Comparing Beowulf As The Hero And Grendel The Villain

Grendel the hero and Grendel the villain. He is either hated or loved. He is the epitome of good and evil. His good is seen through pushing the humans to unite and advance to fight against him while his evil is on display when terrorizing the humans. The Anglo-Saxons, the community in which Grendel terrorizes, view him as the purest and darkest form of evil. Grendel’s mother sees him as just another troubled child whom she deeply cares for. This exciting battle against good and evil often brings ourselves into question. In the story of “Grendel,” good and evil is often compared and contrasted through humans, the environment, and Grendel’s family in order to analyze human moral compasses. In the story of “Grendel,” good and evil is often compared

The environment in Grendel is a very interesting aspect of the story; Grendel’s home is a dark, wet, filthy, cave that gives off an eerie feeling while the Anglo-Saxons have a bright, clean, happy, village. Also, in the beginning of “Grendel”, he only comes out during the night, which can be associated with evilness also. Comparing and contrasting the environment when it comes to good and evil makes it transparent that Gardner is trying to hide some of the human’s immoral behavior while magnifying Grendel’s. When contemplating about his evil impulses, Grendel states, “Some evil inside myself pushed out into the trees. I knew what I knew, the mindless, mechanical brightness of things, and when the harper’s lure drew my mind away to hopeful dreams, the dark of what was and always was reached out and snatched at my feet” (Gardner 54). Focusing on when Grendel talks about his, “Evil being pushed out into the trees,” the environmental effects it has on the characters living there are easily seen. This shows that the characters chose a home that reflected their inner character. Interesting to think about right? Grendel being the detested, isolated, beast, chooses to live in a dark cave far underwater that is almost unreachable by anyone while the humans live in a village as a community with strong relationships. When good and evil is thought of in the environmental way, humans are seen on the moral, civilized side. In The Twelve traps in John Gardner’s Grendel by Berry Fawcett and Elizabeth Jones, the outline of “Grendel” is based on the 12 zodiac signs such as Ares for the first chapter. Berry and Elizabeth state, “The main problem was the zodiacal sign taken by itself is not a sufficient clue.” Following these signs enables the understanding that the different seasons have an effect on Grendel’s behavior and can foreshadow events. Again,