Battle Of Grendel Re-Personal Narrative

From a young age Grendel understood that everyone around him was mechanical and he was alive. As revealed in the book Grendel by John Gardner, “Then little by little it dawned on me that the eyes that seemed to bore in to my body were in fact gazing through it, wearily indifferent to my slight obstruction of the darkness.” He tried to talk to the only person he could which was his mother but alas she could not talk only listen and hold him. She was very limited and never speaks. As specified in Grendel, “She’ll tell me, in time, I thought. But she told me nothing.” But Grendel understood that his mother still loved him. As detailed in Grendel, “She loved me, in some mysterious sense I understood without her speaking it. I was her creation.”

In the novel, Grendel by John Gardener, Grendel is a human-like creature capable of rational thought as well as feeling emotions. Early on in the story Gardener depicts Grendel as being very observant, critical and somewhat spiteful of the world around him. He describes himself as a murderous monster who smells of death and crouches in the shadows. Grendel watches the humans from the shadows of the trees and at first it seems as though they are the real monsters, slaughtering and pillaging all for the sake of their leaders and for power. This light that the humans are put in gives Grendel a certain charisma about him, making him seem like the one to side with in this novel. Later in the story, however, things change. Grendel seeks out the

In the novel Grendel and the epic poem Beowulf the reader receives a better experience through a first person point of view. In John Gardner's Grendel which is written in first person the reader is constantly engaged. The authors use of first person provides the reader of Grendel’s thoughts and emotion. While, in the epic poem Beowulf which is written in 3rd person does not give the reader any personal connection.

The Old English epic Beowulf is the earliest recorded poem in Old English. The story is set in Scandinavia with the antagonist Grendel. Gendel is a monster and an insensitive character. Grendel was born into a monster and was cursed his entire life. Although Grendel was strong he wasn’t very brave because he only attacks at night when the guards are asleep. He has many characteristics that a monster would have. First and foremost, he was raised to be evil, and never had the chance to be good. Also whenever he would hear joy, he would be filled with anger and hatred. Grendel likes killing people he doesn’t feel any remorse after killing people. An example from the story that shows this is “Snatched up thirty men, smashed them unknowing in their beds and out with their bodies (Genesis,pg 4).”Talking about Grendel ties in with our next evil antagonist known as Cain. Cain is the son of Adam and Eve. He was a farmer who was jealous of his brother who was accepted by God and when Cain was rejected he decided to kill his brother Abel. Unlike Grendel Cain believed in god he just didn’t

Children typically bear some physical resemblance to at least one of their parents. The child may have the same skin color, facial expressions or height as his or her parent. Could this be the same for behavioral traits? Are behavioral traits likewise inherited? Or, are they learned? In other words, do behavioral traits come from nature (inherited) or from nurture (learned)? This question can be applied to “Grendel,” a murderous monster a in the epic poem of “Beowulf,” Was Grendel born a monster? Or, was he raised to be a monster? Or, are his monstrous behaviors a result of both nature and nurture? Descriptions of Grendel from the “Beowulf” poem give evidence that his monstrous behavior was a result of both nature and nurture; a

In John Gardner’s Grendel, his theme can be interpreted in several manners. I see it as the author is trying to have the reader sympathize with Grendel. Others may think that Gardner is trying to make Grendel seem more monstrous; more evil. The author’s intentions are portrayed by explaining Grendel’s experiences prior to facing off Beowulf.

