(Gardner 53) He had no friend to speak to, no companion to share in his woes. He became bitter, jealous, and enraged. His false portrayal and constant rejection never stopped him from adapting to society, evidently it did turn him down a dark and vengeful path. Just as it did for the Monster.
In my opinion, the Dragon is Grendel’s biggest influence. It started with the Shaper’s songs in Chapter 3, the song made Grendel felt like he was torn apart by poetry, even all of them are lies but the Shaper made it all seem true. His mind was confused between the lies and the truth that he knew. With that problem, the Dragon is the one who explained everything he knew to Grendel. After Grendel talked with the Dragon and discovered the charm that the Dragon put on him, Grendel started to change himself into what that Dragon encouraged him to be “brute existent”. As a creature who living in the world for a long time, I think the Dragon knows that no matter how Grendel try to be friendly with human, human will never accept him as a friend so
Point of view is an essential component of Grendel because it gives us a perspective of how Grendel sees the world. Having the ability to view the story from the eyes of Grendel gives the reader insight into how Grendel thinks, how he sees people, and how people see him. The first person point of view in Grendel reveals a deeper understanding of how isolation can shape one’s existence and change them over time.
The actions of others is what absolutely counts. What any creature does determine what he is and how he thinks of himself. In the novel known as Grendel, written by John Gardner, Grendel has a dynamic self-image of himself since he was slaughter people. Grendel is what many psychologist would declare to be a sociopath. For he has no remorse and he is anti-social. Grendel had no one to call a "comrade" or a "friend", but whatever relationship he had damaged his self image. His feelings about himself could not have been very well. However, Grendel kept changing himself after forming some relationship,especially from after he had learned something new from his relationship. The relationships that affected him the most were with human creatures
Up until the end of Chapter 7, Grendel’s actions are influenced by the dragon. He believes nothing matters, there is no good or bad, and everybody eventually dies. The people of Heort know Grendel as a monster and a killer and he lives up to his reputation. He says he can crush all the men in meadhall in a single night. Grendel states, ”My enemies define themselves...on me” (91). But Grendel starts to question himself and realizes he needs humans as much as they need him. Grendel thinks, “What will we call the Hrothgar-Wrecker when Hrothgar has been wrecked?” (91). While Grendel is thinking about what life will be like without him and the men of the meadhall, Wealtheow’s beauty charms Grendel. He says, “She was beautiful, as innocent as
Solipsism is manifested in Grendel’s recurring and crippling loneliness, his understanding of solipsism affecting others, and Gardner’s achievement in eliciting sympathy for Grendel. The main pillar of solipsism is that one’s consciousness is all that can be real. Grendel understands this, and as readers gain knowledge of Grendel’s inner turmoils, one can plainly see that Grendel only believes in his own
Shadow Stalker, God-cursed Grendel, The Captain of Evil, and Monster are all nicknames of one creature. This one creature was named Grendel who brilliantly said “Balance is everything”. For Grendel to figure out that balance, or in other words the yin and yang, is integral to living says a lot about a “murderer.” Grendel cannot live without a hero and a hero cannot live without a challenge. The humans symbolize the hero withstanding the forces of Grendel, while Grendel symbolizes the villain trying to hurt and dismantle the hero. This constant fighting creates a balance between the two forces of good and evil, until one succumbs to the other.
When he is in his cave alone, Grendel states, ““Why can’t I have someone to talk to?” I said. The stars said nothing, but I pretended to ignore the rudeness.” (Gardner 53) While Grendel isn’t completely alone because he has his mother, the difference in language prevents communication or connection that would normally be provided. Since he has no one to talk to, he not only feels alone, but he also is in search for a friend/companion.
Equally important, the innocence Grendel had as a child provide an outline for his lack of baneful intentions. One act of innocence that has shown through Grendel’s entire life, from childhood until death, was a tendency to call for his mother when in danger of any kind. Putting this into perspective, shortly before the death of Grendel, on page one-hundred and seventy, he calls for his mother for the final time. “Mama!” he is heard bellowing. Another key point of Grendel’s dependance on his mother can be found on pages eighteen and nineteen. On these pages, he repeatedly begs for his mother to come and rescue him as he finds stuck in two trees and injured. “Please mama please!” Grendel whines. Grendel also speaks, on page sixteen, of exploring
Throughout John Garder’s novel and the poem Beowolf the reader can tell that Grendel is a complex character that does not relate much to anyone else in the novel or the poem. Grendel in Garder’s novel is also different compared to the Grendel in the poem Beowolf by many different standards. Grendel in Garder’s novel is more a complicated character then the Grendel in Beowolf because the novel is set in first person point of view, the reader can have a deeper understanding of Grendel in the novel, and there is more modern philosophy in Grendel the novel.
The isolation Grendel had to deal with could represent the struggles of homosexual individuals have especially the idea of being secluded from the main body of society. A keen interest can be noted when “” Also when deciding to not kill the queen, he “concentrated on the memory of the ugliness between her legs (Gardner 110)” and proceeded to laugh. That moment in time could implement his disinterest in a woman or as he reduced her to like a child. Whether or not the character of Grendel is a homosexual creature, there is enough evidence to make a point and the conditions of his situations do hold reasoning on
Grendel believes he has no role in this world and he's always on the outside of everything, and he doesn't really know why he exists. Gardener wants to portray Grendel as an angry, lonely monster at the beginning to give the readers a good understanding of the main character. As Grendel continues his
In the book, “Grendel,” by John Gardner, Grendel is some sort of supernatural creature that kills the humans and eats them after he is done. So Hrothgar’s men fight to defend themselves against this supernatural creature. However, we see in the book that Grendel has feelings and emotions towards humans. Grendel states in the novel that he thinks Hrothgar’s men are animals and that they waste lives. However, the humans think otherwise, they think that Grendel is a supernatural monster that is here to kill them. So, due to circumstances I think the humans were the monsters and Grendel was not.
At the end of Chapter 12, Grendel’s last words were “Poor Grendel’s had an accident … So may you all.” (Gardner 174). Such words are meant as a curse to affect mankind. To start off, Grendel’s relationship with humans are not great. For example, when Grendel went to the hall to bring the dead body he found, “drunken men rushed me with battle-axes .. I sank to the my knees, crying, “Friend! Friend!” (Gardner 52). Such can imply that Grendel’s relationship with humans is like battling in war. Moreover, Grendel’s last words indicate that something will happen to mankind as it did to himself. For instance, Grendel expresses, “there is no limit to desire but desire’s needs.” (Gardner 93). Such illustrates that Grendel can desire as much as he wants
In conclusion, in both of the novels the theme of isolation is presented through Grendel. He becomes evil, wants to be accepted, he feels helpless and he wants to take revenge. Both of the novels show that Grendel is alone and he is characterized as a evil monster because he doesn't know anything, but to do bad things to other people. Grendel doesn’t have intentions to kill people but his loneliness leads him to become evil because he feels that he is unwanted in his world. All in all, Grendel’s isolation is caused by not being understood and listened. Loneliness can affect people's self esteem and lead them to take many bad decisions.