Comparing Grendel And Beowulf

The novel Grendel, by John Gardner, gives the reader an inside look on the “monster… demon… [and] fiend” (Beowulf, 99) who, in Beowulf (translated by Burton Raffel), seems only capable of destruction, sneaking around in the night and killing soldiers off by the dozen. Grendel is a non-human entity who possesses human characteristics; no one truly knows who or what he is. He is monstrously huge, absurdly strong, and insatiable (he has been murdering for approximately twelve years). He is a “[monster] born of Cain, [a] murderous [creature]” (Beowulf, 105-106). He lives with his mother in a swampy marsh that is secluded by a “pool of firesnakes” who guard “the sunken door” to the strange world of humans (Grendel, 16). Beowulf does not provide any information of where he came from or any history about him, except that he is a pre-cursed, wicked being with no conscience. This seems like a biased assumption because the story

“I won’t shift afoot when I meet the cave-guard.” This quote shows the courage and bravery of a warrior during this time. In the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and John Gardner’s Grendel, the difference in the point of views give a change to the author’s style and the narration of the two writings. The difference in literary purpose behind the two writings affects the motivation and the language.

In both works, Beowulf and Grendel, Grendel himself is generally given the same connotations. He is given kennings, called names, referred to as the evil spawn of Cain, and even viewed as a monster; but why? Why in both books is he a wicked, horrible, person who is harshly excluded from everyone? After stumbling upon John Gardner's book, it was halfway expected that some excuse would be made for Grendel; that he wasn't really the inexorable monster the thanes in Beowulf portrayed him as. But all it really did was make him worse. What is the message we are being sent about Grendel?

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.

Also Grendel would not be able to be a good person if he tried because he’s done so much bad and he hates men. In the poem it stated “some evil inside myself pushed out into the trees. I knew what I knew, the mindless, mechanical bruteness of things, and when the harper's lure drew my mind away to hopeful dreams, the dark of what was and always was reached out and snatched at my feet”(Gardener 54). This shows that Grendel has a complex relationship with the evil inside of him. Which makes him bitter, he doesn’t like men and he tried to destroy the things they work hard for. Grendel has seen the dragon, and he has an idea of how his life will end. This connects to the bible story about Cain and Abel. The biblical allusion about this story was Cain was evil and he killed his own brother because of jealously. This connect to the story Grendel because him and his mother are hopelessly evil to God and a “virtuous” human society. Grendel is seen as a descendant of Cain because he kills humans out of anger and jealousy. Also in the text Grendel states “and so begins the twelfth year of my idiotic war. The pain of it! The stupidity!” (Gardener 5). This quote somewhat shows the good in Grendel because he doesn’t like the fact that he is a bad person and a social outcast of everyone else but he feels as if killing and hurting humans will ease his pain. Seeing the good and evil in Grendel it is easy to realize he can’t help the fact that he is a monster and can’t help but to hate humans because he doesn't belong and they live a better life than him. Though in a way Grendel's actions can be understandable because depression and angry can cause someone to do things they don’t normally do. With Grendel feeling this way his entire life it really affected him and caused him to do things out of spite. All in all

Grendel starts off his life story by explaining how he is always on the outside of everyone and everything. “Pointless, ridiculous monster crouched in the shadows, stinking of dead men, murdered children, martyred cows....Ah, sad one, poor old freak!” (6). Further throughout the novel, Grendel’s feelings of isolation increase when he realizes the dragon has placed a spell upon him. “Though I scorned them, sometimes hated them, there had been something between myself and men when we could fight. Now, invulnerable, I was as solitary as one live tree in a vast landscape of coal.” (76). Grendel’s consistent separation from the rest of the society causes the reader to feel sorry for him, despite all of his wrongdoings. The only thing that Grendel wishes for is a companion, making him relatable to readers who may feel alone. Grendel is a relatable character that readers may be able to sympathize with because of his isolation and constant feeling of being

The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic, chronicling the distinguished deeds of the great Geatish warrior, Beowulf, who travels across the seas to rid the Danes of the evil monster Grendel, who has been inflicting destruction and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land fiendish monsters and stopping the scourge of evil, while the monster, Grendel, is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves death for its evil actions. However, 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, sets out to change the reader’s perception of Grendel and his role in Beowulf by narrating the story through Grendel’s point of view. John Gardner transforms Grendel, once perceived as an evil fiend in Beowulf, into a lonely but intelligent outcast who is actually quite similar to humans, due to his intelligence capacity for rational thought and his real, and at times irrational emotions. Gardner portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression, ostracized from civilization. Although the two works revolve around the same basic plot,, the themes and characters in Beowulf and Grendel are often different and sometimes contradictory.

