Grendel Chapter 1 Summary

In the novel, the readers are allowed to see the progression of Grendel. As Grendel starts to grow up there are changes in his personality, more specifically his innocence. Grendel becomes conflicted, being the monster that he is and the choices that he makes. Grendel wants to know what his purpose in life is, or what is the purpose of life at all. While Grendel becomes evil there are signs him struggling against that way. Now I will talk about Grendel’s balance between good and evil.

When readers are introduced to Grendel, he is a melodramatic creature who has no one to truly understand him. His emotions contribute to Grendel is caught in situations where he tries to interact but there is a barrier. When he encounters humans they fear him because of how violent he is or seems to be, but they retaliate with the same violence. The irony in this passage is that humans are attacking him because

Grendel was initially curious by nature, not cruel or vicious. He sought to explore and understand his world and the creatures in it, including the humans. Grendel

One of the first things Grendel learned about humans is their knowledge and way of thinking. Through different difficult situations, Grendel learned that humans are much more dangerous than any wild animal as they are capable strategy makers. We can clearly see this at the second chapter, when he is

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

Grendel initailly is frightened by him, discovering how the humans must feel in his own presence in the following passage: "My throat convulsed and I tried to get my breath to speak, but I couldn't ... 'Now you know how they feel when they see you'" (59) as their conversation continues they do not make much ground with each other, instead just adding fuel to the fire. Eventually they reach a breaking point in the conversation when Grendel asks, "Why is it fiddlesticks if I stop giving people heart attacks over nothing? ... You improve them, my boy! Can't you see that yourself? ... You are, so to speak, the brute existent by which they learn to define themselves. The exile, captivity, death they shrink from" (72) This sticks with Grendel throughout the rest of the novel.

John Gardner’s novel “Grendel” can be characterized as unique, to say the least. His portrayal of the illustrious “shadow stalker”, Grendel, must be carefully considered throughout the book. Although readers are able to sympathize, as well as relate, to this terrifying monster, he must still be classified as evil, given his destructive and corrupt tendencies. Because of his harmful actions, Grendel faces the worst punishment of all, as he is forever an outcast from the human society.

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,

"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.

Despite the way humanity treats Grendel, Grendel is a very social being. Grendel attempts to socialize with the people, but they are too fearful to be around him and speak with him. During his first confrontation with humans, Grendel yells, “‘Pig!’ I tried to yell. It scared them…The king snatched an ax from the man beside him and, without any warning, he hurled it at me. … ‘You’re all crazy,’ I tried to yell, but it came out as a moan” (Gardner 27). The thanes that attacked Grendel started speaking to him first, because they thought he was a tree spirit, so Grendel attempted to speak with them also; however, the people were petrified of Grendel. Although Grendel attempts to speak

Grendel’s emotions drive him to do theses harmful actions that are seen as evil, but he has no other way to show his emotion. The lack of communication has been just as much the humans fault as it was Grendel's. Grendel did not fail to recognize his flaw in doing these actions. Grendel did not want to live this way, but society and the lack of communication corrupted his life in ways that forced him to do these horrific things. Grendel says, “I feel my anger coming back, building up like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist” (Page 4). This exemplifies

Shortly after this scene, when Grendel has his first encounter with men, he realizes a contradiction to his theory of mechanism. Hearing their “crackpot theories”(64), he recognizes that he is not dealing with a “dull mechanical bull, but with thinking creatures, pattern makers, the most dangerous things [he’d] ever met” (21). Grendel believes the human to be “dangerous,” because they challenge his theory of mechanism. It worries Grendel, seeing that there are beings who can in fact think for themselves and create their own destiny. He sees their challenge to his original belief, noticing the seemingly random theories they express when coming across Grendel, who at the time is caught in a tree. Grendel believes their speculations are “ all crazy“ (20). Despite humans not being mechanical, Grendel still sees them as nothing more

"The mountains are what I define them as.... What I see I inspire with usefulness... and all that I do not see is useless, a void." [28-29] Grendel then sees that the world is how he views it, and his senses make up everything: reality is dynamic. This important conclusion leads him to begin to look around him and form thoughts and opinions on all that he sees, as well as placing him at the first step down the road of the cynical death he suffers. His first impressions

From the novel Grendel (Gardner, 1971), Grendel is one of the three antagonists along with his mother and the dragon. Grendel has the combination of human and beast; he emerge in a society that mocks and threats him these scenes features racism and class level in the nineteenth century. Grendel is an individual who pleased to coexist with humanity, but also the murderous brute who kills for no reason. Grendel hears noises from the meadhall as he scramble through the woods. The twelve years of war causes Grendel to attack Hrothgar’s meadhall, and coldheartedly ravages the reckless community; this reflects to the African Americans who risked their lives protesting for their rights. Grendel, the grotesque of the society has many diversities to his character; he characterizes race, culture, and power. John Gardner uses the society to emphasis Grendel as the binary figure, who is the Otherness. Grendel’s desperation of fitting in the Danes society makes him a boundary dweller who portrays to slavery in the nineteenth century and racism in the twentieth century.