The Theme Of Characters In Gardner's Grendel, By John Gardner

In the epic of Beowulf, one of the warrior’s biggest adversaries is a creature from the swamp named Grendel. Although the character of Grendel is present for only a short portion in the story of Beowulf, Grendel signifies one of the important messages in the text about humanity. In Beowulf, Grendel is called a ‘monster’. However, if observed closely, analyzing the meaning behind the story, it is easy to see that Grendel is not a typical monster, in fact, it doesn’t seem like he is a monster at all. There is much evidence within the short period of the text where Grendel is present, which indicates he is

When writing a paper about one being evil, the true definition of evil must be considered. Merriam Webster defines evil as this, “arising from actual or imputed bad character or conduct.” At multiple points in John Gardner’s novel, Grendel is characterized as being evil. The characterization of this evil monster is necessary for novel. Grendel is evil because he acts inhumanely and serves as Gardner’s portal to the flaws of humans and necessary evil.

Next Grendel is outside the meadhall when he hears the Shaper's song and it enrages him, when he hears a guard behind him and is attacked. Yet nothing happens to the beast, as the dragon has put an invulnerability charm on him, his arrogence reaches its peak. The major turning point, the change, the evil that the dragon instilled in him awakens in the following reading: "I bit his head off ... and, holding the jerking, blood slippery body in two hands, sucked the blood that came like a hot, thick geyser from his neck." (79) The charm eliminates all of his inhibitions as he begins raiding the mead hall on a daily basis. Gardener intends to show how quickly evil influences ones

Like many whom suffer the same disorder, Grendel completely changed his mind, extending from one topic to the exact opposite. He goes against his own ideas as if he were two totally opposing characters. He also always thought the dragon was near. Grendel allowed the ways and beliefs of the dragon to get in his head. He would claim he could “smell the dragon’s scent” whenever something sinister occurred. All of these symptoms, in addition to the isolation from Hrothgar’s people lead to the overall cause in withdrawal from society. Grendel’s emotional disturbances caused him to react completely unreasonable and rather foolish many times within his life.

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 result of this emotional pain, the Dragon’s statement to just find gold and sit on it serves to produce an alternate path for Grendel - a path of true disdain for humans and their development. However, signs that Grendel may have been tormented by these demons present themselves early in the book, with the quote, “So it goes with me day by day and age by age, I tell myself. Locked in the deadly progression of moon and stars. I shake my head, muttering darkly on shaded paths, holding conversation with the only friend and comfort this world allows, my shadow” (8). The Dragon discusses these same concepts with Grendel (being locked in the progression of life, holding conversations with shadows) and continues to question the reason behind caring, and promotes a life of lethargy, a self-destructive

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

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.

All because he is a monster. Being the monster that he was, he never had it easy. The story states, “‘Surround him!" the king yelled, "Save the horses!"—and suddenly I knew I was dealing with no dull mechanical bull but with thinking creatures, pattern makers, the most dangerous things I'd ever met. I shrieked at them, trying to scare them off, but they merely ducked behind bushes and took long sticks from the saddles of their horses, bows and javelins. "You're all crazy," I bellowed, "you're all insane!’” Here, Grendel is almost about to be killed because of his appearance. The king only thinks of him as a threat because he looks like a monster. Others may say that Grendel had it coming. However, the author’s intentions are clear that he wants the reader to sympathize with Grendel not having a fair chance in life because of how he

"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive...." Joseph Campbell made this comment on the search for meaning common to every man's life. His statement implies that what we seem bent on finding is that higher spark for which we would all be willing to live or die; we look for some key equation through which we might tie all of the experiences of our life and feel the satisfaction of action toward a goal, rather than the emptiness which sometimes consumes the activities of our existence. He states, however, that we will never find some great

During his encounter with the Dragon, Grendel does not wholly understand what he is being told and calls the Dragon a liar for the majority of the scene. He tells Grendel that he [Grendel] is humanity, in the sense that he makes them plot and scheme, and he is the cause for their evolution. Grendel denies this, refusing to embrace such an idea even though it makes sense. The Dragon puts an enchantment on Grendel that prevents him from being harmed by the humans’ weapons, and this development makes Grendel all the more eager to torment the humans and break his

Grendel never became enemies with the Scyldings until he sought out the route of this shadow, the dragon. When the dragon says unto Grendel in the line, “If man’s the irrelevance that interests you, stick with him! Scare him to glory! It’s all the same in the end, matter and motion, simple or complex,”(Chapter 5, page 73) he tricks the human-like beast into carrying out havoc on the villagers. After this long, deadly confrontation with the fabled creature, Grendel always seemed to smell the evil presence of the dragon. This smell made the monster go mad and his actions towards the Scyldings got to the point of massacres. Some may think the winged lizard remained the source of the shadow, but it was not the only thing that led to Grendel’s actions. The Shaper, that seemed to enchant Grendel with his songs, became another key part of Grendel’s shadow. This shadow made it hard for Grendel to continue to grasp the basic concepts of the

in chapter ten grendel described the guards and beowulf like a “mechanical dead looking” He also compare the sun , moon and stars as machines operating in a mechanical world “it's good at first to be out in the night , naked to the cold mechanics of the stars “(chapter 1 ) which make him believe that he is the only one who understand the reality around him .He makes himself a god over the mechanical ,pointless universe “ i alone exist . all the rest , i saw is merely what pushes me , or what i push against , blindly -as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the whole universe , blink by blink “ (chapter 2 ) . the more grendel think this way the more he have the instinct to kill. Grendel rejected every opportunity to take the risk beyond his instinctive instead , he believed the dragon words about the meaninglessness of existence.

In the background water, droplets fall to the ground. Each smack of water against the stone sends a shiver down his spine. Left with nothing but his thoughts, Grendel watches his mother restlessly toss and turn as she sleeps when a faint noise is heard. Intrigued, he walks just beyond the mouth of the cave, and in the distance, what appears to be the flickering light of candles of a great hall can be seen. As Grendel walks closer, he realizes the noise is actually singing. Looking through the windows, he gazes at strange creatures singing a song of joyous times as they dance and clank their mugs together. Engulfed with rage, he swings the doors open so quickly that they nearly fall off the hinges, and the frenzy begins. In John Gardner’s tale,

Having multiple chapters of the poem dedicated to the monster Grendel, you would get the idea that he is of some importance in the epic poem. The poem storyline is majorly dedicated to monsters since the storyline is pretty much separated into three different story arcs. Grendel is described as a sin stained demon. “They have seen my strength for themselves. Have watched me rise from the darkness of war. Dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from earth, I swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate they had earned. Now Grendel and I are called together, and I’ve come.” (Beowulf page 36). Grendel was the first monster to be introduced in the story and from the time he was introduced and the time he was defeated by Beowulf, Grendel was killing and terrorizing the Danes every day and night. When Beowulf got their he told the danes he was there to defeat the mighty beast Grendel. The King of Danes Hrothgar welcomed Beowulf and threw him a big party of sorts through the night. That was when Beowulf has the