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Horror story essay writing
Horror essay writing
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Ishrael stood before the fifty foot behemoth, glancing up into the infinite space of its eyes. Intimidating or not, this beast was a fearful creature who brandished hairy arms as if they were trees in the darkest of forests. And the beast stared back at him, as if it were challenging him, telling Ishrael to make a move, taunting him. So Ishrael made the first move. He flicked the switch of his chainsaw. It took a second for the motor to whir to life, for the gears to shift, for the chain of blades to slowly spin. It picked up speed, revolving around like a wheel of a carriage. The creature curved his lips into what seemed to be a smile, so devious even the gods would not be able to bear a glance. But Ishrael was no god; he was a Graveseeker, and one of the best. Then, out of nowhere, as if time had merely jumped forward, the beast pounced. Ishrael was ready. He had neglected to wear any armor. The presence of such an item would be a waste anyhow. One swift move from the behemoth’s giant clenched fist would be enough to devastate the thickest plates of armor. Anyways, the absenc...
The Monster is a short story that was written by Toby Litt in 1968. From beginning to end, from a third person point of view, we learn bits and pieces of information about a ‘monster’ of sorts, living in a world full of questions. This monster does not know, or understand what, or who, he is, and neither does the reader. The audience is often left wondering just as much as the main character is, resulting in a story that keeps readers hooked. The monster is simply called a monster, and never told if it is, or is not so. The Monster is a short story in which Toby Litt uses experimental story structure, a unique voice, and an unusual theme to challenge conventional story telling.
This ‘beast’, the protagonist of the story, fights an internal struggle, of which is a part of the Hero’s Journey. Grendel is unable to decide what to make of himself and of the world surrounding him. He has only ever known the world as wild and mechanical, yet he is charmed by the artistic brilliance of the Shaper’s words. Grendel ultimately meets a brutal yet peaceful demise. Standing on the face of the same cliff he found himself in the beginning of the novel, surrounded by mindless eyes, he states, “Poor Grendel’s had an accident. So may you all.” (Grendel, John Gardner, pg.174) Previous to this, he questions if what he is feeling is joy. The reader is lead to believe that Grendel must feel nothing but peace. This, is the concluding moment of his
The story begins with Grendel taking the lives of countless innocent men. It seems to all that there is no one who can face this great monster who lives down in the swamp. The king, Hrothgar, becomes concerned for the health of his country and seeks out help from someone of great strength. In hearing this, Beowulf sees it as an opportunity to increase his popularity and fame. Upon arrival, he is anxious to come face to face with the great beast. In addition, he declares that he will fight Grendel without any weapons to prove who is truly the strongest. After his victory, Beowulf gets his fame and becomes king of another land for fifty years.
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
Throughout the novel, this monster, Grendel, seems confused as to whether he wants to view life like his existentialistic dragon mentor, or like the ignorantly optimistic humans on which he feeds. At times he is captivated by the romantic songs of the Shaper, and feels no desire to kill, while at others he thrives on the "knowledge" of the dragon, and goes on bloody rampages. At one point during Grendel's insecure state, the dragon tells him something that changes his outlook, and gives him a new feeling of self-worth.
Beowulf outlines turmoil between three opponents: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon. These separate discords each serve to fulfill different metaphoric purposes. Grendel’s character epitomizes the adverse persona of how an Anglo-Saxon warrior should not be. His mother represents everything that a woman during the time era should seldom be. Lastly, the Dragon embodies all the values that an Anglo-Saxon king should not dare retain. Without a doubt, the symbolic implications of the monsters in Beowulf bring the context to a new level of understanding.
In this poem, Beowulf exhibits the trait of bravery by defeating the monster, Grendel. This monster was a very powerful monster that plagued the town of Herot. “He slipped through the door… Snatched up thirty men, smashed them/ Unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies/ The blood dripping behind him, back/ To his liar, delighted with his night’s slaughter. (11)”
Grendel is an intelligent monster who is capable of being just as human as anyone else in John Gardner’s novel. Aside from Grendel’s hideous appearance and his emotional outbursts, there was very little that separated him from the rest of the world. Just like the Danes, Grendel was moved by the words that were being spoken out of the Shaper’s mouth. He was moved by the
“You’ve just crossed over into The Twilight Zone” says Rod Serling before every episode of The Twilight Zone. A show that leaves it’s viewers in a macabre state. Instead of drawing a conclusion like most shows, the show usually ends mysteriously. It utilizes similar elements as other short half-hour shows, but goes about it in a different way. This outlandish style is seen in literature, more specifically short stories, as well. Even though other short stories employ the same literary devices, “The Beast In The Cave” by H.P. Lovecraft is uniquely mysterious because of the story’s suspenseful plot, compelling diction, and, most important, overshadowing theme.
