“‘Mama, Mama! I’m dying!’ But her love is history,” (Grendel 173) Grendel states as he escapes Beowulf’s hold and runs to safety- although mortally wounded. Grendel is left alone to perish, but it is not as he had always had company other than his shadow to stand by him. Though this holds true, other animals gather to watch the horrid beast take his last breath, as if to assure themselves of the horrid monsters passing. As he looks at the “mindless, indifferent eyes” (Grendel 173) of the array of animals gathering to watch his final moments, Grendel utters, “Poor Grendel’s had an accident, So may you all” (Grendel 174). Dazed and confused, Grendel seemingly utters these words as a curse to his surrounding audience; however, through further evaluation, “So may you all,” (Grendel 174) is actually a blessing to all animals. …show more content…
Having not slipped in the pool of blood during his match with Beowulf, Grendel would not have to say goodbye to his known world. His statement, “So may you all,” seems malicious at first read due to the circumstances: an audience of animals gather to watch the monster, who once stood as the most horrendous, odious savage, die. These animals, who Grendel believes to be mechanical, unthinking beings, do not have the functional mentality that Grendel has. Grendel can make think, debate, and feel. These are abilities that no other animal has. As a result, as Grendel attempts to give “a sheepish smile,” (Grendel 173) and the animals continue to “watch on, evil, incredibly stupid, enjoying [his] destruction,” (Grendel 173), Grendel offers his last words as a blessing to unveil the idea of an accident freeing the other animals from their mechanical, unthinking
Archetypes refer to the persistently recurring symbols or motifs in literature. The term itself has its origins in ancient Greek and continues to play a prominent role in analyzing literature. Archetypal images and story patterns encourage readers to participate ritualistically in basic beliefs, fears, and anxieties of their age. These archetypal features not only constitute the eloquence of the text but also tap into a level of desires and concerns of civilization. The Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, integrates many of the common archetypes that still exist today. The outcast archetype is one that particularly expressed the desires, anxieties and values of the people who lived during the Beowulf era. Grendel, a character of monstrous appearance and hazily human emotion, is portrayed as the principal outsider in Beowulf. The incorporation of a banished character against his fellow society effectively expressed the anxiety and fears that the Anglo-Saxon culture felt towards seclusion and abnormality, caused by a societal absorption in family lineage and traditionalism.
Perhaps he would actually like to live a normal life with the humans. “Some evil inside myself pushed out into the trees, I knew what I knew, the mindless, mechanical bruteness of things, and when the harper’s lure drew my mind away from hopeful dreams, the dark of what was and always was reached out and snatched my feet.” (Gardner 54) It seems as though Grendel would like to change things if he could, but some outside force will not allow it. Even if this is true, Grendel is still inherently evil. Despite whatever dreams he may have. The reader simply cannot ignore the fact that he still does evil deeds with evil intentions. He is seemingly unable to feel love, or at least disinterested in it. He enjoys torturing and killing humans and rarely shows mercy. Due to these facts, it is impossible to say Grendel is a hero in this
So may you all.” (Grendel, John Gardner, pg.174) Previous to this, he questions if what he is feeling is joy. The reader is led to believe that Grendel must feel nothing but peace. This, is the concluding moment of his journey.
I am Grendel who once lived at the Danish neighborhood ruled by the righteous king Hrothgar who was just and fair in his kingship. I came from Cain’s ancestry. According to the bible, Cain is popularly known by Christians as the first person to commit murder. I was in isolation from humans because I came from a cursed lineage. I could not change the perception Hereots had about me as an evil monster. I did not prefer to be from Cain’s bloodline. People thought I was evil because I came from Cain’s lineage and as a result, they deemed me an outcast and did not want to associate with me.
