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significance of symbolism in literature
significance of symbolism in literature
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There are many similarities and differences between the movie "Beowulf and Grendel", to the poem. Major differences between the movie and the poem would be Grendel himself. In the poem, he is described as an evil monster born from two demons. In the movie, Grendel is actually human, but known as a troll to the warriors and Danes. The poem doesn’t give the background of Grendel or show how the Danes killed his father and the possible reason of his revenge, like in the movie. If the witch, Selma, was not included in the storyline of the movie, the audience would not have known key information that she was used to show from more flashbacks. The witch gives more of an idea about Grendel’s past life that could have been the possibility to reasons for his actions. Some major similarities are the battles. Both epics include the battles between Beowulf and Grendel, as well as Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. The end results are the same, leading to their death, but the journey and process to the two tales are different.
There are many differences between the two epics from the poem and the m...
The battle with Grendel’s mother differ from the battle with Grendel because when Beowulf fought with Grendel he used no weapon “my hands alone should fight for me” line 174. On the day of the battle, when Grendel saw Beowulf he was scared for the first time “ Grendel's one thought was to run from Beowulf, flee back to his marsh and hide there.” line 278 But when Beowulf fought with Grendel’s mother, at the beginning Beowulf was fighting for his live “ For the first time in years of being worn to war it would earn no glory” line 484 Beowulf was losing , she was to fast and “no sword could slice her evil skin.” He needed his weapons fight for him, and Grendel’s mother was not scared of his strength as Grendel
In both works, Beowulf and Grendel, Grendel himself is generally given the same connotations. He is given kennings, called names, referred to as the evil spawn of Cain, and even viewed as a monster; but why? Why in both books is he a wicked, horrible, person who is harshly excluded from everyone? After stumbling upon John Gardner's book, it was halfway expected that some excuse would be made for Grendel; that he wasn't really the inexorable monster the thanes in Beowulf portrayed him as. But all it really did was make him worse. What is the message we are being sent about Grendel?
One night, as Grendel was sleeping soundly in his home in the swamplands, he was suddenly awakened by the sound of music. The music angered Grendel because he had been up late the night before entertaining his monster friends and was in need of his beauty rest. So he headed out the front door and headed to see what the commotion is all about.
Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson 2005) depicts a very different protagonist than the one in the epic (Heaney 2000). The Beowulf in the film learns how to have mercy as the movie progresses, while the epic Beowulf is very flat. This is due to the fact that the modern culture is very different from that of the epic. Our culture isn't content with such characters. We want our characters to have more lifelike characteristics such as emotions and a change of heart.
In both John Gardner’s Grendel, and the poem Beowulf, there are significant differences between characters, and the way they are portrayed in each of the tellings. The interpretation of a hero is usually altered in order to fit the audience, such as, Saddam Hussein in America is made out to be this monster whereas, in his home country Iraq, he is looked at as a hero and idolized by some. In each telling, Grendel and Beowulf have many similarities in how they are described in each writing, but each character is also shown in a different light in each of the writings.
In the opening seconds of the film you are already able to see differences from the poem. The poem begins with Grendel, who is a demon of pure evil which has spawned from hell, attacking Danes in the mead hall, killing all of them. This scene does happen in the movie but for different reasons. The film opens with a scene of the Danes hunting down Grendel’s father and also Grendel when he was a child. Grendel’s father was killed by the Danes, over a fish he had stolen from them. In the movie, Grendel is not a demon from hell, the Danes refer to him as a “troll,” and he is also said to be the Grinder of Teeth, meaning he has bad dreams.
Grendal, a descendant of Cain, is one of the main antagonist of the poem Beowulf. He lives under an inherited curse and is denied God’s presence. Throughout the story Grendal causes enormous grief and fear to the people of Herot. After so much pain and agony the king of Herot, Hrothgar, sends for the protagonist of the poem, Beowulf. He is a Geat and the epic hero of the poem. The wide variety of distinctions between Grendal and Beowulf is what develops the climax of the composition. Beowulf kills Grendal, so he is honored by the people of Herot for his heroic act. Since Grendal and Beowulf play opposite roles in the poem, Beowulf, they let the reader know how contrasting characters can develop the plot of the story.
