Is Grendel Truley Evil? Essay

The novel Grendel, by John Gardner, gives the reader an inside look on the “monster… demon… [and] fiend” (Beowulf, 99) who, in Beowulf (translated by Burton Raffel), seems only capable of destruction, sneaking around in the night and killing soldiers off by the dozen. Grendel is a non-human entity who possesses human characteristics; no one truly knows who or what he is. He is monstrously huge, absurdly strong, and insatiable (he has been murdering for approximately twelve years). He is a “[monster] born of Cain, [a] murderous [creature]” (Beowulf, 105-106). He lives with his mother in a swampy marsh that is secluded by a “pool of firesnakes” who guard “the sunken door” to the strange world of humans (Grendel, 16). Beowulf does not provide any information of where he came from or any history about him, except that he is a pre-cursed, wicked being with no conscience. This seems like a biased assumption because the story

people for only the reason of that they were having a good time, and he wasn’t. He is

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

            There is a stage in everyone’s life where they feel they are not accepted by someone or something. Whether it is because of one’s age, appearance, or emotional and mental stability, a sense of disproval and isolation appears to be glaring through the eyes of society. Throughout Grendel’s life, he is shunned from humanity for he was viewed as something of destruction and harm. However, not one person ever took the time out to see Grendel’s true personality or really discover what he was all about. When facing the realities of the cruel world, Grendel found himself severely struggling with some psychological deficiencies. After performing multiple psychoanalysis tests on Grendel’s behavior, his

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?

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.

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

In Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, Grendel is nothing but an evil fiend that needs to be slain, “a fiend out of hell, began to work his evil in the world” (Heaney 9). Grendel is portrayed as an evil monster that has only been wreaking havoc and terrorizing a kingdom for an extended amount of time because it thrives on the pain of others. Seamus states, “Malignant by nature, he never showed remorse” (Heaney 10). Grendel is made out to appear as little more than a monster, “insensible to pain and human sorrow” (Heaney 11). He is portrayed to have little to no human qualities, to be the furthest thing from

Disregarding the proofs of humanity, Grendel himself still refers to himself as somewhat of a monster. Through the majority of his actions, most would agree. For example, “...Hrothgar’s meadhall, Still sleep, killed two guards so I wouldn’t be misunderstood, and left.” (pg.90) Grendel terrorizes humans across the land and sees them as if they were only something to hunt and eat. Another trait that could be considered monstrous, is the fact that most living creatures including man and animal fear him just by glance as described in the passage “ The doe in the clearing goes stiff at the site of my horridness, then remembers her legs and is gone.”(pg.7). This is because of his physical traits. He has sharp jagged teeth, he’s covered in hair, and he is otherwise consider something more closely resembling that of an animal rather than a human. but, when you look at the bigger picture, humans can almost be considered worse.

There is repeated emphasis on the “Almighty Father,” and the “Heavenly Shepherd,” which greatly contrasts with the epithets assigned to poor Grendel. When anything good happens, it is attributed to the divine, and proper thanks must be given, but not in the form of a sacrifice as we saw in earlier “heathen” examples.

A. Grendel is impatient with the music and celebration of Hrothgar’s men; his home is a hell on earth; he was born in slime; his parents are the children of Cain, who were exiled by God; he is family to “a thousand forms of evil,” who angrily fight against God.

In a world of chaos, he who lives, lives by his own laws and values. Who is to say that the death of millions is any worse or better, for that matter, than injuring a cockroach. And in the case of an existing power in the form of God, who is presumed to be all which is good, presiding and ruling an organized universe, why then does evil exist? The prosaic response of “without evil, there is no good” no longer holds any validity in this argument as the admitted goal of good is to reach an existence without evil. So even if a God does exist, I think it is fair, at this point, to say that he is the embodiment of both good and evil. And if humoring those who would answer the previous question with the response that there can be no good

In the first chapter Grendel seems so rude and grumpy but he's more respectful than his mother. His characteristic in the first chapter so far is more animal like, however he does have some human characteristics by respecting what's around him unlike his mother. In the first chapter he states that “i fool myself with thoughts that i'm more noble” (Gardner 6). They also describe him as a pointless ridiculous monster crouched in a shadow. He stinks as dead men because he murders children and cows . He also states “i am neither proud nor ashamed , understand” (Gardner 6). He's not proud of what he does but he has to live the way his mother has adjusted it (tradition). Grendel is a sensitive monster in this book which he does care about

Throughout the story lineage can be hurtful towards the person. Grendel was considered a demon and a monster because he is a descendent of the evil Cain. They could hurt Grendel’s status with his linage causing him to be evil as he is. “Crendel was the name of this grim demon haunting the marches, marauding round the heath and the desolate fens; he had dwelt for time in misery among banished monster, Cain's clan, whom the creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts.”(#5-6) Grendel was seen as this monster because of his lineage. Him being seen as a descendant from cain’s clan causes people to see him as evil even before they see him. The Towns folk since the beginning of the story didn't like Grendel even before us as the reader knew Grendel. Causing people to base Grendel on his lineage instead of him because of the Anglo Saxon times.

It may be that at one point Grendel was a human much like Beowulf. "Yet, so as to save his life, he left behind his hand, his arm and shoulder" (957-959). He has the appearance of a man and he has a mother, but the humanness of Grendel has disappeared, and what remains is a creature that as the text says, "the Creator had condemned." Instead of saying that Grendel was just a real bad guy, through these descriptions, he has taken on a supernatural or mystical quality. God was even concerned enough to curse Grendel for his atrocities.