Compare and Contrast How Grendel Is Portrayed in Grendel and Beowulf

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.

This led Grendel to have conversations with two very influential people who made Grendel into Grendel which were the shaper and the dragon. The shaper told Grendel a bunch of lies and Grendel knew that they were lies but they sound so good he let the shaper continue to tell them. The shaper told Grendel lies but the Dragon had the most negative effect on Grendel. The dragon act like he had some “power” and he knew everything so he told Grendel how the humans felt about him. The Dragon got a lot of humor from Grendel’s face when he found out how they felt. After hearing that Grendel didn’t want to scare the humans anymore but dragon encourages him to. Once he left from his talk with the dragon he felt uselessness until he realized he had some kind charm which protected him from getting hurt. Being invincible caused him to get a little cocky in a sense he said, “I am Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls Wrecker of Kings!” (Ch.6, pg.80) Though he could destroy any humans all he ever wanted was a

He thinks that humans are easy to understand and yet also very difficult. According to him, humans have a good insight and great observation skills, but they are violent creatures that use weapons instead of words to get what they want. They are even violent amongst themselves, making Grendel wonder what is actually wrong with them. But they are also unwearyingly hardworking. “Meanwhile, up in the shattered hall, the builders are hammering, replacing the door for the fiftieth or sixtieth time, industrious and witless as worker ants – except that they make small, foolish changes, adding a few more iron pegs, more iron bands, with tireless dogmatism.” (7) This fragment of the novel shows that humans do not get tired easily and that they have sheer will on matters concerning their safety and

Grendel discovers and begins to gain the understanding/knowledge of different concepts such as power, etc. In addition, he observes how humans interact with one another throughout the twelve years of war; Yet, his attempt to communicate with humans gives him the title horrific monster. This leads to his loneliness and isolation from everyone. Furthermore, Grendel is left without any companion. Grendel can be best described as a monster who has human qualities but can be both rational and irrational. In Chapter 1, Grendel has an outburst because of the ram that appears.. “I stamp. I hammer the ground with my fists. I hurl and skull-size stone at him. He will not budge. I shake my two hairy fists at the sky and let out a howl so unspeakable that the water at my feet turns sudden ice and even I myself am I left uneasy.” This demonstrates how Grendel is hostile and belligerent. His emotions get the best of him and blinds his consciousness and awareness of how harmful he can be towards

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

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.

“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.

To begin, Beowulf has a complex motivation for fighting the monster Grendel. His first motivation is duty which is part of the Anglo-Saxon code he’s obligated to go and kill Grendel. His people told him so go and do it so he does duty comes first and personal choice comes second. On page 47 lines 244-246 Beowulf says, “My people have said, the wisest, most knowing And best of them, that my duty was to go to the Danes’ Great king.”

"The sky says nothing, predictably. I make a face, uplift a defiant middle finger, and give an obscene little kick. The sky ignores me, forever unimpressed. Him too I hate, the same as I hate these brainless budding trees, these brattling birds (Gardner 6)." He also developed a hatred toward humans after getting stuck in the tree. On that dark night, he learned that humans were dangerous because they tried to hurt him instead of helping him. "It wasn't because he threw that battle-ax that I turned on Hrothgar. That was mere midnight foolishness... It wasn't until later, when I was full-grown and Hrothgar was an old, old man, that I settled my soul on destroying him—slowly and cruelly (Gardner 30).” The humans were not as innocent as the Shaper perceived them to be. Grendel lurked in the darkness and watched them as they battled and destroyed their own kind. Ultimately, the dragon with the dark scales made an immense impact on Grendel’s character. Grendel was not sure of his purpose in life, and the dragon confirmed that he should be evil by killing the humans. At first, Grendel resisted. However, hatred led to Grendel’s determination to punish mankind.

“That shadow of death hunted in the darkness, stalked Hrothgar 's warriors, old and young, lying in waiting, hidden in mist, invisibly following them from the edge of the marsh, always there, unseen” (Beowulf 2: Line 74). Grendel was smart and a slithery serpent. He did not wish

Beowulf spent his life killing and torturing innocent men. Grendel did not like when the men would would be cheerful and happy, so he put an end to all happiness in the land that he roamed and lived in. Grendel is easily perceived as the monster, because of thall the terror and horror he causes in the eyes of the warriors and townspeople.

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

The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the

Furthermore, Grendel had some tough times with his everyday life, mostly because he was trying to figure out his purpose. If he had taken a more Logical outlook, he may have figured out that being nice to people has more rewards than killing them. This was shown when Grendel said, “I had become something, as if born again” (Gardner 80). Grendel was deluded into thinking his purpose was to harm and scare the villagers. He had an illusion that he was invincible to every force, since humans weapons couldn’t harm him. This lead him to killing many people and becoming more isolated from the world. If only he would have taken a more logical outlook, he would have known that if he kills people, the people won’t stop until they have revenge. Human emotions are one of the most important things to the species. His nihilistic views made it seem like his duty and purpose on planet earth as he believed he couldn’t change his outcome in life. A more logical approach would have slowed down his thinking resulting in seeing a more clear view of the future. If another character was there to tell Grendel his ways were outrageous, he may have foreseen the

In the poem he is a monster, fearless and heartless in his attacks on the thanes and geats. He is a terror, and an unstoppable horror until Beowulf comes along. In the movie, Grendel seems unstable and he looks like a mentally unstable monster. He is powerful and strong, but looks timid. In the poem Beowulf goes to collect Grendel’s head from the mothers cave and cuts it off, but in the movie Grendel’s mom cuts the head off herself.