Similarities Between Grendel And Beowulf

Throughout history there has been controversy concerning whether evilness is a born or an acquired trait. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, evil is defined as “being profoundly immoral and malevolent”. All through history different pieces of literature document various ways evil originates from. After reading multiple texts including Frankenstein, Beowulf, and Grendel one can conclude that evilness is created not born. In the novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is taken aboard a ship to the North Pole and tells an english explorer, Robert Walton, about his life’s story. Robert discovers that Victor is a man of science and his life’s mission is to bring death back to life, which he accomplishes by creating a monster. Unlike Frankenstein,

For example, he “tore off sly old Athelgard's head” and “ snaps at the late-winter sun like the heads of baby water snakes, here I killed the old woman with the iron gray hair. She tasted of urine and spleen, which made me spit.” Grendel doesn't understand other creatures ways of life whether it be a goat or a human. One night he is watching humans dance around a fire and it made him “shake with rage. The red sun blinded him, it churned up his belly to nausea, and the heat thrown out of the bone-fire burnt his skin. He cringed, clawing flesh, and flee for home”. Grendel hated human beings because they have a disgusting way of turning tragedy into triumph. Somehow, humans are always able to adapt their philosophies to suit the occasion and make them look good. He feels that no matter how much destruction he does he still will not be able to compare to humans disgusting way of living. Although the novel suggests that Grendel is born evil due to “an ancient feud between two brothers which split all the world between darkness and light”, Grendel’s isolation from society and knowledge led him to become monstrous. Grendel shows that he thinks of himself as God and that he has the power to kill and destroy whatever he wants because he doesn't have the same morals as them. This gives him a thinking that it is alright to kill people and animals because he is