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The Right and Wrong: Grendel versus Beowulf
Two stories describe the same death. Which story got it right? When comparing Grendel by John Gardner against the ancient epic poem Beowulf, in my opinion, Grendel’s story made the better argument. In the story, Grendel is humanized, and consequently relatable. His story line fit well with the story of Beowulf, and in the book Grendel, it was expressed from Grendel’s perspective.
Through both stories, Grendel was a man-slaughtering monster. After years of killing, Beowulf stepped up, and killed him. Nevertheless, several points make him a very relatable and personified him. In Grendel, this ‘monster’ spent quite a lot of time pondering the meaning of his existence and watching vikings going to war
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and other absurdities. While the humans clashed swords, Grendel pondered the great complexities of life, such as whether he existed and what was the point of life, one such example being “..., a meaningless smudge in a universe dead as old wind over bones,...”(Grendel,81). Grendel also observed how wasteful men were. Grendel himself ate everything he killed, referenced in both as “None had been eaten.”(Grendel, 33) as well as “...blundering back with butchered bodies.”(Beowulf,11) This 'monster’ also had humor, finding amusement from the dumb things humans do, not unlike most people. Grendel felt many emotions which humans do. When lonely, he would try to make friends. He would get scared of himself, of people, and of other monsters. As a whole, Grendel's character could easily have been human, and can be related to. Following the story of Grendel, it fits and follows, the epic poem of Beowulf.
There is evidence of the personality and actions of Grendel and other characters in the book written by John Gardner. It brings to light that he is an intellectual, and gives him a justifiable reason for killing the men. It also emphasizes actions and choices made in Beowulf, giving them background and rationale, such as when you compare Unferth. In both books, he is vicious, plotting, and awnry. The book of Grendel not only displays this, but also gives him more backstory, making him more understandable. Gardner’s book gives the background, but still follows Beowulf, such as the argumentative dialogue between Beowulf and Unferth, or the death of Grendel.
In the book of Grendel, the narrator was Grendel himself. The story took you through his life. It showed you his thoughts and actions first hand, allowing your own opinion on his plights and pleasures. It gave you a deeper understanding of the ‘monster’ himself. This allowed for oe to further develop sympathy for Grendel. On the contrary though, Beowulf is written by a stranger who had heard the story. Not only that, but much of the character emotion was left out, leaving readers to deduct the reasoning behind actions. This generates little sympathy for most characters portrayed in
Beowulf. In conclusion, the book Grendel allowed for its audience to gain a deeper understanding of Grendel, and consequently sympathy. It showed Grendel as a more intelligent being then most of the surrounding humans. It also gave us reasons for his actions, often through his personal thoughts or through his background. With all of this in mind, Gardner still had his story following the tale of Beowulf. Meanwhile, Beowulf was written by a stranger, consequently allowing for little emotion and sympathy. Going along with all of this, I believe that Grendel made the better argument for its protagonist.
In both works, Beowulf and Grendel, Grendel himself is generally given the same connotations. He is given kennings, called names, referred to as the evil spawn of Cain, and even viewed as a monster; but why? Why in both books is he a wicked, horrible, person who is harshly excluded from everyone? After stumbling upon John Gardner's book, it was halfway expected that some excuse would be made for Grendel; that he wasn't really the inexorable monster the thanes in Beowulf portrayed him as. But all it really did was make him worse. What is the message we are being sent about Grendel?
It is the jealousy of Unfurth to Grendel, the hatred of Unfurth to Beowulf, and the conflict between Beowulf and Grendel that give the book Grendel and the poem Beowulf the theme that everyone has a story. All their differences tie the characters together and when things connect it creates a good balance in the story. The amount of tension that is caused by these characters creates the makings of a good story.
Grendel in the Epic of Beowulf is portrayed as a monster, a creature that has no thoughts on who he kills.While in the movie Beowulf and Grendel(Gunnarsson 2005); he is much more human-like. In parts of the movie, thoughts are led to believe that in fact he is not out to kill random people he only harms those who have “hurt him”.This, in fact, leads to believe that Grendel from the film really wasn’t the bad guy:it shifted towards the fact that Hrothgar was the bad guy for killing Grendel 's father This ties to the fact that as we modernize we tend to need a reason to do things, most people will not endure things if in the end the end result they won 't benefit from it. Nevertheless, the film has changed the perspective and/ or natural view that one as a reader would have taken from the
Throughout John Gardner’s Grendel, and Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf, many events and situations make it clear that the stories talk about the same character. Throughout Beowulf, Grendel is seen as a demon that lacks any real motive for his crimes, by the end of Grendel the this side of his is shown after his transformation from innocents to evil. The one key trait that can be seen throughout both Grendel and Beowulf is irrationality. This trait of irrationality is caused in the stories by many of the same reasons as in real life. In John Gardner’s Grendel and Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf, Grendel’s constant perception fluctuations reinforce the themes of irrationality that cause him to act the way he does.
No one knows who wrote Beowulf but we do know who wrote Grendel. John Gardner took the epic Beowulf and added more to the brilliant story. Grendel takes on the same story as Beowulf but from the perspective of Grendel, the beast in Beowulf. The story of Grendel is very interesting because from reading Beowulf it is completely uninspected. In Beowulf Grendel is said to be a disgusting monster that’s only job is to kill. In Grendel we really see him as very nice but turns to be evil because he is pushed into that direction.
