Grendel In Beowulf

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.

“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.

Everyone has a motivation behind their actions. Motivation can be affected by emotion or willpower. Many people get their motivation from what they want to accomplish. There is reasons for motivation behind actions in books, poems, and in everyday life. In the epic Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon all have a broad variety of motivations for what they do.

Next Grendel is outside the meadhall when he hears the Shaper's song and it enrages him, when he hears a guard behind him and is attacked. Yet nothing happens to the beast, as the dragon has put an invulnerability charm on him, his arrogence reaches its peak. The major turning point, the change, the evil that the dragon instilled in him awakens in the following reading: "I bit his head off ... and, holding the jerking, blood slippery body in two hands, sucked the blood that came like a hot, thick geyser from his neck." (79) The charm eliminates all of his inhibitions as he begins raiding the mead hall on a daily basis. Gardener intends to show how quickly evil influences ones

Grendel is a monster. He has instincts that he cannot overcome. It is almost a kind of creature nature that tells him what to do. He does not have a solid reason for killing these humans brutally other then fact that they started this war with him. When asked why, Grendel asks why not. "How, if I know all this, you may ask, could I hound

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

Grendel is a novel dominated by forces of good and evil, religious allusions, heroism, and nature. These themes are the primary go-to’s for thoughts on significant themes in a novel such as this, but one overlooked theme plays a larger role in the context of the novel. The importance and power of language is arguably one of the most significant themes of the novel. This theme is demonstrated within 3 main scenes within the novel including; Grendel’s first encounter with men, The Shaper’s words and effect, and in the battles between Grendel, Unferth, and Beowulf.

Children typically bear some physical resemblance to at least one of their parents. The child may have the same skin color, facial expressions or height as his or her parent. Could this be the same for behavioral traits? Are behavioral traits likewise inherited? Or, are they learned? In other words, do behavioral traits come from nature (inherited) or from nurture (learned)? This question can be applied to “Grendel,” a murderous monster a in the epic poem of “Beowulf,” Was Grendel born a monster? Or, was he raised to be a monster? Or, are his monstrous behaviors a result of both nature and nurture? Descriptions of Grendel from the “Beowulf” poem give evidence that his monstrous behavior was a result of both nature and nurture; a

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

He is overcome by the Sharper’s song and approaches them with the body trying to show a good gesture. However when he approaches them, he describes it as a sudden attack. He mentions that his approach with the dead body would provoke them by saying that there are other interpretations, but his version is the truth. Grendel says, “ I staggered out into the open and up toward the hall with my burden, groaning out, ‘Mercy! Peace!’ The harper broke off, the people screamed. (They have their own versions, but this is the truth)” (51-52). His opinionated and partial version of the truth is another cause for concern, to the reader, of Grendel’s reliability as a narrator. Furthermore, Grendel interjects his opinions about the meaning of life, humans, and nature throughout the story. This is clear evidence from Gardner that Grendel’s reliability, as a narrator, is questionable. Grendel’s use of stream of consciousness in his narration introduces additional flaws, which further degrades the reader’s trust in the

Whenever grendel is around people, he has a natural inclination to dislike them because they do not Grendel as he is. Grendel’s mother can speak and understand little amount of the human language and due to the unfair treatment from society, Grendel hates his mother. He thinks she is going to become like society and deep down, feels she will leave him too. This is why he is always picking fights with her, yelling at her, or showing disgust. Due to the isolation he creates, Grendel suffers from attachment issues and a lack of connection. This lack of connection to the public, leaves Grendel with his thoughts and self doubt. He is left alone. “I understand that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. all the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly - as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the whole universe, blink by blink.” ― John Gardner, Grendel

Additionally, Grendel’s misfortune exceeds his dwelling as he encounters aggressive situations in the woods. He is trotting through the greenery when his foot becomes caught between two tree trunks. Unable to budge his limb free, he wails out for his mother. A group of men stumble upon Grendel but do not speak his tongue, “Grendel tries to speak to the men, but they misunderstand him

“An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through.” Stated by William Makepeace Thackeray, this idea of “never letting the light shine through” aptly portrays Grendel’s evil and monstrous figure even though Grendel himself is not a person. Living in a world of loneliness, Grendel searches for the meaning of his own life, attempting to discover the “good” aspects that life brings instead of focusing on the evil individual he was predestined to be. Grendel manages to discover and gain knowledge about life’s various “good” qualities from his enemies, the humans. Although Grendel is exposed to these qualities by the humans, he never changes his approach to life, continuing to behave evilly like

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.

Grendel, the offspring of Cain the outcast, is a demon. He is a scaly creature that lives in a swampy area. He is a reptilian human, with spikes on him. He is a human-like figure, in which the way he stands. He stands on two feet, and has arms. In the book Beowulf removes Grendel’s arm and shoulder, defeating him. This must mean he has a shoulder blade and can walk like a human. He also has razor-sharp talons as it says in the book “Venturing closer, his talon was raised to attack Beowulf where he lay on the bed” (Heaney 51). One night when he is prowling around, he hears the King and his kinsmen singing out to the Lord. He hears the songs of how great God is, and is outraged. As the outcast of God, Grendel despised of God. The songs and happiness, pushes him over the edge. He plans the downfall of the hall, in spite of their songs. He will attack at night, as everyone sleeps, and butcher them dead. He sneaks in at night, watching over the guards, ready to pounce. He rips apart the men eating them alive. “Suddenly then the God-cursed brute was creating havoc: greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men from their resting place and rushed them to his lair” (Heaney 11). This shows just how When the king awoke the next morning he grieved for his men, but little did he know Grendel would attack every night for 12 winters. Once again Grendel sets of for a night of ravishing, but the king has a plan. He has set out more guards to keep watch over the kingdom, as he sleeps. When Grendel