Finding Humor in Grendel

One of the major philosophies in the novel Grendel is Nihilism. Nihilism is the rejection of moral and religious principles, and the belief that life is small and meaningless. In the first few pages of the novel, John Gardner states that “He cocks his head like an elderly, slow-witted king, considers his angles, decides to ignore me. I stamp. I hammer the ground with my fists. I hurl a skull-size stone at him. He will not budge.” (Gardner, 5). Here is a snippet of Grendel’s hatred towards life and even nature. Throughout the novel, Grendel proves to the reader that he doesn’t really care about anybody except for himself. In this quote, Grendel sees a ram and tries to make it leave, only to fail. The ram just stays where it is and ignores Grendel, even when Grendel yells and throws a large rock at it. As John Gardner states, “I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes

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.

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

            There is a stage in everyone’s life where they feel they are not accepted by someone or something. Whether it is because of one’s age, appearance, or emotional and mental stability, a sense of disproval and isolation appears to be glaring through the eyes of society. Throughout Grendel’s life, he is shunned from humanity for he was viewed as something of destruction and harm. However, not one person ever took the time out to see Grendel’s true personality or really discover what he was all about. When facing the realities of the cruel world, Grendel found himself severely struggling with some psychological deficiencies. After performing multiple psychoanalysis tests on Grendel’s behavior, his

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.

Beowulf is a story of great courage and triumph over adversity. But over the whole story there is a hanging sense of dread and impending death. This is shown by the sense of impending death, the strong sense of doom, and the nature of luck throughout the story. These play a mojo role in shaping how the story

Grendel exhibits human feelings and characteristics in many ways. Although Grendel is a monster “forced into isolation by his bestial appearance and limited imagination” (Butts) he yearns to be a part of society; he craves

When men come upon Grendel in the forest, they are bewildered as to what he could be. Their communication with one another helps to develop a brief understanding as to what he is,

Grendel is characterized as a lonely creature who is trying to figure out the meaning of life around him. Grendel is an unhappy soul because he feels useless in society and doesn’t want to accept his given role. Throughout the novel Grendel feels as if he has no friends and nobody else accepts him but his mother. Humans have always been a problem in Grendel’s life and they affect how he lives life each day. Grendel is not an evil creature, he is just unhappy because of the way he is treated. We should sympathize for Grendel because he is suffering on Earth and he does not know what to do about it. The author shows that Grendel is in a place where he needs love and does not get punished because he uses his emotion to escape from his punishment.

In the beginning of the book when Grendel was a small child, he was incredibly lonely but due to the nievnuss of his youth fills his world with imaginary friends. In chapter @#$ he states “Crafty-eyed, wicked as an elderly wolf, I would scheme with or stalk my imaginary friends, projecting the self I meant to become into every dark corner of the cave and the woods above”. This illustrates the alienation that Grendel feels by giving insight to the companionship that he so greatly desires. Imaginary friends can serve a very important role in a social world such as the world Grendel lives in and even the world we live in. As an example a quote by “Psychology Today” states “ Alienated young children often in boarding schools have a tendency to develop imaginary friends to cope with extreme stress or separation. Another quote from chapter one of Grendel states “Not, of course, that I fool myself with thoughts that I'm more noble. Pointless, ridiculous monster crouched in the shadows, stinking of dead men, murdered children, martyred cows. (I am neither proud nor ashamed, understand. One more dull victim, leering at seasons that were never meant to be observed.) "Ah, sad one, poor old freak!" In this moment Grendel shows his firm internal view of himself that he is and always will be an outsider, he's a freak of nature, a creature that has no business existing at all, and therefore does not deserve to be part of the

Like a puppy nipping, playfully growling preparing to battle with wolves." [Page 16] In his early years, Grendel shares the naivete of all things youthful, unchained by the perceptions and limitations the mature mind places on reality in its attempt to instill order to a disorganized world. He has, at this point in his life, no rational concept of reality as a whole, he sees it in vague shadow-shapes and imaginary cohorts. In this condition he finds a certain playful joy. While it is an admittedly childish state of mind, he is quite happy at play, as are most children. When the change and growth comes, it brings him down from the ignorant bliss he feels in his immaturity.

Monstrosity is something that is outrageously or offensively wrong, and that is just what Grendel demonstrated in the epic poem, “Beowulf.” Grendel, who is the antagonist in this story, clearly showed he knew what he was doing when he hunted and murdered his prey. He even showed that he enjoyed slaughtering others. Through all this, he shows that he is explicitly evil and it was right for him to be put down like the animal he was.

The term “cognitive dissonance” describes the emotional negativity that results from an inconsistency of thought; when two things that should add up just don’t. It is by this perpetual struggle that man defines himself. Cognitive dissonance shapes the way we think and often manifests itself as the type of behavior that creates even more confusion. Grendel’s character is a somewhat extreme representation of this process. He often acts in a way that is incongruent with his emotions, and despite having realized the absurd nature of his