Examples Of Identity In Grendel

John Gardner’s Grendel is the retelling of the heroic epic poem Beowulf; however, the viewpoint has shifted. Grendel is told from the viewpoint of one of Beowulf’s antagonists and the titular character of Gardner’s work—Grendel. In Grendel, Gardner humanizes Grendel by emphasizing parallels between Grendel’s life and human life. Through Gardner’s reflection of human feelings, human development, and human flaws in Grendel, this seemingly antagonistic, monstrous character becomes understood and made “human.”

In the Epic Poems Beowulf, by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, and Grendel written by John Gardner, Grendel, regardless of what he does, has been seen as unsafe to man. Grendel, perceived as treacherous, is just misunderstood and an outcast to society. The back story of Grendel is crucial to the reader’s understanding of Grendel becoming a monster. Grendel’s life experiences of his environment, men and meeting a dragon contribute to the drastic change.

Everyone follows a set of routine, as if the society is a factory and humans are the machines to production. Some may know what they are trying to achieve, but many others just obey the pattern of society blindlessly. The novel Grendel by John Gardner reiterates the epic poem Beowulf through the perspective of the antagonist, Grendel; Gardner challenges different philosophical beliefs of human civilization as he depicts Grendel’s chaotic state of mind due to Grendel’s internal and external conflicts. The novel portrays a clash of belief presented by Grendel’s personal experience and his observation of human society; throughout the novel, Grendel seeks to understand his position in the world, as he struggles to discover the purpose of life. Ultimately, Grendel chooses to believe that life is pointless, though this belief dies along with his death.

In both John Gardner’s novel Grendel, and the Epic Beowulf, there is one recurring major character, Grendel. While the same in name, Grendel is illustrated in different lights between the two texts. The character exemplifies some of the same traits between the two texts, but is also shown to have some major differences.

In the novel Grendel, the main character is portrayed as a half human, half murderous creature. Because of his horrific characteristics, he is isolated and constantly misunderstood. Ironically, John Gardner writes in a way that has contradicted material that still makes sense and allows readers to understand Grendel. There are paradoxes throughout the novel that supplements the complexity of Grendel. Gardner uses irony to show that Grendel is a paradox and as a result of misinterpretation by others, he is left to live a life of isolation.

A main theme in John Gardner’s Grendel, is the constant competition of the ideas of meaning in life versus existentialism. Throughout the novel, Grendel makes a steady spiritual decay to the point of denying any value or significance in life itself. He believes the world is nothing more than “a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears”(16). This progression starts at a young age, and through out the twelve years of Grendel’s life, he grows closer to a total commitment to this theory. Because of the actions of his mother, the dragon, and man in general, Grendel ultimately dies in the misery that has been created by this belief of his life being nothing but programming, machinery, and random

A Grendel is an archetypal character that transcends art and literature. It spans time and genre and crosses over at times into our own real lives. Archetypes though, are somewhat integral to the classification of classic literature and as such must be ever present in any piece of literature. If it is to be believed that life truly does imitate art then the same must be said about people. These “Grendels” are not life-altering events to everyone, they may just be benign issues that we face and overcome in everyday life.

In John Gardner's book Grendel, the prevalent theme of isolation plays a vital role in shaping the story and its protagonist. Throughout the novel, Grendel is portrayed as a lonely, isolated creature who is unable to communicate with humans. Grendel's isolation is evident from the beginning of the novel, where he is introduced as a solitary creature living in a cave. He is an outcast, feared and hated by humans, who see him as a monster. This sense of isolation echoes the Sartrean concept of existential alienation, emphasizing the book's satirical critique of social norms while Grendel quests for purpose and connection in the hostile and indifferent world.

John Gardner’s Grendel exhibits a contradictory novel, where the characters show views that both agree and disagree with a nihilistic view on the world. Despite the opposing beliefs presented throughout the tale, the overall work seems to be a refutation of nihilism for humanity. The story opens with Grendel as he approaches his twelfth year of his “idiotic war” (5) with the Danes in their hall Heorot, and he muses over his past and journey to his current point. When a younger, more curious Grendel first leaves his home, he discovers a world full of wonder past the small area of the mere, and like any child, he joyously explores to fulfill his curiosity (15-16). As life continues, Grendel slowly becomes less enchanted with the world, and discovers

A Change in the Innocent When struggling to find out who you are, other people's opinions can heavily influence how you see yourself. Grendel is a main character in John Gardener’s, Grendel, who is perceived as a monster and described as the “creature of darkness”. Human’s opinions of him left him feeling insecure and alone in his own body. Because of this, Grendel’s identity has changed throughout the story for the worse, leading to him having a dreadful encounter with the almighty Beowulf, who is described as a god, and sealing his fate. Grendel s opinions of himself were based on others and it shaped him into what we know him as today.

“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.

The novel “Grendel” by John Gardner can be seen as reconstruction of “Beowulf” an epic tale with the considered beast showing his innocence and loneliness. The novel and the epic are models where there are two point of views on a main situation. In “Grendel” the monster is someone who is lost through the words of the Shaper and the Dragon, and is trying to fit in and make friends. Due to the words of the Dragon Grendel is able to be comfortable with being seen as a monster and takes on the role of a villain. Through the novel one can see how the author express himself after being involved with the death of his brother. John Gardner’s novel, “Grendel” can be seen as a reflection of the author’s life involving the death of his younger brother through the way the characters act and specific details, Grendel’s interactions with his mom, and the ideology and principles.

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

The book Grendel, written by John Gardner, and the poem Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, both have very distinct opinions on what role each character plays. The translator of Beowulf and the writer of Grendel follow the idea that everyone has a story. A story is the writer’s perspective on a character’s personality, the way people in the story see and treat the character, and the way it ties the ideas together. There are many examples in these two writings of this concept, but the main instances connect with the lives of Grendel, Beowulf, and Unferth.

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.