Grendel's Bloodlust: An Example Of Greed In Modern Life

One of the most treacherous qualities that mankind contains is greed. Greed often consumes men into choosing the wrong path which leads to

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

Firstly, “The Golden Touch”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows greed because of King Midas’s attention to the gleam of gold and his lack of attention to whom really matters

One of the people’s traits affected by human nature in many stories is greed. As shown throughout, greed is an evil sin. This

Greed takes over many peoples lives today and it seems that the world revolves around money, wealth and other things and it controls many peoples lives. For example, the four children that own walmart made over 29 Billion dollars a year for owning walmart but they pay their 1.4 million workers so little that they can’t support themselfs. This example should really be addressed because even though they make so much money a year that they could just burn most of it and still be rich when their workers struggle to make a living. On the other hand Walmart started from nothing and grew to where it is.

Greed can also be the reason for idiotic and irrational decisions. It influences one’s decisions and could lead to their downfall. One example Irving gave was Tom’s choice to make a deal with the devil. The “black man” told Tom about the hidden gold that was buried in the woods, and a deal Tom could make to get this gold(246). At first Tom rejected the offer due to the fact that he would have to split this fortune with his wife, but after his wife’s disappearance he went back to search for the devil. When he found the devil the terms for the deal were negotiated. Tom would have to trade his soul and open a broker shop in exchanger for the money(248-249). This is where Tom’s greed made him irrational and influenced him to make a bad decision. He made the deal, not thinking of the others he would have to hurt in the broker business and without consideration that his soul will then belong to the devil. Greed made Tom not think rationally and make a decision that would lead to his downfall in the near future. The other example Irvin gave was a greed-based decision that Tom’s wife made the ultimately led to her death. After Tom’s first encounter with the devil he came home and told his wife about his experience and the offer the devil made. Tom’s wife was all for it but Tom did not want to accept his the offer(246). Her greed came into play when she decided that she would steal some valuables and go out and make the deal herself. This greedy decision was

“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

Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction (Erich Fromm).

Greed affects everybody one way or another. It changes how people act in important situations. Greed can force people into doing what is beneficial to them and not the masses who could have their lives changed for the better based off the decision made by one greedy individual. Greed takes over people's mind and turns them into savages who will stop at nothing to get what they want. Greed is alive and well in Lord Of the Flies by William Golding, Greed can be seen numerous times throughout this fantastic book where dozens of young boys get stranded on an island with no adults and only themselves to stay alive. Throughout the book the boys come to treat each other very harshly and become violent when something does not go their way. This

The story of Grendel by John Gardner is told in the monster Grendel’s perspective. In Grendel the monster tells his side of the story of why and how he attacked the humans for so long. The story goes back in time to tell of his childhood and the struggles he had gone through. Grendel tells us every detail there was to know from what he thought to how he killed. Later in the story on Grendel’s last year of war he encounters a man names Beowulf, the hero of Danes. This so-called hero comes to save King Hrothgar’s people in Herot because of Grendel killing his men. Good is what is morally right, and evil is the immoral thing to do. In Grendel the theme of good and evil gives readers a new point of view on how they are portrayed.

One way greed makes people think of only their own needs is shown throughout the story using foreshadowing. In this short story, a scarlet ibis, a big red bird, was sitting all alone in a tree. When Doodles family ran outside, they saw the bird falling out of the tree and died. Doodle and his family watched the bird break its neck. After, Doodle was devastated and decided to bury the bird. The author says “It tumbled down bumping through limbs of the bleeding tree and landing at our feet with a thud. Its long graceful neck jerked twice into an S.” (Hurst 5). The scarlet ibis is foreshadowing Doodle's death. Doodle had fallen all alone at the end of the story, just like the bird. Doodle wanted Brother to wait for him, but Brother didn't and left him behind. He let his

Greed can take control over so many in ways some people wouldn't understand it also could be someone you least expect and in the book The Crucible by Miller was an perfect example of greed in two different ways one was in the eyes and way of Abigail Williams and another person who was full of greed in Miller The Crucible was Thomas Putn.

An excellent example of greed consuming people are the attackers. They were willing to do whatever was necessary to get the pearl from Kino and become wealthy. “Greedy fingers went through

Greed is what drives everything in society, whether that be thousands of years ago or today. The reason we have advancements in our world is greed. People want to live forever, have a legacy that lives forever, or they want to have the most money. People have a natural desire to have the most stuff, whether that be money or physical good, and they will go to the ends of the earth to get it. And because this is human nature, unfortunately, it isn’t stopping anytime soon.

One specific tale, in The Canterbury Tales, centers entirely around greed and how it can lead to an eventual downfall. The Pardoner’s Tale tells how a group of three men go looking for “Death” because he has been killing all their friends. An old man warns them to stop, but they do not listen, so he tells the group of men where they can find death. When the men reach where the old man told them to go, they find multiple bushels of gold. A plan is made amongst them for one of them to go into town and get wine and bread and then late into the night they would all bring the gold into town so nobody would see them. While one man went into town to get the wine and food, the other two men plotted against him. They decided to