Grendel By John Gardner: A Literary Analysis

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.

In the epic of Beowulf, one of the warrior’s biggest adversaries is a creature from the swamp named Grendel. Although the character of Grendel is present for only a short portion in the story of Beowulf, Grendel signifies one of the important messages in the text about humanity. In Beowulf, Grendel is called a ‘monster’. However, if observed closely, analyzing the meaning behind the story, it is easy to see that Grendel is not a typical monster, in fact, it doesn’t seem like he is a monster at all. There is much evidence within the short period of the text where Grendel is present, which indicates he is

The book Grendel by John Gardner details the life of the monster Grendel until he is defeated by the hero Beowulf at the end of the story. Gardner paints Grendel in a more sympathetic light, compelling the reader to understand and even feel sorry for the monster. He appears philosophical and curios from the perspective Gardner creates, and the humans seem almost villainous for shunning him when he tries to understand and interact with them. The humans create the monster inside of Grendel by mistreating him, and that monster is tested by heroes like Unferth and Beowulf.

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

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.

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.”

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,

In the novel, Grendel, the images of isolation and darkness enhanced the character development of Grendel as he encountered loneliness, developed hatred, and became evil. Isolation and darkness were two important images used throughout the novel. In the beginning, baby Grendel was an innocent being. Initially, he did not kill humans for fun, and he only killed animals for food. With each image of isolation and darkness being portrayed, Grendel began to transform into a lonely, depressed, hateful, and ultimately evil character. The primary burden that Grendel had to endure was that he had nobody to develop a relationship with and nobody to love him in return. Therefore, he became consumed with his own loneliness, depression, and

In John Gardner’s Grendel, his theme can be interpreted in several manners. I see it as the author is trying to have the reader sympathize with Grendel. Others may think that Gardner is trying to make Grendel seem more monstrous; more evil. The author’s intentions are portrayed by explaining Grendel’s experiences prior to facing off Beowulf.

Grendel in a situation where he is feeling different emotions that make him act a certain way. Every time Grendel terrorizes human beings, it seems vile and full of hate, but that is not the intention. People fail to acknowledge why the relationship between Grendel and humans is full of hate. The awful relationship started off when they started off with a negative impression due to the lack of communication. Grendel became scared of the humans and the only thing the humans can do is defend themselves when they see an enormous monster. While Grendel knows of his evil deeds he is still confused about what his true identity is. This failure to figure out his identity is what Grendel seems to try and achieve throughout the novel. It is not easy for him because of the position he has in life. Grendel does not truly know his place in the world and he strives throughout his life to find the answer.

This is what differentiates him from the all the other creatures and monsters. When Grendel was stuck in the tree trunk, he "bellowed for [his] mother". I feel a connection to Grendel because he reminds me of a child. His actions are childlike. He is in search of love just like any other child. Grendel is also afraid just like any child would be. By Gardner’s humanization of Grendel, he is able to create sympathy for him. After sparing Unferth, each time he sees him, he "roll[s] on the floor with laughter" to mocking him. Grendel is able to feel and shows that he knows that humans have feeling too because he knows each time he mocks Unferth he knows that it is a painful reminder of his failure and kills him a little on the inside. When Grendel sees Wealtheow, he describes her as "beautiful [and] as innocent as dawn on winter hills". Wealtheow "tore [him] apart as once the shaper's song had done." Grendel is touched by her beauty. He has the "greatest admiration" for

When looking at monsters, most everyone immediately assumes that it is that of something evil. But, looking into the novel, we see how what most people would judge as a “monster”; how he thinks and feels. Reading and thinking deeper, it truly shows that all assumptions are put to questioning. In the novel “Grendel” , written John Gardner, We really start to look into the personal thoughts of what most of us would consider a monster. It shows the constant battle of thoughts and feeling going on in his head and hows those thought ties to how he observes the “wasteful, greedy, and brutal creatures” of which we would know as mankind. In looking at the bigger picture, Grendel is more human like than monster because of how he thinks, sees,

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.

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