Beowulf and Grendel from the book are significantly different from Beowulf and Grendel(Gunnarsson,2005) from the movie.(Heaney,2000) Beowulf and Grendel from the book are one dimensional characters, and the Beowulf and Grendel from the movie act more complex than in the book. The Beowulf from the movie expresses the cultural belief of morality when he changes throughout the movie of how he feels about Grendel while Grendel from the movie shows the cultural belief of prejudice.
1. An anti-hero is the opposite of a hero. It is the character that goes against all the traditional values of society. Grendel has strong traits of the average anti-hero. He lives in a cave with his mother in the middle of no where. Everybody in the land refuses to accept him, even as the lowest of their kind, and they are constantly trying to kill him. He is deprived the rules and consequences of society by not being allowed to join men, he rejects the values and rules of political establishment by terrorizing Hrothgar’s kingdom, and he is often angry because when the shaper sings he falls into the trance of possibility, but then remembers the dragon.He cannot figure out what he wants for himself.
From this novel, the audience is able to get into the mind of this monster and feel his pain, loneliness, and misunderstanding as well as come to realize that Grendel is no monster at all, but rather he represents a reflection of man. Although you could argue that man is a monster himself in this story through the merciless and barbaric actions of the humans, especially Beowulf. Beowulf is represented minimally throughout the story, whereas in “Beowulf” he is shown with much more valor. However, In Gardner's Grendel, Beowulf is depicted as a cruel and narcissistic man. For example, Grendel describes Beowulf as a irrational and greedy man, “He’s crazy. I understand him all right, make no mistake. Understand his lunatic theory of matter and mind, the chilly intellect, the hot imagination, blocks and builder, reality as stress”(Gardner 172). Beowulf does not possess the same qualities in Grendel has he does in the epic poem, “Beowulf.” This is due to the contrasting perspectives of the same character in each book. Like the narrator in Beowulf, Grendel is biased because of his intuitive dislike for humans as well as Grendel’s knowledge that Beowulf is seeking to destroy him. Grendel is also an outcast and monitors the day-to-day lives of the Danish people. His opinions of the people are formed based off of what he observes, sees, and hears. This gives Grendel’s opinions of the
There are numerous similitudes and contrasts between Beowulf the motion picture which was made in the year 2007, and the poem by an obscure Angelo Saxon poet. A large portion of the likenesses and contrasts are clear. The poem was changed into a motion picture and was more advanced and simpler to see then the epic poem itself. The movie happens to be more modern and gives the audience a better understanding of Beowulf and what happened during his life. It also helps the audience visualize it rather than having to picture the occurences while reading the poem.
The story of Beowulf contrasted a mix of characters that range from good to evil. Throughout the story Beowulf, the focus was heroism. He was young and heroic representing the “good” in every one of his endeavors. Beowulf was the knight and shining and armor by showing leadership, bravery, and respectful to all. His first renowned battle was with a creature that goes by the name of Grendel. Grendel embodied the darker side of humanity specifically because Grendel is a decedent from the Biblical Cain. The authors used Grendel as a metaphor which is why he displayed so corruptly, he is portrayed as the “evil”. Both Beowulf and Grendel embodied what they were destined for in the book. It vividly highlighted their role in the story readers know that Beowulf is good and Grendel is bad. While Beowulf and Grendel seem to cut from two different clothes they share similarities.
Grendel in the novel Grendel by John Gardner, and Grendel in the poem Beowulf, which has an unknown author, presents two different views of the same character due to the perception differences of Gardner and the unknown author. Grendel in Beowulf and the story of his namesake both have notable similarities and differences that make each distinctive from one another.
He does not act like the blood hungry beast he is seen as in Beowulf. In
The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. 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 set 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 the perceived terrible evil fiend who is Grendel into a lonely but intelligent outcast who bears a striking resemblance to his human adversaries. In Grendel, John Gardner portrays Grendel as an intelligent being capable of rational thought as well as displaying outbursts of emotion. He portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression ostracized from civilization. The author of Beowulf portrays Grendel as the typical monster archetype as compared to John Gardner’s representation of Grendel as an outcast archetype.