Have you ever cried out to your mother when you're in a troublesome situation? Most mothers seem to come to the rescue but not for Grendel. Instead he spotted a bull in the distance that seemed to be nothing but a mechanical creature, so he was no help. Later he was approached by humans and after trying to communicate with them, it was obvious the two species didn´t seem to cooperate. Along with the miscommunications, the humans started guessing on what this creatures desires were. Grendel´s mishap of being stuck in a tree really kicked off his opinion on humans and the world around him because of his incident with the bull, his floundering with the humans and their response to his actions.
Grendel after observing the world around him while
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¨The king snatched an ax from the man beside him and, without any warning, he hurled it at me¨ (pg.27), this quote, said by Grendel, was the human´s response when he tried to yell ¨Pig!¨ (pg.27). Their thought process went from getting him food to trying to kill him, leading him to believe that they are crazy and psychotic. After this and the roaring came Grendel´s mother ¨and before she was within a mile of us , the creatures had leaped to their horses and galloped away.¨ (pg.27). The humans in Grendel's opinion were now cowardly because they could toy around with him but once his mother who wasn't stuck in a tree came, they got out of there as fast as possible. ¨The world resists me and I resist the world,¨, Grendel woke up in his mother´s cave and said this. Now that the humans responded in the wrong way towards him, he gets down on himself and believes he is the only thing existing in the world; a world of his own. In the end, the human´s response to Grendel and to his mother lead him to believe that humans are insane and also cowardly. Not only this but they shaped his viewpoint on himself.
In conclusion, the scene in the book where Grendel was stuck in the tree was significant to his opinions of everything around him. First, Grendel saw a bull in the distance which came off as a mindless creature. Next, Grendel couldn't get the humans to communicate
...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.
the men as the "beasts" and Grendel as the victim. & nbsp; Another aspect of the humans in the story that Grendel defines is their concept of a hero. Not only does he allow for heroes to exist he gives them their purpose in life. Grendel is the monster in the darkness. that every loyal thane would defend his king against. Without Grendel this unique situation would not exist. On the other hand, Grendel has the ability to humiliate and cause a man to be named a coward. He does. this to none other than Unferth. Unferth is treated like a hero because he would defeat the "monster" Grendel, or die trying. When Grendel does not. allow him to complete this task he is shamed by his fellow thanes. Grendel realizes that by killing the man he will be defining him as a hero in the eyes of the humans. Considering the way Grendel was treated by Unferth. and others like him, it becomes easy to sympathize with him extracting this.
This ‘beast’, the protagonist of the story, fights an internal struggle, of which is a part of the Hero’s Journey. 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 the beginning of the novel, surrounded by mindless eyes, he states, “Poor Grendel’s had an accident. So may you all.” (Grendel, John Gardner, pg.174) Previous to this, he questions if what he is feeling is joy. The reader is lead to believe that Grendel must feel nothing but peace. This, is the concluding moment of his
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.
He derives a satisfaction from his interactions with the Danes that he cannot get from interactions with any other creature. violent outbursts and antagonistic relationship with humans can be seen as the result of a lonely creature’s misunderstood attempts to reach out and communicate with someone else. Grendel was amused by the humans, observing of their violence that (ch 3) He was sickened by the waste of their wars, all the animals killed but not eaten. Ashamed of his monstrousness, what better that to be like the thing you envy the most.
Since the beginning Grendel is very confused with why he can’t talk or get along with people or animals. He starts off wandering through the forest when he gets caught in a tree. Grendel cries out for his mom but is disappointed to be without her arrival. He later encounters a bull that nearly kills him but instead ends up wounded. Grendel could not communicate with the animal and out of this encounter he perceives life in a nihilistic way. After waking up from his sleep humans wearing armor surround him and believed him to be a tree spirit. Grendal tried to speak to them but again he had failed to do so. Finding out he wasn’t, they became hostile but fled after hearing Grendel's mother.
Grendel, as a character, has a much more complex identity than just a monster and a human. Some, such as Ruud, classify him as a mixture of three different characteristics, but alone, they tend to conflict with each other. By making the connection that Grendel represents immorality, the previous idea makes more sense, while simultaneously incorporating more aspects of the character into the analysis. In either case, Grendel represents much more than meets the eye, and provides a fascinating insight into
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.
The presence of a bull prompts a shift in Grendel’s purpose in life from remaining obedient to his mother as a young child to being the creator of the world as he transitions into adulthood. As a young monster, Grendel motive’s coincide with his mother since she is the only person who Grendel is able to communicate with. He feels “Of all the creatures I knew, only my mother really looked at me...We were one thing, like the wall and the rock growing out from it… ‘Please, Mama!’ I sobbed as if heartbroken” (Gardner 17-19). His emotions demonstrate that as a child, he doesn’t consider himself as an individual but rather as embodying the same identity as his mother, which is further emphasized by the use of the simile. Additionally, Grendel’s use
Grendel feels like an outcast in the society he lives in causing him to have a hard time finding himself in the chaotic world. He struggles because the lack of communication between he and his mother. The lack of communication puts Grendel in a state of depression. However, Grendel comes in contact with several characters with different philosophical beliefs, which allows his to see his significance in life. Their views on life influence Grendel to see the world in a meaningful way.
...of what he sought to be right; because he had guidance by only one creature who was evil. Grendel’s evil shaping is not not his wrong doing but by humans, because the they did not give him a chance.
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.
The magic that Grendel is capable of conjuring up explains the evilness of his entire being. Grendel’s supernatural capabilities help to defend himself against Beowulf as he battles him to the death.
...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.