally, light means good and dark means evil. This assumption is proven in many instances of Beowulf, though in all three battles we also see contradictions to this assumption. Sometimes, what we see or assume may not always be just that. The light and dark imagery used in Beowulf helps to create this ambiguous theme and furthermore makes the contrasts between the battles more evident. In the Grendel episode, light and dark imagery are very …showed first 75 words of 1133 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1133 total…in the second episode, with his mother, but in the third, light prevails; though it’s negative. This contradicts all assumptions that good always wins in the end. In all the battles it seemed as though evil was defeated by goodness, but through these paradoxical images, as compared to the literal light and dark imagery, we see that it’s not the good that predominately prevails, it’s the evil—not what most would assume.