The Interpretations Of Grendel American writer, John Gardner, most famously known for his novel, Grendel, tells the story of the old English poem Beowulf, but from the point of view of the monster’s eyes. When Gardner was a kid, his younger brother, Gilbert was killed in a farming accident. He took blame upon himself for the accident. This event evidently shaped and influenced Gardner’s style of writing in his later life. This piece of literature has received high praise for its style of writing and unique tale of a troubled creature; New York Times book reviewer Richard Locke, called Grendel, “An extraordinary achievement…very funny, original and deft, altogether lovable, poignant, rich with thought and feeling…immensely enjoyable.” …show more content…
The film and novel both do give a close interpretation of Grendel’s relationship with his mother. The novel, Grendel seems to feel sympathy for his mother. She is seen as a wicked being that lives with Grendel in the cave but actually plays a much bigger role in his life. Grendel described her as a “life-bloated, baffled, long-suffering hag” (Gardner 11). Grendel, for how menacing he is, is a big baby for his mother. We see this when Grendel is stuck in the tree and he weeps for his mother, crying and yelling for her to save him. He needs to be loved by her though she incapable of communicating to him due to not making sense when she speaks. Gardner made his mother feel more like an animal than a human being. Gardner gives the two characters a loving and touching relationship that shows the emotional and soft side of Grendel people didn’t know had. We also see this side when he is fighting Beowulf in chapter 12 and bawls out “Mama!” (Gardner 171). His mother plays the role of his protector, ultimately protecting him from the outside world. The cries for his mother make the reader feel sympathetic for the creature, as they can relate to a son’s love for his mother. The film version doesn’t show their relationship as the novel does. His mother is not depicted as she is in the novel, she is seen as a gold dripping reptilian serpent rather than an old hag. The film version shows them communicating to each other and the mother’s language is understandable in the movie as opposed to the novel where she speaks gibberish. We see Grendel after his attack of the mead hall back in the cave speaking to his mother then falling to the ground as his mother tells Grendel that those humans have killed many of their kind. We sense that the two have a relationship but it is not explored as it is in the novel. Zemeckis still depicts his version of Grendel as a mother’s boy, which is similar to the novel. In the film
John Gardner's revolutionary style is not encompassed by a single genre; instead, he mixes first-person narrative and several different literary styles to give the "Ruiner of Meadhalls" a unique voice. The use of first-person narrative is essential to convey Grendel's spiritual growth. Were it not for Grendel's often self-deprecatory tone, which varies from mocking - "big shaggy monster intense and earnest, bent like a priest at his prayers" (72) - to bitter and cynical - "I, Grendel, was the dark side. The terrible race that God cursed" (51) - Grendel would be impossible to relate to. Even Grendel's bouts of insanity - (whispering, whispering. Grendel has it occurred to you my dear that you are crazy?)" are easily understood.
John Gardner’s Grendel brings a new perspective to the the way the story of Beowulf is told and interpreted. (Grendel’s ability to be influenced by the multiple sources around him changes his outlook on life. It also changes the reader’s ideas of who Grendel is as a character as he develops and changes in the book.) Grendel’s ability to be influenced with ease by multiple characters throughout the book shows his true adolescence and nature to follow others. These multiple characters such as the Dragon, the Shaper, and Wealtheow all are able to use their propaganda to instill into Grendel a new value or trait. Grendel’s adolescence therefore results in multiple sources of propaganda being so influential on him as a character. (is the reason why propaganda from many different sources influences him so heavily.)
“Thus I fled, ridiculous hairy creature torn apart by poetry—crawling, whimpering, streaming tears, across the world like a two-headed beast, like mixed-up lamb and kid at the tail of a baffled, indifferent ewe—and I gnashed my teeth and clutched the sides of my head as if to heal the split, but I couldn’t.” (Grendel, John Gardner, pg.44) In this moment, Grendel’s mind is split between what he understands to be The world is callous and careless, blunt and belligerent; this he knows. However, with the artistic style and formation of the Shaper’s words, he is brought to tears and is captivated by his spiritual and emotional yearnings. Grendel is also overwhelmed with disgust and shame for himself and his vile habits.
Throughout John Gardner’s Grendel, the audience bears witness to a creature who has been ostracized by the world around him. Throughout his journey, the stories protagonist tries to live out his own life the way he wants to, despite being labeled as evil by those around him. Due to this constant criticism by his peers, he develops an inferiority complex that he desperately tries to make up for as the story progresses. Throughout his development, Grendel very rapidly moves past his existentialist beginning, through a brief phase of forced skepticism, and into a severely nihilistic point of view.
