Similarities Between Jekyll And Beowulf

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

The desire of extensive knowledge is first seen through Victor Frankenstein. At the beginning of the novel, a young boy named Victor grows up in Geneva “deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge” (20).

Knowledge makes our world go round. Knowledge is what makes us move further and revolve into something more. In the book “Fahrenheit 451” it states “they say you retain your knowledge even when you’re sleeping, if someone whispers in your ear”(Bradbury,89). Knowledge can never be taken from you. Even when you’re asleep your mind runs.

The embodiment of envy. In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel exemplifies envy therefore he is discontent with the happiness of others. The infusion of Biblical ideas helps form Grendel's character. As a relative of Cain, the first person recorded in the Christian Bible to murder another, Grendel is perceived as a monster. “On the kindred of Cain the Lord living ever awreak’d the murder of the slaying of Abel. In that feud he rejoiced not, but afar him he banish’d, the maker, from mankind for the crime he had wrought,” (108-111). Since Grendel’s ancestor is Cain, Grendel has been banished from the earth. Making Grendel a hell born creature with human emotions and instincts. With Grendel comes the allusion of Cain killing Abel given the time period. Grendel kills the celebratory warriors of Herot because they exuded happiness. Cain killed Abel because he felt God gave Abel more attention. Grendel’s emotions brought him to envy, so he, like his ancestor before him, killed another. Unlike Cain, Grendel killed thirty men every night for twelve years, devolving his monstrous character into an immoral character.

When Cain killed Able, he ignited the eternal flame of a cursed family. From Cain's blood came "the curse of his exile and sprang ogres and elves and evil phantoms and the giants too" (Beowulf. Pg. 35), darkness entailed is legacy and evil embodied his future. Grendel is a descendant of Cain, so he shares Cain's exile from all that is good and light. Cain may have been the first displaced person after Adam and Eve, but he was not the last. Grendel shares his ancestor's punishment, he is exiled not only from whatever land or wealth he would have had if he were "human", but he is also abandoned by God and all who followed and indulge in his faith and grandeur. It is this abandonment that causes Grendel to destroy and murder. "The treasure seat, he was kept from approaching; he was the Lords outcast" (Beowulf pg.36), since he cannot approach the throne of the Lord like the rest of mankind, he chooses to attempt to destroy it. He has no love for God and his children if he can not be with them "hand in hand". However, unlike Cain and his parents, Grendel is doomed from

The story of Cain, and the murderous rage he inflicts on his brother Abel is one that many remember because of the curse Cain receives from God. After lying to God about killing his brother, Cain can no longer live a fruitful and successful life. He and his descendants are cursed to misery and torment for his transgression. Grendel, one of the unfortunate descendants of Cain, is a prime example of biblical allusion in Beowulf. “He was spawned in that slime, / Conceived by a pair of those monsters born / Of Cain, murderous creatures banished / By God, punished forever for the crime / Of Abel’s death” (19-23). This description of Grendel attaches a stigma to him without giving him any real characteristics. Before he has even

Beowulf and Hester both know the importance of identity. Beowulf is trying to persuade Hrothgar to let him battle Grendel: “My people have said, the wisest, the most knowing/ And best of them, that my duty was to go the Danes’/ Great king. They have seen my strength for themselves" (Lines 150-151). Beowulf clearly cares about identity as he is bringing up his reputation from back home. He uses identity as a method of persuasion. If Beowulf did not think that identity was important, he would not have used to persuade Hrothgar. He knows identity is highly valued, therefore, he believes that if he shared how other people identify him, he will have a better chance of being accepted by

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.

The pursuit of knowledge is not the only passion that can lead to a person to a life of suffering. Shelley’s example of Frankenstein’s uncontrollable urge to learn can be applied to any passion that is taken to an extreme. “A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility” (Shelley 64).

Knowledge isn't power. This relates in Flowers for Algernon because he who believed if he was “normal” or smart like everyone else he would have more friends or live a better life. This wasn't true at all. He ended up losing friends and being an outcast. In Adam and Eve they also believed knowledge was power. They believed that if they bit from the tree of knowledge they would gain knowledge and be like god. Another theme is think about it before you risk it all. Charlie risked his happiness to be “normal” or be “just like everyone else” ,Adam and Eve risked their freedom in hopes to find knowledge or

Victor again continues on the foreshadow of the danger of knowledge in chapter four when he says, “ how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man s who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to be greater than his nature will allow.” In this statement I personally believe that it relates to another famous quote originally said by Thomas Gray in 1742 that reads, plain and simply, “ignorance is bliss.” Basically, I believe that Victor is saying blessed, lucky, are the people in the world who do not desire that he does to search for knowledge until there is no more to be learned. Saying this, however, also implies that intelligence would be misery. So if the statement, and the relation of the statement to Victor’s quote in the novel, are both correct, then why do so many men like Victor, both in the story and in the real world, grasp for every piece of knowledge possible to attain what they believe is an accomplishment. Like so many other questions that have driven people into overwhelming amounts of information, this question does not have an answer. Which brings around another argument in the case that to much knowledge is dangerous; what if the population dedicates a large percentage of lives to research and the quest for knowledge only to find that there will be no way to ever answer

What exactly is the pursuit of knowledge? One might say that the pursuit of knowledge is when one conducts irregular experiments and actions. One might say that the pursuit of knowledge is the process of the collecting information needed in completing that test. However, the universal truth says that one can never accumulate all the knowledge in the world. However, one might opinion that the pursuit of knowledge is a wonderful thing to have because knowledge is power. But what exactly is knowledge? Mary Shelley has her visions of the pursuit of knowledge all the way back in the 19th century. To tell her thoughts to the world, she creates the characters Victor

The word “knowledge” was recurring many times throughout Frankenstein novel and attracted or forced the reader to find out the true definition of it. Curiously, I decided to look up the definition of knowledge from the Webster 's Dictionary. It defines, “Knowledge: n. Understanding gained by actual experience; range of information; clear perception of truth; something learned and kept in the mind.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) I realized this word is very straightforward, but has many useful and different meanings to all of us. It is also powerful tool to determine and control the result of our judgment. “Knowledge consists in recognizing the difference between good and bad decisions”. (Knowledge Intellectual

The story digressed from talking about Grendel to talking about Cain and Abel. Once again, this digression served more than one purpose. “He had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain’s clan”(104-106). Here we see that Grendel is a descendent of Cain. This biblical reference shows the importance of Christianity to the Anglo Saxon people. “The giants too who strove with God time and again until he gave them their reward”(113-114). They had a strong belief in a God and higher beings, as well, that the reason things happen is because God is sending a message. A theme throughout this digression is good vs. evil or Cain vs. Abel. This digressions theme is not just related to the digression, but to the overall story of Beowulf. Beowulf is the heroic warrior, and Grendel is the malevolent monster. This digression purpose was to show the importance of the Christianity culture and an overall theme of the epic

we need that drive to learn to look under the rock and find something new and grow around that knowledge. so in Fahrenheit 451 they must all be stupid because that drive to learn to look to discover has been bred out of them through punishments a destruction of personal property they have