Many of the characters in Grendel have direction and purpose in their lives. Wealtheow is self- sacrificing, and Hrothgar is out for personal glory. Unferth and Beowulf spend their lives trying to become great heroes so that their names may outlast their flesh. The dragon believed in nihilism, and the Shaper used his imagination to create something to believe in. Some of the characters’ philosophies may not have been commendable, but Grendel could not find any direction or purpose for his life whatsoever. Grendel looked for the intervention of a power higher than himself to lay the truths of the world upon him, an experience that the Romantics would characterize as an experience of the sublime. John Gardner portrays Grendel as someone who wants to find a philosophy, whether his own or someone else’s, that fits him and gives him an identity or a reason to live. By looking at the text from this perspective we can see how Gardner believes people should pursue, or rather, embrace a power greater than themselves.
For ages, humanity has always told stories of the classic struggle between man and monster. The battle between Beowulf and Grendel is a prime example of this archetype, but is Grendel only purely a monster? In his article “Gardner’s Grendel and Beowulf: Humanizing the Monster”, Jay Ruud makes a point that Grendel is a hybridization of both monster and man, particularly in John Gardner’s novel Grendel. In the poem Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as a purely evil monster who terrorizes Hrothgar and his people, but the novel provides a more humanistic backstory to the fiend. Throughout the novel, Grendel tells of his internal struggle between his thoughts of filling the role of the monster versus attempting to make amends with the humans. This conflict
The classic struggle of good versus evil is taken from a different perspective in Grendel, a story in which John Gardner demonstrates that neither one can exist without the other.
Grendel has a sarcastic and cynical mind, which serves to entertain both him and the reader. Through his expositions of situations, we see humor where others would simply see violence, and irony where others only fact. These others are the humans, the Danes, unwitting neighbors of Grendel, forced to stand night after night of slaughter. What is a traumatic and terrifying experience for them, is simply a game to Grendel, and the reader. Grendel bursts in on the Danes, ready to kill, and they squeak. They are funny in their fear, laughable in their drunken fighting. The reader is focused on Grendel’s perception of the Danes. The deaths go by easily, because of the humor involved. It does not cross the reader’s mind that these are people Grendle is killing. The humor allows the reader to sympathize with Grendel’s position, that of the predator. The prey is not meaningful, only nutritious and entertaining. It is a macabre humor, which accentuates how no death is noble, it is simply death. By making the Danes un-heroic and un-ideal, cowards and drunkards, the author is presenting the reality through the humor.
He does not act like the blood hungry beast he is seen as in Beowulf. In
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.
Grendel’s point of view as a narrator adds an added sense of violence to the scene, which suggests that absurdism is useless, as absurdism ultimately decay into nihilism due to the chaotic nature of life.
Part of the development of a human being involves acquiring the ability to classify good and evil as well as distinguishing right from wrong. It has become an inherent trait that is invariably used in our everyday lives. In John Gardner’s novel, Grendel, the main character, Grendel, seeks to find the meaning of life. Through his journey, a depiction of the forces of good and evil is revealed. Aside from being a novel about the search for the meaning of life, Grendel also suggest society’s good and evil have a meaningful and imbalanced relationship where good prevails evil yet facing evil is still critical.
Grendel is alone; he can not know God’s love and be comforted. He is an outcast, and the sins of his forefather have fallen upon him. Evil can not stand God being glorified just as the praising of God by the Danes angered Grendel.
Sorrow not, wise warrior. It is better for a man to avenge his friend than much mourn. Each of us must await his end of the world's life. Let him who may get glory before death: that is best for the warrior after he has gone from life. Arise, guardian of the kingdom, let us go at once to look on the track of Grendel's kin.
Beowulf’s life was truly epic struggle. The monsters he battled made it so. Grendel and the dragon, capable of crushing men physically, stood for evils that could just as easily crush men in spirit. These two beasts represented society’s greatest fears, as well as detriments, and Beowulf fearlessly took them on. Grendel taught the hero a valuable lesson about maintaining one’s humanity in a world dominated by the dogs of war. The dragon, showed Beowulf’s mortality, his imperfection, but the hero eradicates it nonetheless, saving his people from not only physical threat, but sin. Bringing in such spiritual and moral dimensions, these two beasts certainly give the story of Beowulf depth.