Recently, after analyzing the novel Grendel, curiosity in the round character Grendel was realized. In this novel, John Gardner pulls from his life to create a complex character, whom is relatable and opposing to the previously written epic Beowulf. This produces not only an emotional effect, but changes the entire plot. Grendel, the main character, was previously portrayed in Beowulf as an inhuman monster, but in Grendel, one realizes the importance of mental state and how it effects characters’ actions and choices. Using appalling personification and morbid imagery, Gardener conveys Grendel’s self-journey as one of inevitable tragedy, which leads to the central idea that misinterpretation may lead to isolation.
To begin to describe this idea,
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Well, Grendel was savagely attacked in his youth when he required someone to talk with to ease the complete isolation, since his own mother no longer was equipped with the knowledge of the human language.
“Pig!” I tried to yell. It scared them. They all began shouting at each other. One of the horses neighed and reared up, and for some crazy reason they took it for a sign. The king snatched an ax from the man beside him and, without any warning, he hurled it at me.” (Gardner 27)
Grendel is personified at this time yet he is still further misconstrued as a ferocious animal. Additionally, this demonstrates the divide between Grendel and the humans even though they have many of the same features. They both speak the same language and use logic to make decisions. Humans share a connection and should bond with this humanoid creature and communicate, but the humans are oblivious to the life around them. To sum up, Grendel is personified, but is not understood by the only people that speak his language, therefore leading him to being isolated in his childhood and his foreseeable demise later on. Also, Grendel uses brash imagery to catch the attention of his ‘audience’ and to express the severity of his viewpoint on the world he is living
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But that merely hints at what I mean. I had become something, as if born again. I had hung between possibilities before, between the cold truths I knew and the heart-sucking conjuring tricks of the Shaper; now that was passed: I was Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings! (Gardner 80)
Gardner paints a crystal clear picture in this quote, that Grendel has accepted his fate as what the humans portray him as, a monster. Grendel has been ‘shaped’ by the humans to be the monster that physical appearance portrays him as and in doing so realizes that he himself is animalistic and embraces it. To restate, Gardner uses crude diction to convey his point and add more character to Grendel. In conclusion, Gardner has Grendel use vivid imagery and personifies him to convey the idea misinterpretation may lead to isolation throughout Grendel’s self-journey. Imagery that spares no detail of the repulsive reality Grendel creates for himself is used. Also, Grendel is given humanlike characteristics to increase the likelihood of an emotional response from the audience and to add dimension to his character. Grendel is the result of the isolation he encountered his entire life from the inability to communicate his thoughts. He was treated like an animal instead of the thinking and rational creature that he is and because of this, embraced his animalistic side and murdered humans whenever the urge arose. {"The world
...n very human feelings of resentment and jealousy. Grendel was an unstable and saddened figure because of his outcast status. Though Grendel had many animal attributes and a grotesque, monstrous appearance, he seemed to be guided by vaguely human emotions and impulses. He truthfully showed more of an interior life than one might expect. Exiled to the swamplands outside the boundaries of human society, Grendel’s depiction as an outcast is a symbol of the jealousy and hate that seeks to destroy others' happiness and can ultimately cripple a civilization. This take on the outcast archetype ultimately exposes the Anglo Saxon people’s weaknesses, their doubts and anxieties towards the traditional values that bounded nearly every aspect of their life.
John Gardner’s Grendel brings a new perspective to the the way the story of Beowulf is told and interpreted. (Grendel’s ability to be influenced by the multiple sources around him changes his outlook on life. It also changes the reader’s ideas of who Grendel is as a character as he develops and changes in the book.) Grendel’s ability to be influenced with ease by multiple characters throughout the book shows his true adolescence and nature to follow others. These multiple characters such as the Dragon, the Shaper, and Wealtheow all are able to use their propaganda to instill into Grendel a new value or trait. Grendel’s adolescence therefore results in multiple sources of propaganda being so influential on him as a character. (is the reason why propaganda from many different sources influences him so heavily.)
Towards the end of the novel, Grendel finally becomes ‘himself’. Grendel is unable to decide what to make of himself and of the world surrounding him. He has only ever known the world as wild and mechanical, yet he is charmed by the artistic brilliance of the Shaper’s words. Grendel ultimately meets a brutal yet peaceful demise. Standing on the face of the same cliff he found himself in at the beginning of the novel, surrounded by mindless eyes, he states, “Poor Grendel’s had an accident.
Gardner plays Grendel as like a child when he first discovers the the new world. For example, Grendel announces, “ I played my way farther out into this world” (Gardner 16). This shows Grendel’s first look in the real world. He first thinks that this world is going to be a fine place to live. Unfortunately, Grendel explore more into the world and sees the “Burning eyes of the strangers” (Gardner 17). To explain, Grendel has never seen such people in his life, so he starts to rethink life. In other words, his exploration of the world of humans changes the way he perceives the creatures in the underground world. This mentally changes his self
Throughout John Gardner’s Grendel, the audience bears witness to a creature who has been ostracized by the world around him. Throughout his journey, the stories protagonist tries to live out his own life the way he wants to, despite being labeled as evil by those around him. Due to this constant criticism by his peers, he develops an inferiority complex that he desperately tries to make up for as the story progresses. Throughout his development, Grendel very rapidly moves past his existentialist beginning, through a brief phase of forced skepticism, and into a severely nihilistic point of view.
