grendel vs. frankenstein Essay

Choose a complex and important character in Frankenstein who might on the basis of character’s actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in this novel makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary. Justification: Students are able to mention the over all effect of isolation and the need for friends in the novel.

John Gardner’s Grendel and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein both include characters who are labeled as monsters. Grendel and the Monster share common characteristics such as being ugly, strong, large, and they kill others. They are both insecure about their appearance and how society portrays them. Grendel and the Monster use violence to try and cope with their insecurities. In the literary works Grendel and Frankenstein, both the monster’s physical appearance and their interactions with others cause them to become an outcast from society. This leads to rejection of themselves, low self-esteem, and ultimately they create havoc within their communities.

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

The novel Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley in 1818. This gothic romance novel tells the story of a philosopher who discovered how to create life, without the full knowledge that his actions could cause grave consequences. Universal Studios made the film version of this novel in 1931. Unfortunately, the film version of Frankenstein has more differences than similarities to the novel. In the novel, Victor’s mental obsession seems to be more severe than in the film. The character of Victor Frankenstein was portrayed in both the novel and the film as a veriphobe, or one who is afraid of the truth, in this case, the truth of his actions. He

creation to the edge of the world, hoping he would fall off, never to be

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, illustrates an interesting story focusing in on many different themes, but what most readers may miss, is the similarities between Victor Frankenstein and the creature he created. As the story develops, one may pick up on these similarities more and more. This is portrayed through their feelings of isolation, thirst for revenge, their bold attempt to play god, and also their hunger to obtain knowledge. These are all displayed through a series of both the actions and the words of Frankenstein and his creature.

Grendel and Frankenstein are two monsters whose society ignores their existence and find them to be burdensome to their society based on the mere fact that they are not like the rest of their surrounding man-kind. Grendel and Frankenstein both strive to accept their place in the views of their surrounding peoples. Although their sporadic happiness comes from them engaging in fights and killing members of their societies, they learn to accept their place within the societies by coping with their ability to stay loyal to themselves and to fight back with self-devotion and not wanting to give up on themselves.

In both novels, the antagonists began their lives as innocent creatures, ignorant to the outside world and full of kindness toward mankind. Frankenstein’s creation enters the world with the physical abilities of a mature male, but the knowledge of a newborn- demonstrated when he says “I remember, a stronger light pressed upon my nerves, so that I was obliged to shut my eyes. Darkness then came over me, and troubled me.” (Shelley, 92). The creature resides in an utter state of ignorance and naivety; a state where one has no intentions to commit any treacherous task. Similarly, Grendel’s state of existence consisted of ignorance and naivety as well. During the novel, he reminisces about the early years of his existence when he says “I lived those years, as do all young things, in a spell. Like a puppy

Frankenstein's Monster along with Grendel are both monsters that society ignores their existence and both of their societies finds them to be a distress. Their societies doesn't enjoy them because they are not like the rest of society. Both the Monster and Grendel aim to find their place in society along with their purpose and reasoning to life. Considering their happiness comes at infrequent times, both eventually accept their role into society by coping with themselves and their inner traits to be loyal with themselves, continuing to be more intelligent and be on the correct path.

In Grendel, the main character Grendel ends up being the villain of the story. Grendel does not exhibit any of the basic heroic qualities it takes to be described as one. The baseline definition of a hero (provided by dictionary.com) is “a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character”. Grendel is known to the people as a monster that is only searching to fulfill his desire for blood, which is not heroic nor noble. Grendel took this definition, though, and expanded it (somewhat mockingly).

In the Bible, the book of Genesis 1:27 states that "God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Creating both men and women in His image, God is the only person who can do this successfully, giving us unconditional love and never abandoning us throughout our journey in life. On the other hand, Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist creates a life form due to his love of natural sciences. His desire to create this life form only for an experimental purpose unknowingly leads to disastrous outcomes for both Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the monster. In Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein uses his knowledge

The character Grendel in John Gardner’s novel has a more complicated life than the character in Frankenstein because of their reasons behind killing, their conflict of man vs. society, and their emotions of their existence are more complex in Grendel. The Monster in Frankenstein and Grendel are uniquely superior to the rest of mankind. Grendel on the other hand gets his superiority by killing man, causing them to fear him. The monster is created by dead corps put together, so merely his appearance creates fear in mankind.

Since grade school, kids have been afraid of monsters or any spooky creatures. Whether it would be traditional culture monsters or serial killers, it would create nightmares for children. A monster can be defined differently to various types of people. It can be a ugly creature or anything in disguise with an evil spirit. A monster is any being that is evil through its morals, actions, and the fear it puts in people.

When you hear the story about Grendal and Frankenstein’s monster you wouldn’t think that they have completely different stories while that is true in some ways they go through the same physical and mental harassment just because they are different. They react to their situations differently but none the less their stories have more in common than you think.

The one person who shows the true meaning of what a hero really is would be, Elizabeth from The Paper Bag Princess. First off, the words brave and trustworthy fit right into her category. Elizabeth was the first girl to rescue prince, Ronald. But, the mean evil dragon smashed her castle, burned all of her close with his red flaming breath and carried Prince Ronald away. Even though when Elizabeth had to run out of the house chasing after him she did not know what to wear… she had no clothes. Elizabeth finally found a object that was not burned and it was a.. Paper bag! When Elizabeth finally arrived to a big black dark cave, she knocked on the door. Elizabeth was very cunning about her plan to trick the dragon into letting her in to save the