Giuliano Lerza
Ms. Rogalcheck
Honors English 3
10/29/17
Grendel Point of View Essay
Both the epic poem Beowulf and the novel Grendel depict the same storyline, but from different point of views. Grendel’s personality tends to be much more evil than he himself depicts in the novel. Since Grendel is the narrator of the novel, the audience only gets to know what the story is like from his point of view, which he stretches the truth on numerous occasions. But, in Beowulf, the poem has a narrator and is in the third person omniscient, this means the audience knows how all the characters and feeling, thinking, or saying. Also, the theme nature vs. nurture appears a lot in Grendel which means his viewpoints on certain things are either
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When he was young, she used to stare into his soul and that was how she would show her affection. To many this may not seem like a form of affection, but to Grendel it was. Other things such as his feelings to the animals all around him are based on his nature. He hates all of them and he feels like he will get his revenge on them especially in his final hours. Also, another example of nurture could be the hatred he feels for his home which he has been growing up in his whole life.
In addition, Grendel’s mother plays a big role in the novel and the relationship between Grendel and her seems complicated. In Grendel, Grendel calls his mother mean names such as fat, but Grendel does love his mother. The only reason why he can not show her any affection, she does not speak the same language he does. This explains why she stared into his soul at often times because it was her way of showing him affection. She would also do things like smother him in her and although he did not like it, he took it because he knew this was one of her few ways of showing him she loved him.
Finally, Grendel the novel and Beowulf the epic poem are so similar yet so different. The stories both have different point of views and have different moods, but tell the same story. Also, the theme of nature vs. nurture is a common theme throughout the novel Grendel while good vs. evil is the theme of the epic poem Beowulf. Grendel’s
Both of the pieces of literature, Grendel and Beowulf, contain the same story; it is just told from different viewpoints. Beowulf is an epic oratorical poem depicting the heroic Beowulf defeating the hideous creature that haunts the halls of Herot. Grendel, however, allows the reader to be able to experience the story from Grendel’s point of view. Though the books depict the same creature who possesses the same qualities, within Grendel, he is given more human characteristics and this makes the reader feel as though they are reading about a different being.
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.”
Another part of the text which is evidence to Grendel not being the monster he is made out to be, is the relationship dynamic between Grendel and his mother, and also his mother’s actions after his death. The actions of Grendel’s mother are not those of a monster, but those of any normal woman who has children. After her son was killed (murdered and then part of his body was taken as a trophy), she just wanted to seek revenge. “But now his mother/ had sailed forth on a savage journey,/grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge.” (1276-1278). Grendel’s mother displayed the emotions of complete sadness and despair over her son; it seems more of a human response rather than that belonging to a monster. Considering that the bond of a mother and son is supposed to be the strongest bond of all, her actions after his death are in a way justified. It is easy to see that the character of Grendel is much more than just a monster through his mother’s subsequent actions of taking down Grendel’s arm from hanging in Heorot, and feuding (in her own way she was trying to feud, to obey the code as it was in this time. When she went to Heorot to seek her revenge, she did not
Beowulf is about a warrior who fights a huge monster to show his loyalty to a king that was not even his. It was written in the Anglo-Saxon time period and this greatly affects the way the story is written. Grendel is written from the monster's point of view and this was written many years later.
deciphered. Beowulf being pure good, and Grendel being pure evil. One of the reasons of
One aspect of Grendel that is alike in both stories is the way he acts. In Grendel the monster kills many people. He does it very brutally too. "Enough of that! A night for tearing heads off, bathing in blood. Except, alas, h has killed his quota for the season. Care, take care of the gold-egg-laying goose! There is no limit to desire but desire's needs." This was Grendel's law. He does not take pity on any human. From his point of view, the humans deserved this and they were going to get it. These actions are the same in Beowulf
Even though the hero’s in these stories are very interesting their tales would not be as rewarding if they did not have to face many adversities on the way. Some of the monsters in these stories like Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon from Beowulf, while the Odyssey has many monsters but some if the main ones are Cyclops, the suitors, and Poseidon. The culture in Beowulf was more about believing in a higher power and related monsters like Grendel and the dragon to religious meanings while the Odyssey is about looking inward because they are all things in your daily life. Even though there are similarities in the monsters in these stories are different in the way they are perceived.
person. Good and evil is one of the main conflicts in the poem Beowulf. How
Spirituality is a prominent theme in both books. More specifically, the dichotomy between good and evil is one of the main themes in Beowulf, while existentialism and nihilism are the main beliefs in Grendel.
In the story of Beowulf you get a glimpse of many different themes throughout this epic. Those themes range from good and evil to those of death and glory. The story itself depicts a period in history when life was lead "blind" through the teachings of the book of the lord and his spoken words. At this same period in history traditional pagan religious practices and beliefs have slowly given way to the ideals and philosophy of Christianity. Many of the themes held within the pages of Beowulf stem from the proverbs and fables recited and practiced in the Old Testament, while concurrently adding pagan beliefs of monsters, demons, and multiple gods. The most striking of these biblical comparisons is viewed between Grendel
“Beowulf” and Grendel are two tales similar in many ways, yet different from each other. These stories are like a coin; you cannot have one side without the other. Just as the sides of a coin share the same coin, these stories share a similar plot, a setting, and tell of the same events. The sides of a coin also have differences as do “Beowulf” and Grendel. In the case of these two tales this difference is in their respective philosophical views.
There are many similarities and differences between the movie "Beowulf and Grendel", to the poem. Major differences between the movie and the poem would be Grendel himself. In the poem, he is described as an evil monster born from two demons. In the movie, Grendel is actually human, but known as a troll to the warriors and Danes. The poem doesn’t give the background of Grendel or show how the Danes killed his father and the possible reason of his revenge, like in the movie. If the witch, Selma, was not included in the storyline of the movie, the audience would not have known key information that she was used to show from more flashbacks. The witch gives more of an idea about Grendel’s past life that could have been the possibility to
Although both books are written about similar topics, it is expression that separates the two. In the novel “Beowulf” by Seamus Heaney, and in the novel “Grendel” by John Gardner, both books explore what it means to recreate ancient english stories. By reading Beowulf or Grendel, one can distinguish the literary difference in each book when it comes to style of writing, format, and common elements in each book, therefore causing the reader to compare the overall purpose of each book.
Grendel and his mother do not have as many similarities as they do differences. Grendel’s mother seems to have the same level of wickedness as her son, but she is more responsible. For example, in the first half of Beowulf, it says that Grendel was killing people at Herot because he did like that they were happy. The sound of their laughter edged him on. He mercilessly killed many people out of spite.
The battle between Beowulf and Grendel is written from both Beowulf’s side, and through the eyes Grendel. Although both sides follow the same storyline, John Gardener's book Grendel discredits Beowulf’s victory against Grendel. In Burton Raffel’s translation of Beowulf, Beowulf is portrayed as a fair warrior that uses his brute strength to defeat his enemy Grendel. In John Gardener’s book Grendel, Grendel says “If you win, it’s my mindless chance. Make no mistake. First you tricked me, and then I slipped. Accident.” (Gardner). These lines state that Beowulf only defeated Grendel because of Grendel’s mistakes. The main difference between Burton Raffel’s translation of Beowulf and John Gardener’s story Grendel, is the point of view from which