Similarities Between Grendel And Beowulf

1648 Words4 Pages

Heroism is a trait that can be traced back to the beginning of human civilization and interaction, taking place within people and fictional characters throughout time. Poems and stories like “Beowulf” and Grendel are prime examples of literary pieces that contain the theme of heroism, enriching the reader with tales of monsters and noble warriors. However, despite the fact that both pieces of literature do include heroism, a similar overall plot, and the same characters, their respected views of heroism differ greatly. “Beowulf” views heroism as a noble lifestyle that earns a warrior success and popularity, while Grendel looks down upon heroism and considers it a romantic excuse for the cruelty of mankind. The illusion of heroism differs between “Beowulf” and Grendel because of the different environments and influences the main characters possess in both works. Throughout the lines of “Beowulf”, the theme of heroism is perceived as righteous, noble, and admirable, and all of these qualities can be seen within the physical society and characters within the poem. The great …show more content…

Grendel looks down upon heroism and considers it a romantic excuse for the cruelty of mankind, and Grendel’s environment and surrounding influences inspire him to feel this way. The environment that encapsulates Grendel is a dark and dreary world, where the monster resides for most of his days unaccompanied and lonely. Unlike the environment in “Beowulf”, Grendel’s environment is very real, and the monster is constantly fighting against the reality that is survival and utter loneliness. When given the chance to witness the fantastic tales of heroism and speculations about mankind, he laughs and finds the human’s views unrealistic and pathetic. The ideas of heroism are so fantasy-based and ridiculous in Grendel’s perspective, especially when compared to the cruelness of his realistic

Show More
Related

  • Honor And Integrity In Beowulf

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Beowulf, the essence left behind by a true hero is extremely important. In epics such as this one, leaders tend to have the determination and boldness of a hero. On the other hand, the main character, Beowulf, does not only display these certain traits. In this heroic poem, respect and trust come naturally. Honor and integrity are present throughout the poem. There are many moments in Beowulf that manifest the many traits that a person should have. This proves how important these attributes are to the characters and the Anglo-Saxon society. Although Beowulf has no known author, it embodies many of the beliefs and morals of the early Germanic society. The author of this epic poem uses many approaches in order to demonstrate that respect and trust are fundamental characteristics of a leader and hero.

    Read More

  • The Characters' Personalities in "Grendel" and "Beowulf"

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    Our first character, Grendel, is an exceptionally diverse character. It is implied that in both book and poem, Grendel is a blood-thirsty monster. All Grendel does is go through meadhalls and kill the drunk, often asleep people. But when narrated through the eyes of Grendel, the true nature of this beast is discovered. The author of Grendel entails that Grendel is a depressed and misunderstood monster, restrained to the confinements of his own underwater cave. He is a lot like the monster in the book Frankenstein. Both Grendel and Frankenstein are born with no real purpose to life, going off of what they hear other people say and taking it as the truth. Both monsters, knowing that everyone detests them for being unattractive and different, retaliate by way of murder and mayhem. From the perspective of the people in the stories itself, Grendel is exactly how the narrator in the poem Beowulf makes him out to be. The people, or the thanes, of Hrothgar’s kingdom see Grendel as a demon from hell, representing all that’s evil in the world. He’s a supernatural creature and in this time period anything supernatural that wasn’t human was considered a spirit, a god, evil or, in Grendel...

    Read More

  • Beowulf And Grendel Comparison Essay

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the poem, Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as a monstrous, evil villain that possesses a few human-like qualities: such as the ability to walk on two feet. However, his most notable characteristic that occupies his mind and body in the poem is the constant mindset and actions of primitive human tendencies. This quote conveys Grendel’s primitive ways as the humans perceived it. “The monster’s thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws: he slipped through the door and there in the silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies…” (Raffel 8). His lust for blood of the human race, alongside their Christian views, forced Beowulf and others to view

    Read More

  • Characteristics Of Anglo-Saxon Heroism In Grendel

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    Grendel, written by John Gardner, is a novel based off the early epic poem, Beowulf. Gardner tells the tale in the perspective of the monster, Grendel, who is struggling to understand the purpose of life and his place in the world. In Gardner’s novel, Grendel terrorizes the kingdom of Hrothgar for 12 years, killing men in the night relentlessly. With the descriptions of battles and heroic deeds, Gardener conveys to the reader, the ideals of Anglo-Saxon heroes as courageous, self-righteous, humble, and loyal beings that are humanly flawless. The book Grendel tears down all these fundamental ideologies of Anglo-Saxon heroism by giving Grendel the monster a nihilist perspective that makes heroism sound stupid and meaningless.

