Similarities Between Beowulf And Grendel

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.

Both of the pieces of literature, Grendel and Beowulf, contain the same story; it is just told from different viewpoints. Beowulf is an epic oratorical poem depicting the heroic Beowulf defeating the hideous creature that haunts the halls of Herot. Grendel, however, allows the reader to be able to experience the story from Grendel’s point of view. Though the books depict the same creature who possesses the same qualities, within Grendel, he is given more human characteristics and this makes the reader feel as though they are reading about a different being.

Beowulf is about a warrior who fights a huge monster to show his loyalty to a king that was not even his. It was written in the Anglo-Saxon time period and this greatly affects the way the story is written. Grendel is written from the monster's point of view and this was written many years later.

deciphered. Beowulf being pure good, and Grendel being pure evil. One of the reasons of

In Grendel, the story is told from Grendel's point of view. Therefore he is not viewed as a killing machine. In Beowulf however, it is the exact opposite. Grendel is seen as a monster who is terrorizing Hrothgar's people. The way Grendel is portrayed in Grendel is different from the way he is portrayed in Beowulf regarding his initiative and purpose. Grendel is portrayed the same in both stories when it comes to his actions and his nature.

Beowulf is an old Anglo-Saxon story of a terrifying monster Grendel, Grendel travels to the Danes mead hall Heorot and while the danes expect it least he attacks killing countless men purely for the joys of doing so. Hrothgar king of the Danes calls for a warrior to fight this unruly beast. After 12 long years of grendel attacking Hrothgar's calls are answered and the great warrior Beowulf comes to kill Grendel. Beowulf travels to the land of the Danes from across the seas and in the first night he kills Grendel. Sadly for Beowulf Grendel has a mother that now seeks revenge for her son's death and Beowulf is asked to kill Grendel’s mother as well. Beowulf goes to where Grendel’s mother is staying and battled her to the death , Beowulf wins

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.

As a “bloodthirsty fiend,” Grendel was the first of the foes Beowulf battles. (line 407) He is “a powerful monster,” who “was spawned in... slime.” (lines 1, 19) He is a descendant of Cain, and chose to sacrifice the Danes to no one but himself. Grendel is “set on murder.”(49-50) Nothing can “quench his thirst for evil. (lines 52-53) Grendel stalked Herot and set his wrath loose on all who came to the hall. His mother, the “she-wolf” lived in an underwater cavern. (line 572) She is the “water witch,” one that no one’s “sword could slice her evil skin.” (lines 493, 496-497) Both characters are demons living only to hate, and cause terror in the hearts of those who know of them. The third villain comes much later than the first two. The dragon is Beowulf’s last enemy, and last battle. The beast poured out fire and smoke, and was one who “coiled and uncoiled” at the sight of a human. (line 673) The dragon menaces Beowulf’s kingdom and as an old man he is forced to fight the beast. The antagonists are evil and uncaring of human life, each choosing to end it when they please. They are bad and it shows.

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.

Both the epic poem Beowulf and the novel Grendel depict the same storyline, but from different point of views. Grendel’s personality tends to be much more evil than he himself depicts in the novel. Since Grendel is the narrator of the novel, the audience only gets to know what the story is like from his point of view, which he stretches the truth on numerous occasions. But, in Beowulf, the poem has a narrator and is in the third person omniscient, this means the audience knows how all the characters and feeling, thinking, or saying. Also, the theme nature vs. nurture appears a lot in Grendel which means his viewpoints on certain things are either

The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. 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 set out to change the

In the story of beowulf, Grendel is seen as this gruesome ogre who rattles tranquility, but with an alternative perspective, Grendel could also be seen as a mediator. Instead of men killing men, they got together to kill beast. If anything Grendel saved man kind, for without him, men would have destroyed themselves and everything they needed to survive.

Loneliness has a great impact on people’s lives by making them feel empty, alone and unwanted. Day by day people are not understood and their state of mind makes it more difficult to make connections with other people. John Gardner the author of the book Grendel shares the point of view of a monster, whose name is Grendel, that was at war for twelve years at Heorot. Throughout the book, Grendel is identified as a monster who doesn't care of what he does. All his life he wasn't understood and no one was there to guide him through life. He had to learn things by himself and this is what cause him to be evil. On the other hand, Seamus Heaney the author of the poem Beowulf shares a story of a hero of the Geats, Beowulf, who comes to save Heorot hall that is attacked by a monster known as Grendel. After Grendel is defeated, his mom comes for revenge but she is also defeated. Beowulf protects many people and he is rewarded with presents.

Modern day tales of heros and monsters have changed the face of literature in the sense that we aren’t taught to fear the monstrous but rather to sympathize with the antagonist and understand their personal terror. We see this new style in stories like King Kong or Twilight, that take classic monsters and allow us to identify with them. When the classic tale of Beowulf was re-written by John Gardner from, the antagonist, Grendel’s perspective, we were able not to sympathize but to understand the true horror and evil that drives the character from childhood. Gardner writes Grendel in the hopes of showcasing his true monstrosity and to make him seem even more evil. Through indirect characterization, imagery, inhumanization, we completely understand

As Walter Cronkite, a former CBS anchorman, once said, “In seeking truth you have to get both sides of the story.” In the epic poem Beowulf, the successful Danish warriors and their king, Hrothgar, are heroically saved by Beowulf, the strongest, bravest man across all seas from Grendel’s twelve-year massacre. In the novel Grendel, by John Gardner, the plot unfolds similarly; however, it is told through the perspective of Grendel, the antagonist in Beowulf. The significant difference in perspectives poses the complex question to readers asking, “Who is the real monster?” In the epic poem and novel, Hrothgar, the Danish King, is the true monster through his influence, corruption, and unmoral actions.