Although he describes her as a “life-bloated, baffled, long-suffering hag” (11), Grendel realizes that “she would gladly have given her life to end my [his] suffering… with useless, mindless love” (102). He also believes that “she must have some human in her” (11), furthering Grendel’s character as one that derived from humankind at the very least. The novel acts as a witness to the fact that Grendel did have a childhood. Although his childhood brought on some struggles, this is a part of all life, including that of people. He finds his purpose in life when “at an early age [he] is forced to deal with a brutal and meaningless reality” (Butts) and he begins he finds his purpose. Throughout Gardner’s novel, Grendel tries to learn “how best to deal with the world” (Butts). As Grendel grows up, he learns from and is influenced by many different people who act as his teachers and role models. These interactions are Grendel’s closest alternative to the relations that the average human has. Grendel has three unique influences in his life: his mother, the Shaper, and the dragon. Grendel views his mother with disgust and she provides the inspiration and motivation for him to do better with his own life. The Shaper’s influence brings out Grendel’s ability of

Grendel’s first impression was to ask his mother about the meaning of life and what was his part in it. After Grendel’s first encounter with man, he immediately told his mother what had happened. “I tried to tell her all that happened, all that I had come to understand: the meaningless

Grendel and the young boy both compare because of the alienation that occurs to them from society. Grendel is literally isolated from the people in the towns around him. He tended to sit back and watch them from afar. He did raid the mead hall of one particular king, Hrothgar. Grendel is not very fond of Hrothgar. So on some nights Grendel would sneak into the mead hall and attack Hrothgar’s men. He’d kill them and eat them. He’d ruin the beds they sleep on and break other things in the mead hall, but by the end of the attack he would always feel lonely. One night while he was raiding the mead hall Grendel ended up sinking to his knees, crying out, “Friend! Friend!”(Gardner, 52). Grendel was alienated from society and he just wanted to be friends with the people. Grendel all this time has been alone in the woods, wandering around observing from afar. He only wants to have companionship and not to feel alone. So when he attacks the mead hall and cries out “Friend!” he is only doing so, because he wants someone to help him feel less lonely in the world. Grendel does live in a cave with his mother, but she never really acknowledges him. She tends to just ignore him and even feel sorry for herself in having to be apart of him. While Grendel is dying at the end of the book he goes on to so yell, “‘Mama!’ I bellow. ‘Mama, Mama! I’m dying!’ But her love is history”(Gardner, 173). Grendel has his mom. He lives in a cave with her, but she does not love him. She does not care about

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.

Despite the element of relatedness that Grendel and the men may share through their common language, the men do not accept Grendel and therefore Grendel reciprocates this rejection. By Grendel discrediting the purpose of the outside world he is further enhancing his own self-worth within the world because he is recognizing himself as greater than man. When Grendel returns to his cave after his interaction with man, he wants to tell his mother all that he discovered, however she has forgotten how to speak and can not respond to Grendel. Even though she could not reply, Grendel continued to talk to her, "trying to smash through the walls of her unconsciousness" (27).

In the novel, Grendel is portrayed as a monster with an unhappy soul. The monster character inside Grendel feels he is friendless with the exception of his mother. John Gardner’s novel Grendel is a retelling of the poem Beowulf. Grendel’s desire to “fit in” with humanity is displayed throughout the novel, but by the end he seems to abandon those desires. Grendel battles on being himself and being a part of the human world throughout the novel as described in the situations that he encounters. Main events in the novel surround his mother’s love and the dragon’s evil plans for him.

The story of Beowulf can be related to society as a man that is able to stand up against and defeat the impossible. In this society the only monsters that exist are those of imagination or of story and the ones we fight within us. In many ways Beowulf fight against Grendel can be related to a person fight against their addiction. Grendel is a monster that keep coming back and every time he come the kingdom is in a worsted shape than before. A person who addicted have relapse, withdrawal, and serious issues that leaves them in a horrible condition. Beowulf defeat of Grendel though endurance and strength can relate to a person being able to overcome all the variables that lead to their addiction and beat their addiction. Beowulf can also be

Grendel and his mother really have no relationship throughout the story. Grendel tries multiple times to speak with his mother but she only make noises. Grendel has the mind of a human even though he is a monster but his mother has the mind of animal. “ ‘Why are we here? I use to ask her. “Why do we stand this putrid, stinking hole?” She trembles at my words. Her fat lips shake. “Don’t ask!” her