    Read More

  • Comparing Two Heros - Beowulf and Odysseus

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reading through Beowulf I began to compare it to the last great epic I read, Homer’s Odyssey. While the Odyssey and Beowulf are each examples of both historic and modern ideas of heroism, the acts of Beowulf’s hero seem to fit better within its context.

    Read More

  • Beowulf And Grendel Comparison

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    Andy Stanley, author of Louder Than Words: The Power of Uncompromised Living, wrote, “Your character is not stagnant, it is either developing or deteriorating.” While his book was primarily focused on middle-aged humans, Stanley’s quote can easily be used to depict Grendel’s extensive inner journey in Grendel by John Gardner. Grendel was a one who raised himself through years of relentless observation of his surroundings. He was immature, unsure of what life was beyond his mother, and uncertain of what he was and how he fit into the world. He lived with no intention. Thus, it was not until Grendel was introduced to the Shaper, the dragon, and Beowulf that he began to evolve and then drastically devolve. Grendel, while vilified in the epic Beowulf, was the victim in his own story. His character was so

    Read More

  • Beowulf And Grendel Comparison Essay

    495 Words  | 1 Pages

    Grendel in the beginning of the book is just a lonely creature that has had no outside persuasion but this slowly changes when he meets man for the first time. He becomes fascinated with them and wants to deeply relate to them. However since society has already made him an outcast Grendel fails to see the similarities between him and mankind. In "Even Mothers Have Monsters: A Study of Beowulf and John

    Read More

  • Beowulf And Grendel Relationship

    515 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Gardner’s novel, Grendel, is about the development of Grendel’s character before his encounter with Beowulf. The novel starts out with Grendel in his childhood years feeling strongly connected to his mother. It wasn’t until his first encounter with humans that the bond between him and his mother was completely severed. Following this encounter with humans, Grendel was faced with the challenge of being accepted into society. He is constantly trying to refrain from being socially disconnected with humans. Grendel throughout the novel is trying to connect to society on both a social and philosophical level. After countless tries of trying to fit in, he ultimately fails at the end. Grendel being isolated is driven by loss of connection between

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Grendel Vs Beowulf

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel, a monstrous being, is portrayed as a demon as opposed to Beowulf which shows Beowulf as a hero. John Gardner’s novel Grendel is a novel that is written in the point of view of Grendel rather than Beowulf. From all the descriptions given in Grendel, Gardner tries to portray Grendel as more humane than the actual humans, portrayed as more good than bad, and also a sacrifice himself for humans. Throughout Grendel, there are some messages that show how humans at the time acted.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Grendel And Beowulf

    295 Words  | 1 Pages

    Adaptations are a result of change in society, which is apparent between the text of Beowulf and the film Beowulf and Grendel. The appearance of Grendel himself is one of the largest adaptations between the text and film. In the text, Grendel is described as a monstrous creature whose skin is scaly and rigid. Today’s society would not view him as realistic and would fail to have a good understanding of Grendel. Watching the film Beowulf and Grendel introduced adaptations of Grendel himself. The monstrous creature from the text has a plethora of characteristics that reveal him very humanly, looking only as if he is an ungroomed man, in the film. Seeing Grendel’s appearance in Beowulf and Grendel show the “monster” in a humanistic way to

    Read More

  • Grendel And Beowulf Comparison

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Grendel And Beowulf

    423 Words  | 1 Pages

    Beowulf and Grendel are similar yet different in many ways. In this tale Beowulf is portrayed as heroic as Grendel is monstrous. Although they are the exact opposite of each other they have ways where they are alike. The whole ideal of this poem is good vs. evil. There are many characteristics that can describe the two but only three stand out the most. As both characters are superior to humans what makes them different is Beowulf's courage compared to Grendel's cowardice ways.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Grendel And Beowulf

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is controlled by appetite and impulse, as seen in Grendel 's drastic urges to go on a killing spree in the mead hall killing the drunken Danes. Grendel hides away watching everything and everyone: hiding behind sheds or in a tree. Grendel speaks of his longings for friendships; of his captivity in his mythical role; of his disdain for his roots, as seen in the quote describing is an affinity for his mother. "When I sleep, she presses close to me, half buries me under her thistly fur and fat. Dool-Dool," she moans. She drools and weeps. "Warrovish," she whimpers, and tears at herself. Hanks of fur come away in her claws. I see gray hide." (Gardner 146) Where as, in the poem Beowulf, Grendel is made out to be a savage monster full of evil just looking to kill with no sense of remorse or good qualities. These qualities are seen when the narrator speaks "Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty hills and bogs, bearing God 's hatred, Grendel came, hoping to kill." (285 - 287) Giving the appearance and goals Grendel portrayed in the epic poem

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast: Beowulf and Grendel

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Beowulf and Grendel

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Similarities Between Grendel And Beowulf

Open Document