King Hrothgar once again looks toward Beowulf to take care of another monster. To get ready for this battle Beowulf wears armor and uses the Horting sword which has never lost in battle. Once again Beowulf shows his courage by deciding to go to the bottom of the monster filled swamp and fight alone. Fighting off monsters on his way down, Beowulf reached the bottom where he was met by Grendel 's mother. He tried to cut her head off with Horting, but she is too strong. Beowulf takes a sword made for giants off the wall, and uses his super strength to cut the mother 's head off. As a trophy of this battle Beowulf finds the body of Grendel in a corner and decides to take his head back to the mead hall. Hrothgar celebrates another victory by once again throwing a large celebration where they gave more gifts to Beowulf and the Geats. After two battles, Beowulf decides it is time for him and his men to head back to their homeland. Continuing to show courage, honor, and strength Beowulf states that if the Danes ever have anymore problems with monsters he will help protect
Beowulf wants to fight Grendel, a monster wreaking havoc, and is boasting that he is more powerful and courageous.
One of Grendel’s archenemies is the human. Humans refuse to look beyond Grendel’s unattractive exterior, and spend most of their days trying to kill Grendel. One night when Grendel is watching their mead hall, he sees them “treating their sword-blades with snake’s venom”(Gardner 29). Another conflict between humans and serpents develops when Grendel is watching the Shaper for the first time. As he listens, he “snatche[s] up a snake from beside [his] foot”(40), and holds it in his fist as he listens to the Shaper sing. The snake represents the deceptive weaving of history that the Shaper performs in Hrothgar’s mead hall. Grendel interacts with one of the priests, Ork, in the circle of Gods, by pretending to be the Great Destroyer. Ork predicts that the Great Destroyer will eventually fall, foreshadowing Grendel’s battle with Beowulf. Ork tells his fellow priests about his conversation with the Great Destroyer, but they just “look down at him as they would at a wounded snake”(118). In Grendel’s eyes, all humans are evil, because they refuse to take the time to understand him. Because of this, Grendel battles the humans throughout the novel until one of them finally takes his life.
A monster according to the online dictionary is many things; it can be a creature so ugly or monstrous that it scares people, an animal that is not of a normal shape behaviour or character, an animal or human that is huge in size, or a person who excites horror by wickedness or cruelty. I would describe a monster as someone who commits evil deeds and whose general mindset is to cause suffering on other living creatures. By my definition of a monster this makes victors creation a monster but not Victor.
Although Grendel is depicted as a hideous bloodthirsty beast because he eats the Danes at Heorot continuously, he has some characteristics of a human gone wild. Grendel possesses the ability to feel human emotions such as envy and fear. When the Danes were having a feast in Heorot, Grendel “had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain’s clan, whom the creator outlawed and condemned as outcasts”(104-106). He feels envy towards the Danes for making him an outcast of society. He was jealous of the Danes that were having a great time together while he had to live a life of misery alone. Grendel feels fear as well as envy because “he was overwhelmed, manacled tight by the man who of all men was foremost and strongest in the days of this life”(787-789). During the battle between Grendel and the hero Beowulf, Grendel was unprepared for Beowulf’s fighting tactics. He, who usually is victorious after each attack in Heorot, did not expect to be defeated by Beowulf, which is shown because “his fingers weakened; it was the worst trip the terror-monger had taken to Heorot”(764-765). When Beowulf leaves his weapon and decides to wrestle Grendel, Grendel realizes that he is no match for Beowulf’s strength. He feared death just as human are afraid of death. An ordinary person would want to flee if he or she was being wrestled to the ground and about to die. Grendel felt like fleeing but Beowulf did not want to lose any opportunities to kill the villain and thus does the deed in one go. When he realizes that his end was near, “the dread of the land was desperate to escape, to take a roundabout road and flee to his lair in the fens”(761-763). Just as humans in their psychoanalytic development, Grendel had a fight or flight response. When he knew that he was going to die he immediately chose the flight response in which he could not do because Beowulf was much more powerful and aggressive. He does not let Grendel escape. Grendel’s pain is all the more acute because he is brought so close to mankind and yet always kept at an unbreachable distance from society.
The story of Beowulf begins with a beast terrorizing a kingdom by killing many soldiers and people for over a decade. The news of the terror travels far and wide and so far that Beowulf hears of it. He organizes a party with his kings approval made up of the best of the best to assist him in his journey to Herot. Once in herot Beowulf and his men meet with king Hrothgar to get his blessings to defeat the beast named Grendel. After a great feast, like clockwork, grendel comes from the marsh to kill,only to be confronted by Beowulf. Once a great battle breaks out grendel realizes he has been defeated, he runs to his home where hell opens its arms to accept the dying beast.