Gretel in Darkness Essay

The fairy tale helps the child to understand a balance between the good and the evil; it gives him a hope for a good future.” Fairy tales assure the

Terrorizing a town for 12 years Grendel kills countless men and woman in the epic of Beowulf. Banished to an underwater dwelling when descendants of Cain were banished and killed, many warriors faced him but few survived. Many have herd of Grendel and his tale of horror, but who is Grendel?

Although he describes her as a “life-bloated, baffled, long-suffering hag” (11), Grendel realizes that “she would gladly have given her life to end my [his] suffering… with useless, mindless love” (102). He also believes that “she must have some human in her” (11), furthering Grendel’s character as one that derived from humankind at the very least. The novel acts as a witness to the fact that Grendel did have a childhood. Although his childhood brought on some struggles, this is a part of all life, including that of people. He finds his purpose in life when “at an early age [he] is forced to deal with a brutal and meaningless reality” (Butts) and he begins he finds his purpose. Throughout Gardner’s novel, Grendel tries to learn “how best to deal with the world” (Butts). As Grendel grows up, he learns from and is influenced by many different people who act as his teachers and role models. These interactions are Grendel’s closest alternative to the relations that the average human has. Grendel has three unique influences in his life: his mother, the Shaper, and the dragon. Grendel views his mother with disgust and she provides the inspiration and motivation for him to do better with his own life. The Shaper’s influence brings out Grendel’s ability of

In the poem “Gretel in Darkness”, the author Louise Gluck writes based off of the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale “Hansel and Gretel”. Gluck visualizes herself as Gretel, seeing and feeling from her point of view after being faced with her terrible encounter with the witch. Gretel is distraught and feels as though no one is there for her or cares about what she is feeling. She is overwhelmed with this certain sensation of darkness. Darkness is a word filled with a strong meaning. It represents the absence of light, an important aspect used in sight. As a result darkness denies humans this sense which can make a person feel trapped, unable to see or protect oneself. The speaker is haunted by her past unable fulfill her expected “happy

The Old English epic Beowulf is the earliest recorded poem in Old English. The story is set in Scandinavia with the antagonist Grendel. Gendel is a monster and an insensitive character. Grendel was born into a monster and was cursed his entire life. Although Grendel was strong he wasn’t very brave because he only attacks at night when the guards are asleep. He has many characteristics that a monster would have. First and foremost, he was raised to be evil, and never had the chance to be good. Also whenever he would hear joy, he would be filled with anger and hatred. Grendel likes killing people he doesn’t feel any remorse after killing people. An example from the story that shows this is “Snatched up thirty men, smashed them unknowing in their beds and out with their bodies (Genesis,pg 4).”Talking about Grendel ties in with our next evil antagonist known as Cain. Cain is the son of Adam and Eve. He was a farmer who was jealous of his brother who was accepted by God and when Cain was rejected he decided to kill his brother Abel. Unlike Grendel Cain believed in god he just didn’t

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

Grendel, the monstrous beast from Beowulf, is very evil, powerful, and deadly. Grendel was very negative most of the time but what if there had been a way to prevent the killing from happening. What if Grendel didn't leave his lair that night to kill all of those men?

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.

I noticed that there was a switch in emphasis on the Christian notion of god rather than the pagan ideals of multiple gods as we saw in earlier stories. In this world of early Christianity, as well as in the stories where pagan gods were worshipped, there is favoritism, and most importantly a “just” victor and this is attributed to god’s favoritism upon the hero. In this case, Beowulf defeated -Grendel not only because Grendel was “evil,” but also because “Beowulf was granted/ the glory of winning.” (Lines 817-818)

The novel “Grendel” by John Gardner can be seen as reconstruction of “Beowulf” an epic tale with the considered beast showing his innocence and loneliness. The novel and the epic are models where there are two point of views on a main situation. In “Grendel” the monster is someone who is lost through the words of the Shaper and the Dragon, and is trying to fit in and make friends. Due to the words of the Dragon Grendel is able to be comfortable with being seen as a monster and takes on the role of a villain. Through the novel one can see how the author express himself after being involved with the death of his brother. John Gardner’s novel, “Grendel” can be seen as a reflection of the author’s life involving the death of his younger brother through the way the characters act and specific details, Grendel’s interactions with his mom, and the ideology and principles.

In the poem Beowulf, the most evident theme is the importance of the Germanic heroic code. The heroic code was what made Beowulf so famous and god-like during his renowned life. The code is displayed in the opening lines of the poem and continued to show up throughout the duration of the poem. Heroism is often painted with a protagonist, which causes some acts of heroism to be overlooked when an antagonist follows the heroic code. Throughout the poem, there are many acts of heroism displayed, but many people overlook the way that Grendel’s mother followed the Germanic heroic code. Grendel’s mother follows the Germanic heroic code by showing courage, strength, and honor as Beowulf does throughout the poem, something that is frowned upon in the Anglo-Saxon culture.

Our first character, Grendel, is an exceptionally diverse character. It is implied that in both book and poem, Grendel is a blood-thirsty monster. All Grendel does is go through

It was said by an anonymous author, that war changes the inherently good and unique spirit of the human race into the brute savages that they once had been. In The True Story of Hansel and Gretel characters have never known freedom from this war torn Europe. Bloodshed and violence are all that these characters have lived with and therefore we see no other traits other than those that are a direct result of these unfortunate and gruesome circumstances. Throughout this book, the actions of Major Frankel, although looked upon as always evil, give the reader a sense that before these atrocities were committed he had an inherently good heart.

Set in Poland during the German occupation, “The True Story of Hansel and Gretel” is told as a fairy tale, utilizing many of the elements that are common to fairy tales.

Children fairy tales are some of the first books we’re introduced to growing up. Typically, the princess is saved by the heroic prince and they lived “happily ever after”. Some may think our life should be like a fairy tales while others don’t. These tales created gender roles in which appeared to be very important. In the Grimm Brothers fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretel”, the parents leave the children in the forest to starve due to not having enough money to buy food in order to sustain life. The children later find a house deep in the woods where an old, evil witch lures them in and tried to eat Hansel and Gretel. They eventually kill the witch and find their way home to their father with no stepmother to be found as she has died while the children were away. In the fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretel” gender and feminist criticism are highlighted throughout the tale by defining characteristics, consequences from their actions, and societal roles and expectations that were both prominent in German history and modern society.