What Affects How YOU View Yourself?
The Grinch from the Doctor Seuss story, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, is a lonely, grumpy monster, that is the only person in Whoville who hates Christmas, therefore plotting to ruin it. He relates to Grendel because he is also an outsider viewed as a monster, and is not accepted in society. Both the Grinch and Grendel lash out on others because they do not feel accepted. To what extent do the opinions of others impact and change how one views themselves?
When Grendel was young, he used to be more curious about life. As he gets older, his views of himself and the world around him start to darken. A flashback quote stated by him in the first chapter was, “I used to take some pride in that-the caution of owls when my shape looms in, the alarm I stir in these giant northern wolves. I was younger then. Still playing cat and mouse with the universe." (10). Grendel’s mother doesn’t speak to him, and she remains in the cave all the time. She doesn’t interact with society, and
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They did not accept Grendel and they even tried to physically harm him. Does being alone and feeling rejected give Grendel the right to kill them? How do people classify societal outcasts? Is it physical appearance, personality, where you come from, etc. The humans classify Grendel as a “monster” but does this mean he truly is one? 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