There are many similarities and differences between the movie "Beowulf and Grendel", to the poem. Major differences between the movie and the poem would be Grendel himself. In the poem, he is described as an evil monster born from two demons. In the movie, Grendel is actually human, but known as a troll to the warriors and Danes. The poem doesn’t give the background of Grendel or show how the Danes killed his father and the possible reason of his revenge, like in the movie. If the witch, Selma, was not included in the storyline of the movie, the audience would not have known key information that she was used to show from more flashbacks. The witch gives more of an idea about Grendel’s past life that could have been the possibility to reasons for his actions. Some major similarities are the battles. Both epics include the battles between Beowulf and Grendel, as well as Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. The end results are the same, leading to their death, but the journey and process to the two tales are different.
1. An anti-hero is the opposite of a hero. It is the character that goes against all the traditional values of society. Grendel has strong traits of the average anti-hero. He lives in a cave with his mother in the middle of no where. Everybody in the land refuses to accept him, even as the lowest of their kind, and they are constantly trying to kill him. He is deprived the rules and consequences of society by not being allowed to join men, he rejects the values and rules of political establishment by terrorizing Hrothgar’s kingdom, and he is often angry because when the shaper sings he falls into the trance of possibility, but then remembers the dragon.He cannot figure out what he wants for himself.
He is evil not because he was born evil, and not because it was destined that he would become evil, but because the world told him he was, and eventually he believed. Grendel resigns to a mode of being that is the easiest for him- and that may be just what make him so intriguing. It is not the fact that Grendel is Bad that makes him a compelling protagonist; that alone would almost surely not be enough. He is an engaging, almost likeable, main character precisely because he lapses into evil like a habit, like a role to be filled, like any number of the habits and roles the book’s audience might fulfill themselves. Grendel is important because he is, by the book’s end, purely evil. He is malevolent, chaotic, maniacal, and violent. He is everything a storybook antagonist should be, yet the reader still feels for him. It is there that the power of Grendel’s story lies- in his complexity. The novel’s refusal to accept the simple themes and characterization in Beowulf makes it refreshing, and, in a sense, more real; Grendel is not a tale that allows readers to escape the world, but one that forces them to vividly examine its most gruesome realities, and to imagine that even the worst of monsters
Beowulf must use armor and weapons to kill it. Which it shows how Beowulf is depending into death. This would be one of the main reason he is a monster and not Grendel. Grendel has reasons which people may take him as a monster but not as much as Beowulf. Grendel Is doing what he thinks is best since Beowulf killed his mother for no reason. When Beowulf killed the Dragon, while at it.. Beowulf died as well.
Grendal, a descendant of Cain, is one of the main antagonist of the poem Beowulf. He lives under an inherited curse and is denied God’s presence. Throughout the story Grendal causes enormous grief and fear to the people of Herot. After so much pain and agony the king of Herot, Hrothgar, sends for the protagonist of the poem, Beowulf. He is a Geat and the epic hero of the poem. The wide variety of distinctions between Grendal and Beowulf is what develops the climax of the composition. Beowulf kills Grendal, so he is honored by the people of Herot for his heroic act. Since Grendal and Beowulf play opposite roles in the poem, Beowulf, they let the reader know how contrasting characters can develop the plot of the story.
In the beginning of the novel, we find that that a mysterious creature attacked Hrothgar, the king of Danes and his army. In response to the situation, Hrothgar decides to call Beowulf who happens to his nephew. In this account of the story Beowulf is the hero to the Danes. He defeats the monster and it's mother. In contrast, in the novel Grendel, Grendel tells the story from his perspective. He describes to the how he wanted to be friends with the humans. In hi attempt to communicate, he is unsuccessful and finds himself being attacked. After trying several more times to befriend the humans, he deices to carry out his plan of being what society ‘wants’ him to be.
In the movie, this version of Beowulf does what the other Beowulf would have never done for a monster he just finished slaying. He builds a memorial in honor of Grendel. This shows Beowulf's remorse for killing him. An emotion the Beowulf from the epic didn't seem to have. Beowulf also shows mercy on Grendel's son when Beowulf decides not to kill him. This mercy is something that was not present at all in the epic's portrayal of Beowulf. If a deed would bring glory to the name of Beowulf, then he wouldn't hesitate to do it.
The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the reader’s perception of Grendel and his role in Beowulf by narrating the story through Grendel’s point of view. John Gardner transforms the perceived terrible evil fiend who is Grendel into a lonely but intelligent outcast who bears a striking resemblance to his human adversaries. In Grendel, John Gardner portrays Grendel as an intelligent being capable of rational thought as well as displaying outbursts of emotion. He portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression ostracized from civilization. The author of Beowulf portrays Grendel as the typical monster archetype as compared to John Gardner’s representation of Grendel as an outcast archetype.
One aspect that was the most apparent was the fact that he was such an outcast. In Beowulf, Grendel was “…living down in the darkness, growl[ing] in pain…” because he knew that he did not belong with the Danes and other human beings at all (Raffel 6). Similarly, in Grendel, as interested as he was with the humans and their way of life, he still found himself “…back[ing] away till the honeysweet lure of the harp no longer mocked [him]” (Gardner 4). Grendel was constantly distancing himself from the human beings because he knew he did not belong and they were not willing to give him the gift of acceptance into their group. However, this outlook carried through with Grendel between the two stories to portray just how monstrous and estranged he
The tale of Beowulf has become a legend. The epic is one of the first stories written in Modern English and most likely was passed down orally for centuries before. The story details the deeds of Beowulf, a great man of the Germanic tribe of the Geats, who assists the Danes in dealing with monsters of mythical proportions, namely a monster named Grendel, his mother, and a dragon. Grendel, written by John Gardner, offers a modern perspective on the ancient tale. Gardner’s story is written in the perspective of the monster Grendel himself and provides a deeper look into the workings of his mind. Both stories portray Beowulf, although from very different perspectives.