Grendel and his mother are represented as monsters, through their physical appearance, as well as their horrific killings. The monstrosity of Grendel is directly seen through his physical appearance, as depicted when his hand is exposed in the hall as a trophy, after he was injured during his battle with Beowulf. During this scene, the beastly appearance
Examples such as prejudice and guilt are very conspicuous between Victor and Creature; their actions cause them to view each other as a target of hostility and anathema as Victor says, “ For this purpose I will preserve my life: to execute this dear revenge will I again behold the sun and tread the green herbage of earth, which otherwise should vanish from my eyes forever” (173). Both despise each other for their actions, Victor desires the Creature’s death since it brutally murders his friends and families leaving him tormented, while the Creature wants Victor to experience its pain from loneliness and retaliation destroying the female creature who would be his salvation. In the end, guilt from their actions plagues both of them resulting to their ends. Christian bible references consisting mainly of God, Satan, and Adam and Eve apparent throughout the Creature as it compares itself , “[...] no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam’s supplication to his Creator [...]
/ War is kind,” to showcase the fact that war is ugly and painful not only for those who perish in it (the men whose deaths are described), but also for those who grieve because of it (the women whose lives are forever changed by war). Additionally, verbal irony can be found in stanzas two and four, in which Crane chooses words that, taken literally, speak of the glory of war in order to highlight the shame of it. For instance, Crane writes, “These men were born to drill and die / The unexplained glory flies above them / Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom – / A field where a thousand corpses lie” (Crane 8-11).
From reading Grendel, I took away that he let society's idea of himself captivate who he thought he really was. Grendel had the potential and the curiosity to be harmless, but he let the powerful words and actions of the humans, the Shaper, and the dragon take over his thoughts. In a way, the humans were just as much monsters in this book for not accepting Grendel, and making him become the monster he was. If the humans were to accept Grendel and they were able to understand each other, prevention of further catastrophes probably could have been
Friedrich Nietzsche, a prominent leader in the existentialist and postmodern movement, once stated, “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.” Stereotypically, monsters are viewed as the foil to humanity, devoid of reason, compassion, and the gentle nature of humans. Contrary, humans are often portrayed as valiant and reasonable beings, who protect kin and society from evils. Nevertheless, there is only a small difference between the two sides, and they are brought into continued interaction with each other. In these interactions, by challenging the physical and psychological processes of human nature, “monsters” are able to test conventional understandings of humans, forcing them to choose between keeping
Both authors paint a grotesque picture of their creations and how they both desire to destroy beauty; Aesthetic Iconoclasm, that is shared between the two figures. However, both authors present their monsters separate to one another in philosophy; with Grendel being a mindless savage and the Monster being more contemplative and questioning the nature of its own creation. ‘Monster’ characters have always been a target of both folk tales and pagan myths since the dawn of humanity, the very concept of a monstrous creature harkens back to the primal fear instinct of facing a dangerous predator that presents a danger to humanity. Grendel from Beowulf is the perfect example of this hysteria and
In the beginning of the tragedy Othello tells Brabantio to “Keep up your bright swords signior, for the dew will rust them” (1.2.72-73). This statement gives the reader insight to Othello’s level-head and smart decisions, before he allowed jealousy to cloud his vision. Othello becomes convinced that Desdemona has cheated on him with Cassio; therefore, he is angered and beings to seek revenge for a crime that was never committed. Iago tells Othello “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on” (3.3.187-189).
Some say that humanity is not corrupt due to people being conciliatory and polite and kind. Although many will say that humanity is not cruel, the deeds that humans have done are which makes humanity cruel. For example, war and the violence, teaching and troublesome students, and bullying and the fond of hurting others are all reasons why humanity is corrupt. The horror of human nature is shown through war and the fear shown in any circumstances shows the horrors that humans come up with. In Lord of the Flies, “The terrors of the unknown,” and “The beast is human,” the beast signifies fear and the savagery of human nature through allegory in order to reveal that humanity is corrupt.
The novel the ‘Lord of the Flies’, by William Golding has a main theme that touches on the human condition – ‘the struggle between civilisation and savagery’. Golding advances in his writing techniques, showing symbolism and characterisation throughout. Golding chose to create a ‘Beast’ that would soon cause an emotional ‘rip’ between the boys. This beast is a symbol for the evil and the malice that resides within the children. Characterisation is shown with Ralph displaying different concepts like leadership and order, Piggy, intelligence and reason, Simon kindness and Jack, savagery.
The utilization of the word “pounce” in describing Grendel’s mother’s ambush against Heorot Hall reveals that her predatory nature. Despite the prevalence of invasions during this period, Grendel’s mother is viewed as vulgar due to her inhuman style of combat. Thus, the poet’s manipulation of wording allows him to exhibit the crudeness of Beowulf’s inhuman
However, when William speaks “epithets which carried despair”, the monster “grasped his throat to silence him” (127, Shelley). The monster hopes to nurture William. However, once William uses derogatory names, the monster quickly kills William. Thus,
In the poem, “The Broken Heart” by John Dunne the theme of pain is supported through imagery and metaphors. Through the author’s vivid portrayals of tragedy, the reader understands that his idea of love is very bleak. In one stanza he states “[love] swallows us and never chaws….. He is the tyrant pike, our hearts the fry”.
William Golding uses the many conflicts in the novel to represent and support his theme of inner evil being present in us all especially when society is not there to restrict us. Golding uses the conflict of Simon’s death as an ideal portrayal of inner evil. All of the boy’s evils are on clear display when Simon’s death occurs. Their inner evil takes over when they start attack Simon thinking that he is the Beast, when in reality he was the one obstructing the Beast in the first place. The boys start to chant “Kill the beast!
A Hero's Journey thru Life Throughout life there will be many challenges that will present themselves some of them will be caused by someone else but others will be caused by yourself. Some people will call these people Foes or Anti-Heros. They can range from a monster called Grendel to just a teacher at your high school or just earning the high school diploma. The “Hero” will need to overcome the foe in whatever way they chose. For a high school student there are many foes that one might need to overcome, one of them is graduating high school.
In the great epic, Beowulf, an unknown poet describes Beowulf as an invincible hero with the amazing strength stronger than any human ever, but does having the traits of an incredible warrior, make him a great king? A great king is loyal, generous, reliable and should be able to realize what he needs to do to make sure his people are safe. Beowulf is brave, strong, and extremely confident in his combat abilities, but Beowulf does not think about the possible effects of his actions. Beowulf cares about his fame, fortune, and legacy, but he often makes rushed decisions that risk his life and could potentially leave his people powerless and unprotected. During Beowulf’s transformation from thane to king, he has always had more of a warrior’s mindset,