Grendel Essays

In the epic poem, Beowulf, Grendel is presented as a horrible and vicious monster, who was "spawned in that slime," a reference to the biblical story of Cain, who slayed his brother Abel, which was a horrible sin. In Beowulf, Grendel was never given a chance; his ferocious nature was innately inside of him. But in Josh Gardner’s, Grendel, we are offered a different side of the story as to why Grendel is the way that he is. In the book, Grendel was not born a ferocious killing machine, but instead

for the successful society he pictured. Grendel has observed the actions of Hrothgar and his leadership for a long time. He witnessed first hand the successfulness of his strategies. Hrothgar acquires men from all over the land to be his loyal laborers. All the people would gather at the hall and peacefully listen to the Shaper's words. Unlike the humans Grendel did not appreciate them and did not like the motivation for the Shaper’s songs. Grendel thinks about how lonely he is and how the Shaper

two different stories of Beowulf and Grendel portray Grendel, his mother, and the dragon in different ways. In Beowulf, because the protagonist of the story is a human and not a creature, the focus of the story is portraying Beowulf as a hero and his rivals (Grendel, his mother and the dragon) as monsters. No thorough analysis of the creatures is incorporated and they are mainly judged by their frightening appearances. Contrast to that, in Grendel, because Grendel is the narrator, his perspective and

To be Evil or Not to Be Evil Throughout the story of Grendel, the deemed ‘monster’ ,Grendel, is shown as the villain most frequently due to his violent acts towards humanity. However, it seems Grendel’s savage ways are not due to his own cold heart but infact the cold hearts of the humans around him. His monster acts are only mimicking what he witnesses mankind do to each other. Grendel shows remorse, resentment, and loneliness which are all qualities shared not only by monster but also by man proving

times is Grendel, an antagonist in Beowulf that is bent on killing and eating people. In this epic, Beowulf is a well renowned hero that has great strength and abilities. He is sent to defeat the monster Grendel that has been wreaking havoc on the Geats, located in present day Sweden, for 14 years, murdering and eating their people. Grendel is portrayed to be a typical

John Gardner author of Grendel and an Unknown author of Beowulf wrote these to compare one another into one mega story. Grendel is about a "monster" who has been at war with humans for over 12 years. Over time he became fascinated by the way that humans live. At the end, Beowulf fights Grendel, and Beowulf pulled his arm off, and then runs away. Beowulf is about how the Danes built a great mead hall to gather and Grendel came and ruined it, killing a lot of the Danes in the process. Beowulf accepts

Nihilism in Grendel Although John Gardner’s novel Grendel simply is a recount of Beowulf’s antagonistic monster going about his life and interacting with different people and creatures, it explores many profound themes such as nihilism. As the story progresses, Grendel has a series of realizations about and encounters with nihilism that greatly shape his way of thinking and view of the world. He progresses from a simple, easily satisfied creature, to a cynical and pessimistic monster. The effect

Grendel and Beowolf both seem to impact a reader’s outlook upon societal systems, and how treat things in our society but do they actually have much of an impact at all upon the outlook of the reader? Not only does Beowolf question a system that most, if not all, people of that time lived by. Beowolf also questions what we’ve been taught, and what we have been shown to believe in since birth; that, there is a system all of society falls into, no matter who you are, from the rich, to the poor, from

If someone were to pick copies of Antigone by Sophocles and Grendel by John Gardner and read them, he or she would find that the two pieces of literature are very different. Antigone is an Ancient Greek play that was written in or before the year 441 BC, while Grendel is a piece of fantasy written by an American author over 2000 years later. Antigone depicts the story of a woman named Antigone who is angry at King Creon for choosing to not bury her brother Polyneices. She then decides to bury him

They both showed the humanity of Beowulf and Grendel, the foreshadowing, and the and the temptations of Beowulf. He was seen as a monster in society and that he was made this way by society. Also, Beowulf was seen as a god because during the poem they said he was really strong, like godlike strong

Or so it seems. In the novel Grendel by John Gardner diagnoses the ruthless monster in the tale of Beowulf. He is the epitome of wrong judgement. Grendel is an intellectual. He was naturally curious about human society. He tried to understand their ways nevertheless, he became frustrated with humans. Therefore, He started a twelve year war

In the story “Grendel” by John Gardner, the monster Grendel is portrayed as a beast. Grendel is shown as a villainous monster in the epic poem, Beowulf. Throughout the story, Grendel shows characteristics including jealousy and bitterness. These features substitute Grendel's murderous intentions and turns him into an evil creature. Near the end of the novel, Grendel’s villian trends transforms his life into a never ending battle for acceptance. His only desire was to be accepted by the humans. While

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

However, in John Gardner’s Grendel, we see that Grendel has morals and feelings, contrary to how he is portrayed in the poem the novel is derived from, Beowulf. Similarly, the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein shares the same emotional characteristics as Grendel, along with innocence at birth, the desire for a companion, and the pain of being an outsider. It is believed by many philosophers that humans are born innocent; we are good until exposed to evil. Grendel said early in the novel,

talking about Grendel, he pretty much goes through a few stages as a little kid and to how he is at the moment. As a kid, Grendel was mostly innocent when he pondered and wandered around his own world that was also an unknown for him, such as the universe. In his “prime”, he discovers a lake of fire snakes, that is full of danger and just treacherous. When he crosses this lake, it shows that he is going into adulthood, pretty much. Also how the encounters has been making impacts on Grendel and changing

Both Grendel and the Fiend in Frankenstein share many similarities throughout their independent novels. Both creatures were clueless about society and as the novels and their lives progressed their knowledge grew, they were molded into creatures which were based off of their perception and experiences with society. Grendel had his first encounter with humans when he was young and began to discover the world and its processes, and he discovered that humans were not like the past animals in which he

Although Grendel is a protagonist, he is also an intellectual and erratic monster, capable of rational thought as well as irrational bursts of emotion. But is knowing that he is a protagonist is merely a small point in this large thesis, or a vanquish itself? I would lean more towards vanquish; mainly due to the fact that although he is a monster, he displays many basic human qualities. As a successor of Cain, Grendel shares a basic line with humans. However, rather than draw Grendel and humankind

such as Wiglaf, Unferth, Grendel, and Beowulf display to the reader how if one is a proper warrior, he possesses the ability to govern as a fit king. While Grendel is by no means an Anglo-Saxon warrior, he serves as an excellent example of how conducting oneself in a violent, non-conforming way ultimately leads to a demise. In addition to Grendel, Unferth is by no means a proper warrior when analyzed next to Anglo-Saxon ideals, however he lies between Beowulf and Grendel where he possesses the ability

(Heaney) and the modern-day film Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson) due to the cultural difference between the Middle ages and Modern time. More details entered the film to appeal to a more modern audience that requires reason and details. The old English poem held no use for complexity to tantalize the reader. Additions that add complexity to Grendel’s character in Beowulf and Grendel include backstories and new characters. In Beowulf, the epic, it states, “Grendel was the name of this grim demon haunting

and destruction wherever they go. Grendel is no exception. In Beowulf, Grendel manifests every characteristic of a stereotypical monster. He is considered inherently evil, and is an outcast; he roams alone and commits devilish atrocities whenever he pleases. Grendel is classified as a monster due to his outsider status of being an outcast, unreligious, and dishonorable, which establishes him as the antithesis of Anglo Saxon culture. As an outcast of society, Grendel represents the idea that in Anglo