“Behavior that’s admired is the path to power among people everywhere.”

This quote exemplifies the control that Beowulf had in his life, because he was so admired by the people of his society. Beowulf held traits that many people thought highly of. His strength, heroism, and fearless actions put him on a pedestal.  Although he never demanded power for himself, the people around him granted it because of his actions that benefitted them. If Beowulf did not defeat Grendel and save his people from the destruction the monster brought, then he would not have become King of the Geats. The society in this time lived by the high values of heroism and because Beowulf followed these values he was highly esteemed for them. He boasts of his warrior status and follows through.  He is thus commemorated and received. The direct response from this bravery and heroic action was the future power he would achieve later becoming King. On the other side of the idea was Unferth who did not step up to fight Grendel. His actions were not admired by his people thus he did not gain any power in his society. Behavior is the most important aspect of gaining respect and support, and because Unferth failed to show admirable behavior, he gained no power.

 To admire someone is to regard them with respect or warm approval.  This is the first step in gaining power from those around you. A person does not attain voice and direction in this world without first being liked. Admiration is part of the initial satisfactory a person has with another person. When a person behaves in a way that grabs positive attention from others, he or she is in turn noticed for their efforts and as a result gains power. For example the President of the United States is not voted in to be the leader of our country without first displaying behavior that a number of people admire. If a person running for office displays negative or noted “bad” behavior then their chances of being accepted and respected by other people is slim. This results in them losing the election, thus not gaining any power at all. For example, when Barack Obama was first elected he was seen as an upstanding citizen who displayed all the right attributes of behavior, but Sarah Palin on the other hand, was involved in scandals which lead to people not liking her behavior thus resulting in a reason that she lost the election. Admired behavior is key to the establishment of power for a person.