John Gardener’s ‘Grendel’ depicts the monstrous Grendel, previously portrayed as the vicious villain in ‘Beowulf, journeying through his life, attempting to achieve some kind of self-realization. Spending much of his time observing humans, Grendel develops a great disdain for religion. Gardener reinforces Grendel’s with anti-religious quotes from poets and philosophers, like William Blake and Francis Nietzsche. As his spiritual void increases, Gardener slips into an existential despair, fueled by the talk of the Shaper, who’s strangely persuasive words confuse Grendel’s underdeveloped mind. Finally, as Grendel slowly recognizes he is separate from men, his encounter with the dragon drives him to the self-realization that he is a monster

When the lens created by the anglo-saxon society is removed the main antagonist in the classic Beowulf, Grendel, is revealed to be a tortured beast who is targeted by a religion crazed society. As stated by Chris Colfer in his novel The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell “A villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told,” yet for many this lesson falls on deaf ears (9). For many Grendel is a thing of nightmares, a beast straight from hell that no villain can match. But when the society that villainizes Grendel is examined more closely one realizes that Grendel is really just an animal who is poked and prodded by an unrelenting society of savages. This savagery is seen in the way that the society calls the animal an anthropomorphic

In 1971, American author John Gardner wrote Grendel. With a mastermind of creativity, John Gardner successfully retells the classic epic poem, Beowulf. He captures the reader by giving an interesting view of order and chaos, good and evil, hero and monster, allowing the monsters point of view to be seen.

In the first chapter of Grendel, we are presented with a natural philosophy that the world is a constant ongoing cycle, otherwise known as orphic philosophy. At the very beginning, Grendel shares with us that it is “the twelfth year of [his] idiotic war”, and judging by his next sentence, “The pain of it! The stupidity,” he does not seem very happy about it. War is a very repetitive cycle of battle after battle, and from this we can infer that this year of Grendel’s war will not be very different from the prior eleven. One particular element of this war that seems to never change is an old ram.

“In my youth I engaged in many wars”, Beowulf boasts to his warriors, which is certainly true. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time. Even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically, the two monsters pose a new threat to the hero on a higher plane. Beowulf is not only at risk of losing his life, but his humanity, virtue, and even spirituality.

During the 12 chapters of Grendel's demise he meets many different types of character and with Grendel starting out as a young child-like naive mindset, he is easily manipulated by other too think many different ways. By Grendel starting out as a mind that can easily have others come into his life and change the way he sees life starts off a chain of reactions that makes him create beliefs and then even just after he will go against them. If Grendel took initiative as a smart intelligible mind then he would have never had to meet new characters in his life and try and hear what they have to say. Since that is not how he is, he is a person/monster who is in need of a leader. He has a mother but she is never entirely there for her own son.

We are advised early in our lifetime by our parents, adults, preachers, and even God himself to refrain from judging others. However, sometimes it is hard as humans to not make assumptions about others based on the brand of clothing they wear, the amount of money they make, or how they look. The principle of always being kind to those around us is pounded in our heads from the minute we are able to walk. Generally, being kind and refraining from judgement is a valuable lesson. However, in the case when appearances correspond with personality and your first impression of someone happens to be true, it is almost impossible to believe that judging others is a sinful act. This unique situation being that of the story of Grendel in John Gardner’s novel, Grendel. In this mythical novel, Grendel is an anti-hero that believes in the principles of nihilism. He has many negative attributes that lead me to believe that he is purely evil. These negative traits include being psychotic, remorseless, fear indulging, and blatantly hateful. These ghastly and horrific traits prove his heinous reputation to be true.

Grendel immediately cleared the fortified route to the Herot with gigantic métier and brutality. Grendel's strides were clearing. With each step, the animal's tremendous, calloused feet in every practical sense flew, in a consistent movement. "His eyes sparkled in the dimness, seethed with a shocking light". Before any of the troopers had the chance to be awoken, Grendel soaked the life of a Geat. Destroyed like a sensitive bread, the body was drained and altogether ate up. "The plenitude before me is flawless, a grand delicacy, unkept and delightfully vulnerable" Grendel evaluated identifying with his extraordinary fortune.

     Contrasting points of view in Grendel and Beowulf significantly alter the reader’s perception of religion, good and evil, and the character Grendel. John Gardner’s book, Grendel, is written in first person. The book translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf, is written in third person.