The Shaper in John Gardner´s the Grendeh

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A Shaper represents the power of one’s imagination and art to change their perceptions about themselves and the world in which they live. Through the eyes of a Shaper, he may manipulate others by what he thinks or seems to believe, but many will prevail against him. Many will believe in a Shaper by the power of his language, which can be looked at in a positive or negative way. Similarly to Martin Luther King Jr., who pursued equality through his writing and speeches, he made a difference in the world. Published in 1971, John Gardner’s novel Grendel shows that through language a person can be persuaded to change their perspective; in the 1960’s Martin Luther King Jr. used language to persuade masses to favor equality in the Civil Rights Era. In the book Grendel, the Shaper uses a song to change others’ perspectives. Through the involvement of songs and language, the Shaper persuaded the Danes into his point of view, forgetting their own. When the Shaper sings of how the earth was created from the soil to the oceans, day and night, and giving life to creatures, Grendel saw the sight of others being changed by the power of a song through the Shaper’s language (Grendel 51). Mesmerized by the language, every man, woman and child listened to the Shaper. The Shaper even said, “Grendel, was the dark side, he said in effect. The terrible race God cursed.” Making Grendel believe in him also; “I believed him. Such was the power of the Shaper’s harp!” (Grendel 51). Through the Shaper’s words of a song he had the beast Grendel on his knees pleading for mercy. With only a few words can make a huge difference. Even Grendel understood what the Shaper was doing and said, “he takes what he finds, I said stubbornly, trying again. And by changi... ... middle of paper ... ...of what he sought to be right; because he had guidance by only one creature who was evil. Grendel’s evil shaping is not not his wrong doing but by humans, because the they did not give him a chance. Martin Luther King Jr.’s views are still around today, for everyone is free and cherishes his place in a new nation. A Shaper makes us see and think about what and who influences us. There may be good Shapers and bad Shapers as seen compared in Grendel with the original shaper and the Dragon. We seek guidance because we fail at our own independence of one’s thought. Shape the world, you yourself is a Shaper, live it and see what you can become of it. Gardner’s book shows a great deal of shaping society, whether it be in Grendel’s tale or in our very own lives. Shapers are the push to a new world beyond our knowledge, it may be something new and better or it may not.

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