Grendel as a character is very intelligent, he is capable of rational thought at all times. Because of this, at sometimes during the story I would forget Grendel is a monster, the way he acts in his thoughts and actions I would mistake him for a human; at times I was even feeling bad for Grendel because he is a very lonely person who tries to understand all of the meaningless of the world around him. Grendel can never get to close to
Revealing the relationship of Grendel to something other than language, Gardner introduces the “beast” performing a “dance” (Gardner 92). He begins by suggesting for Grendel to “do a little dance beast” and continues when “[Grendel] clasps [his] hands over his head, points the toes of one foot [...] takes a step, does a turn” (Gardner 92). Even though the sentence lengths differ, the content of the two sentences juxtapose each other. The contrasting sentences further divulge the internal conflict of Grendel desiring to be known as a “beast” yet he performs like a human (Gardner 92). An uncertain tone later comes to reach as curious Grendel reflects on “what [we will] call the Hrothgar-wrecker when Hrothgar has been wrecked?” (Gardner 92). The ambiguous tone exposes the intrigued mind of Grendel, which discloses another internal conflict of Grendel to be curiosity. Therefore, through an ambiguous tone Gardner emphasizes the curiosity of men baffling and intriguing Grendel. Gardner utilizes contrasting sentence lengths and an ambiguous tone to divulge the distinct internal conflicts of the envious
Grendel, a book written by John Gardner, retells the epic of Beowulf from the perspective of a lonely monster who struggles to find his purpose. By peering into the life and perspective of Grendel, Gardner encapsulates the themes of, “form is function” and nihilism vs. existentialism. These themes coincide with Gardner’s childhood. On their family farm, Gardner had a cultipacker, a machine that crushes dirt clumps and creates a smooth seedbed. One day he drove the cultipacker with his siblings Sandy and Gilbert. The engine ran out of gas and jolted on a downward incline. Gilbert was thrown out of the cultipacker. It continued to move forward as the huge machine was on an incline, crushing Gilbert’s head (Stanton). At just 12 years old, Gardner
This illustrates an inner problem of a suppressed evil side to society. Beowulf and other men that battled Grendel had trouble defeating him with weapons. They all had to tussle with Grendel and everyone except for Beowulf failed at this challenge. Symbolically meaning that that evil side to society will always be there no matter how much people try to fight it. Grendel also plays the role of envy. Imagine him being an outcast with no joy in his life hearing the mead-hall at night and all the laughter, he must have felt envious and longed to be a part of that world. Another symbolic role is revenge. Upon learning that Beowulf has hurt her only child Grendel’s mother becomes angered and seeks revenge. Her and Beowulf battle it out and the mother loses the battle. Relating this back to Cain, Grendel’s mother wants to kill Beowulf and get revenge and just like Cain, she faced her punishment, for her it was
In the poem “Beowulf,” Grendel’s mother, a monstrous creature, is one of the three antagonists Beowulf, the main character, fights against. The battle against Grendel’s mother appears to be the strangest of the three battles. The main reason for its strangeness is that Grendel’s mother is the mother of the monster Grendel, who was killed by Beowulf in the first battle. Another reason for its strangeness is that Grendel’s mother is the only female-type creature. An alternative reason for this strangeness in the battle is due to the fact that Grendel’s mother is not a true monster, aside from her physical form. Through the explanation of kinship, the understanding of the missing words from the original text, and the comparison of Grendel’s mother to other mothers in the poem, specifically Welthow and Hildeburh, it can be established that the intentions of Grendel’s mother are not monstrous even though she has the appearance of a monster.
John Gardener’s Grendel is another version of the epic Beowulf, except in a differing perspective. This story is retold from the viewpoint of Grendel. Gardener wants us to empathize with Grendel through his own thoughts and emotions. The way one sees the monster in Beowulf is completely different than how one would think of him in Grendel. One is forced to view someone else’s opinion versus getting to form an opinion for oneself.
John Gardner’s Grendel is the retelling of the heroic epic poem Beowulf; however, the viewpoint has shifted. Grendel is told from the viewpoint of one of Beowulf’s antagonists and the titular character of Gardner’s work—Grendel. In Grendel, Gardner humanizes Grendel by emphasizing parallels between Grendel’s life and human life. Through Gardner’s reflection of human feelings, human development, and human flaws in Grendel, this seemingly antagonistic, monstrous character becomes understood and made “human.”
The presence of a bull prompts a shift in Grendel’s purpose in life from remaining obedient to his mother as a young child to being the creator of the world as he transitions into adulthood. As a young monster, Grendel motive’s coincide with his mother since she is the only person who Grendel is able to communicate with. He feels “Of all the creatures I knew, only my mother really looked at me...We were one thing, like the wall and the rock growing out from it… ‘Please, Mama!’ I sobbed as if heartbroken” (Gardner 17-19). His emotions demonstrate that as a child, he doesn’t consider himself as an individual but rather as embodying the same identity as his mother, which is further emphasized by the use of the simile. Additionally, Grendel’s use
John Gardner’s Grendel portrays a monster searching for his purpose in life. The characters know the meaning of their lives, but Grendel tries to discover his role and what life has to offer him. Grendel discovers his identity through other characters’ actions and beliefs. In Grendel, John Gardner illustrates the contrasting views of each character to show their view of society and the influence they have on Grendel.
A monster is by definition a person or creature who excites horror by wickedness, cruelty, etc. Many of the characters in Beowulf could by definition be considered a monster. Grendel, Grendel's mother, the dragon all do monstrous acts that could be considered vile and evil. Even the great hero Beowulf commits to at least one of seven deadly sins himself. However at the time and place of where this book is set many things we would consider unacceptable and nearly savage where glorified and where part of the culture. They lived in a much more cruel and unforgiving age where war was a way of life. Heroes with unbelievable skill and power were looked to as gods. For they brought the money to their kingdoms and protected the well being of the commoners
Grendel's mother, unknown to the Danes or Geats, is plotting to avenge the death of her son. After the celebrations are over in Heorot and everybody is asleep, Grendel's mother appears out of her dwelling place, the swamp.