Beowulf, the protagonist of Beowulf, is a character that is the ideal hero in the Anglo-Saxon mindset. He has the qualities of bravery, loyalty, and dedication to all those who support him and need his help. These qualities are illustrated in his feats of killing Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. The contemporaries of Beowulf are firefighters, police officers, and Mohandas Gandhi; these modern versions of Beowulf are the kind, helpful people are the ones who defeat the problems that occur frequently, such as natural disasters, physical injuries, crimes, discrimination, and subjugation, so that the rest of the people can continue to live a normal life, similar to Beowulf and the three creatures.
	Firefighters are some of the bravest people alive; they sacrifice their time and sometimes risk their lives in order to save others from harm from disasters, such as fires, hurricanes, and earthquakes. The firefighters are the ones, during a time of panic, are the ones who are calm and know exactly what to do to get other people to safety; they are the ones who defeat the evil “monsters” of natural and artificial disasters. Beowulf is the one who does not panic while fighting Grendel; he keeps calm, and after failing to kill on the first attempt, he finds another way to defeat the creature in order to protect the rest of the people of Zealand. Firefighters can also double as first-aid agents; first-aid agents are the ones who operate ambulances and take people to hospitals and give them their primary treatment. While the patient is in panic, the first-aid agents are the ones who help the patient defeat his or her problems of injuries. If I were to be a firefighter or a first-aid agent, I would have to be the first-aid agent as I cannot stand natural disasters; they scare me. Being a first-aid agent may sometimes involve looking at mutilated body parts, but after taking many science courses, the feeling of nausea has receded. Another group of daily heroes are police officers.
	Police officers require vigorous and rigorous training in order to be ready for any problems that arise in their way. Their evils to defeat include crimes, such as murder, theft, and vandalism; they are also to enforce the laws of their countries. The police officers spend their time and frequently sacrifice their lives in order to defeat the evildoers, such as thieves and murderers; they protect the general public from harm. Officers also enforce the country’s laws, which are meant to protect the people; if no one enforced the laws, there would be widespread chaos which would result in death of many people. Beowulf can be seen as a police officer as he is the one who stops the murder of the Danes by Grendel in the time that the creature is living; he risks his life to protect the Danish from Grendel so they can continue their everyday lives. I would not be able to be a police officer as it involves theft and murders, both of which I strongly dislike and cannot bear to investigate, let alone figure out the perpetrator of the crimes. A third hero that fights for the people is Mohandas Gandhi.
	Mohandas Gandhi, also called Mahatma Gandhi, fought against the discrimination of the Indians living in South Africa as well as the subjugation of Indians living in India. Gandhi encouraged the South African Indians to destroy their passbooks, which let them enter other racially segregated areas, to stop apartheid, the segregation process used by the government. He was the main person to stop the evils of discrimination and racism, and the first one to stand up for the rest of his fellow men and women against the higher power and succeed; this is similar to what Beowulf does: he is the first one to stand up to Grendel, and succeed in killing it to stop the practice of murdering the Danes. Gandhi also stood up for his country against a different enemy: the British. He started the movement for independence from British rule, which included a hunger strike, a non-violence movement, and by other people, violent acts against the British. Similarly, after Beowulf defeats the evil Grendel, he then is challenged by the evil mother of Grendel; he stands up to her and defeats her. There is no possible way that I could be a Gandhi; I am not one who has a strong voice to stand up to authority; I would also end up saying the wrong things and instead of persuading or forcing the authority to stop abuse, I would either make it worse or be in deeper trouble myself.
	A modern Beowulf needs to exhibit the same qualities Beowulf does: loyalty, bravery, and dedication; he or she needs to fight for the good of the general public. To be Beowulf’s contemporary, one has to sacrifice himself or herself in order to defeat today’s evils, such as crime, discrimination, and disasters. Just like Beowulf defeats three monsters without expectation of a physical reward, the contemporary should not expect a reward, either; instead, he or she receives intellectual peace and honor, which are far more important than a physical reward.