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EVIL Grendel Essay
You may or may not be familiar with Beowulf’s representation of the monster, Grendel. Whether you are or not, you will be incredibly familiar with the “shadow-stalker” very shortly. Most people would agree that the epic’s characterization of Grendel is less than flattering. John Gardner, on the other hand, presents us with an alternate vision of one of the earliest monsters in British literature with his novel, Grendel. Gardner’s demon is evil too, or again, so one may think, depending on one’s definition of the word. So you must decide if Grendel is, in fact, evil. Are we supposed to sympathize with him? Is he punished for his “evil” deeds? Write an essay proving that Grendel is or is not evil, using examples
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I believe that Grendel is not Evil.
Why?
His childhood was lived in solitude, separating him from any contact with another intelligent human being.
Grendel was unable to understand his mother and the humans were unable to understand him, causing Grendel to be forced into a limbo where the only person who truly understands him is himself.
Being alone for an elongated amount of time can cause great damage to the human, or human-like, mind.
Studies have been done on the effect of isolation on the human brain
Grendel was never formally taught about what was “right” and what was “wrong”. The closest he ever came to learning about how to act was from watching the humans, the other intelligent human beings, the only beings which Grendel could verbally understand, talk about war and the murderous things they were going to do to the opposite bands of men.
Most of the songs that Grendel ever heard were about war, the only beings that he could hear speak were speaking of war, one of the first encounters that Grendel had with men almost ended in his death.
The humans were to Grendel as the opposite bands of men were to the humans.
Grendel expressed his emotions by killing because that was the only way he knew how to get rid of his
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Now, at a young age this process may just be as simple as determining whether or not to share or to not share, but as someone grows more advanced this process grows more advanced as well, so that whenever they encounter more cruel thoughts they are able to easily right the idea off as immoral. Grendel never underwent this process. He was simply raised as what he was, a monster. His mother gave him love and affection, but she never specifically taught him that killing humans was wrong. During his childhood Grendel and his mother had to eat, and they both were carnivores. Which meant that their food was coming from somewhere, whether it be human or animal, their food must have been killed. This, combined without the knowledge that humans were different than any other animal (besides them being more intelligent) may have contributed to some of Grendel’s first
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.
Particularly in chapter 3, Grendel listens as a blind old man, the Shaper, tells the tale of Danish history to Hrothgar. Though what is told is largely fictitious, Grendel cannot help but to feel strangely moved by the brilliance of the Shaper’s story. “Thus I fled, ridiculous hairy creature torn apart by poetry—crawling, whimpering, streaming tears, across the world like a two-headed beast, like mixed-up lamb and kid at the tail of a baffled, indifferent ewe—and I gnashed my teeth and clutched the sides of my head as if to heal the split, but I couldn’t.” (Grendel, John Gardner, pg.44) In this moment, Grendel’s mind is split between what he understands to be true and the truth that is desired. The world is callous and careless, blunt and belligerent; this he knows. However, with the artistic style and formation of the Shaper’s words, he is brought to tears and is captivated by his spiritual and emotional yearnings. Grendel is also overwhelmed with disgust and shame for himself and his vile
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.
For ages, humanity has always told stories of the classic struggle between man and monster. The battle between Beowulf and Grendel is a prime example of this archetype, but is Grendel only purely a monster? In his article “Gardner’s Grendel and Beowulf: Humanizing the Monster”, Jay Ruud makes a point that Grendel is a hybridization of both monster and man, particularly in John Gardner’s novel Grendel. In the poem Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as a purely evil monster who terrorizes Hrothgar and his people, but the novel provides a more humanistic backstory to the fiend. Throughout the novel, Grendel tells of his internal struggle between his thoughts of filling the role of the monster versus attempting to make amends with the humans. This conflict
On the other hand, it is obvious that "evil" Grendel could not survive without the "good" humans.
...owards Grendel. Gardner’s retelling of Beowulf reinforces the universal idea that there are two, if not more, sides to every story. It is prudent to remember that what is monstrous to some may be perfectly normal to others and recognizing all viewpoints can help bring about a truth: good and evil are not always clear-cut.
To begin with, Grendel’s last words “ Poor Grendel’s had an accident... So may you all.” is meant as a cursing because he is saying you are the ones who hurt me you guys will pay in debt of my hurting as well. Grendel’s words are meant to affect mankind because they are the one’s whom had hurt Grendel not the animal’s. It goes to the humans because they are the ones who hurt him. “ Any action of the human heart must trigger an equal and opposite reaction.” ( Grendel,113.) Humans can go to one mood to the other real quick. For example, when Grendel was stuck in the tree the humans had seen him and had thought he was a tree spirit. They wanted to please him so they gave it food, but as soon as Grendel spoke they were frightened. Since they
Grendel, unlike animals, has complex thoughts much like man, which also allows him the power to control his actions. “It was one thing to eat one from time to time….but it was another to scare them, give them heart attacks, fill their nights with nightmares, just for sport.” This shows that Grendel has complete control over his actions because for the first half of the story he lived his life with this in mind (Gardner, 61). This idea soon faded after his encounters with the old dragon and he found joy in killing the Danes for sport. “As if casually, in plain sight of them all, I
John Gardner’s Grendel portrays a monster searching for his purpose in life. The characters know the meaning of their lives, but Grendel tries to discover his role and what life has to offer him. Grendel discovers his identity through other characters’ actions and beliefs. In Grendel, John Gardner illustrates the contrasting views of each character to show their view of society and the influence they have on Grendel.
Pointless (P 6) While analyzing the humans Grendel comments, “ It was their confidence, maybe - their blissful, swinish ignorance, their bumptious self-satisfaction, and, worst of all, their hope.” This shows that Grendel is a creature of habit, not of compassion, without which he cannot discern right from wrong. Some of the people intrigued Grendel even though he could destroy them all he was fascinated by the way they interacted and just wanted to be a part of their community. When shunned, he felt his chance at joy slip away and became hellbent on being what the humans deemed him as (a
Evil. It’s a concept that has baffled philosophers, religious figures, and the common man alike for thousands of years. In this millennium, people may exemplify evil as terrorism, genocide, or, perhaps, placing an empty milk carton back in the refrigerator. However, many remain conflicted about the exact definition of evil, as the dispute over the character Grendel, from the John Gardner novel, makes evident. To conclude that Grendel is not evil, readers must first operate under the assumption that the beast is unequivocally and thoroughly evil. Having done so, readers will notice the fallacies within this thought process. By asserting that Grendel is evil, readers blatantly disregard the ambiguity with which humanity defines its actions, as
... by murdering Grendel, this action is expressed as moral. This idea is reconfirmed when the Dragon explains to Grendel how he is “the brute existent by which they learn to define themselves” in reference to men (Gardner 73). This further suggests that society requires evil to present them an explanation for their life and actions.
Grendel is alone; he can not know God’s love and be comforted. He is an outcast, and the sins of his forefather have fallen upon him. Evil can not stand God being glorified just as the praising of God by the Danes angered Grendel.
The author of Beowulf demonizes Grendel by depicting him as being purely a monster as compare to John Gardner who depicts Grendel not as a savage monster but as an intelligent being who has human like qualities and characteristics. In the traditional story Grendel is depicted as a blood-thirsty fiend driven by his greedy animal instincts. ...