Grendel Good Vs Evil

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Good vs. Evil is a common theme throughout all of literature. However, John Gardner’s novel, Grendel, presents an uncommon twist on this theme. Grendel is in constant emotional turmoil with the concepts of good and evil. He is heavily influenced throughout the novel by each side, but he is reluctant to fully embrace either good or evil. Characters such as Wealtheow and the dragon provide insight to good and evil, which helps shape Grendel into the monster he is.
Wealtheow represents good and innocence, which confuses Grendel because of his existential views of life to where he is reluctant to accept this good. Grendel views the universe as meaningless, so when Wealtheow appears in his life as a symbol of purity and beauty he does not know …show more content…

Throughout the entire novel the dragon’s evil presence is evident, slowly pulling Grendel toward the dark side. Eventually Grendel “sank away like a stone through earth and sea, toward the dragon” (56). The dragon had been expecting Grendel when he arrives and tells him to embrace his darker side because it makes the world a better place. However, we then see that in fact embracing the dark side does not make one happier because of how unhappy the dragon is. The dragon “sees from the mountaintop: all time, all space” (63). Knowledge is not always a blessing, the dragon may know all, but he is the unhappiest character in the book. Grendel is violent, but he is not as violent as the dragon makes him seem. He does not agree with everything the dragon is spitting out but the dragon’s conniving nature convinces Grendel to accept some of his advice. After his encounter with the dragon, “something much deeper stayed with [Grendel], became [his] aura” (75). Even though the dragon did not fully transform Grendel’s views, he did alter them some. Grendel is reluctant to fully accept the dragon’s advice, however he does not offer much evidence as to why. Possibly, Grendel believes this evil lifestyle is not appropriate because is goes against the small amount of good consequence he has inside of him. He does not want to be fully evil, but also denies the fact that he is good

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