Grendel, surprisingly, adapts quite well to his society despite its detestation of his existence. Grendel live is a rattlesnake-guarded cave, which allows himself to detach from his society, giving him the necessary space to cope with the troublesome thoughts among his people about Grendel. Unlike Frankenstein, Grendel tries to associate with the members of his civilization but is rejected every time he tries to do so. Every night Grendel goes to Herot to listen to the Sharper’s stories because the history interests him. He is quite intrigued and appreciative of the tales he hears, but when he comes in contact with those from Herot, they do not reciprocate the appreciation of his presence in Herot. The ones he admires so much taunt and torture him to the point they try to kill him for “intruding.” As retaliation, Grendel fights back and raids Herot every night.
Grendel as a character is very intelligent, he is capable of rational thought at all times. Because of this, at sometimes during the story I would forget Grendel is a monster, the way he acts in his thoughts and actions I would mistake him for a human; at times I was even feeling bad for Grendel because he is a very lonely person who tries to understand all of the meaningless of the world around him. Grendel can never get to close to
John Gardener’s Grendel is another version of the epic Beowulf, except in a differing perspective. This story is retold from the viewpoint of Grendel. Gardener wants us to empathize with Grendel through his own thoughts and emotions. The way one sees the monster in Beowulf is completely different than how one would think of him in Grendel. One is forced to view someone else’s opinion versus getting to form an opinion for oneself.
Is Grendel a truly fearsome, mindless monster? Or is he simply a misunderstood creature capable of thinking and feeling? Does he deserve to be deemed as an outcast or should society accept him? In the novel, Grendel by John Gardner, Grendel must deal with these questions reflecting his doubts on his identity after he is mistook for an evil, monstrous character. Though Grendel has an evil background in which he is the descendant of Cain causing him to be judged by how others perceive him to be rather than from his true incentives and though his ugly appearance may cause others to cringe, underneath it all, he is a harmless and misunderstood creature only looking to change his destiny. Throughout the novel, Grendel lives
Grendel is alone with only his mute mother for companionship. He is not accepted by the humans and has no real place of belonging outside of his hellish lake cave. Grendel views the human to try to find identity for himself. Grendel is not alone physically and emotionally. Psychologically Grendel develops a philosophical belief that he is alone is existence. This is illustrated when Grendel says “I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist.” (Gardner 21). Grendel’s isolation changes his outlook on life. To Grendel, he is the only one existing in a meaningless
Grendel’s mother does not talk much and refuses to tell Grendel their origins, but she often clutches at Grendel that makes Grendel feels a sense of belongingness and security, she loves and protects Grendel. Grendel has no friends, he always stays with his mother, and he thinks that the bond between him and his mother is unbreakable when he is still a child. However, the tie between Grendel and his mother starts to tremble when Grendel first gets out of the water and he feels hopeless being trapped on a tree. Grendel comes to realize that he is one isolated creature that do not make connection with anyone, in his own word, “I alone exist”, shows his individualism
Many may contend that the novel’s main character, Grendel, is guilty of evil by virtue of his vile actions. However, Gardner’s description of Grendel’s resistance to evil impulses and capability of human emotions suggest that Grendel is simply responding to his environment. Furthermore, Gardner deftly accrues readers’ sympathies towards Grendel, making it difficult for the empathetic reader to condemn the monster ex officio. By forging connections between humanity and his protagonist, Gardner indicates that readers are equally as guilty of sin as Grendel. Through this implication, he insinuates that humans are unqualified to judge Grendel’s actions, and, perhaps, each other. After all, if Grendel can be called evil, can the same not be said of all of mankind? The novel’s ultimate truth seems to harken back to Tupac Shakur’s assertion that, “Only God can judge me,” (Tupac
When the young Grendel gets his leg stuck in a tree, the bull repeatedly charges him in an attempt to defend its calf, which Grendel attempts to hunt. The bull cannot do much harm to Grendel, as he can easily dodge its horns. However, the bull continues to charge at Grendel without altering its approach whatsoever. Grendel finds the bull’s inability to think amusing, even scoffing at the animal. Once Grendel realizes how oblivious the poor creature is, his outlook on nature becomes increasingly worse. Now, not only does he envision creation as tedious, but ignorant as well. Grendel’s encounter with the bull pushes him to theorize. Grendel, at this point, believes that only he exists. He thinks that he is the only thing that exists, and that everything else is either something pushing him or something he pushes against. Not long after the bull begins its attack on Grendel, a band of human's chime in, too. Unlike the bull, which never once changes its routine in striking Grendel, the humans have the ability to make new patterns and to break out of routine and mechanism. This ability triggers Grendel’s lifelong fascination and slight envy with the human race. However, when Grendel attempts to communicate with the humans, they interpret his yelling as an expression of anger rather than excitement. This causes Grendel's depression about his inability to communicate to increase, which magnifies to his despise for the humans.
Grendel is the embodiment of all that is evil and dark. He is a descendant of Cain and like Cain is an outcast of society. He is doomed to roam in the shadows. He is always outside looking inside. He is an outside threat to the order of society and all that is good. His whole existence is grounded solely in the moral perversion to hate good simply because it is good.
...zes humanity in this scene by portraying them as the evil beings instead of Grendel who is the helpless victim of their savage assault. The men attack Grendel solely because they could not understand him and because of his appearance. Grendel makes no attempt to harm the men but to communicate with them while they are the ones that savagely tried to kill him. John Gardner portrays the men as the real monsters who mercilessly tried to kill Grendel while he was defenseless. Grendel has another revelation due to this attack in where he states. “The world resists me and I resist the world… “That’s all there is.”(Gardner, 28) Grendel makes this assertion as a means to organized the ways he perceives the world. While he once saw the world as a confusing array of frightening images, now he can separate the world into categories: those who do not resemble him and himself.