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Analysis of the character grendel in beowulf
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In the novel Grendel by John Gardner, the protagonist is a beastly creature, of whom the title of this novel takes after. Grendel closely follows a monomyth formed by Joseph Campbell. This monomyth is based on the belief that “the mind of each person has inherited archetypes that are either repressed or manifested through the experiences of the individual.” Something incredibly significant in the interpretation of this theory is “The Shadow.” Based on this monomyth, this is the part of the mind that contains our darkest desires and urges. The novel Grendel provides numerous examples of which the protagonist battles this part of his mind. The protagonist, Grendel, lives a life of solitude and one-way communication. Seeing that he is forever
Particularly in chapter 3, Grendel listens as a blind old man, the Shaper, tells the tale of Danish history to Hrothgar. Though what is told is largely fictitious, Grendel cannot help but to feel strangely moved by the brilliance of the Shaper’s story. “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 true and the truth that is desired. 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
This ‘beast’, the protagonist of the story, fights an internal struggle, of which is a part of the Hero’s Journey. Grendel is unable to decide what to make of himself and of the world surrounding him. He has only ever known the world as wild and mechanical, yet he is charmed by the artistic brilliance of the Shaper’s words. Grendel ultimately meets a brutal yet peaceful demise. Standing on the face of the same cliff he found himself in the beginning of the novel, surrounded by mindless eyes, he states, “Poor Grendel’s had an accident. So may you all.” (Grendel, John Gardner, pg.174) Previous to this, he questions if what he is feeling is joy. The reader is lead to believe that Grendel must feel nothing but peace. This, is the concluding moment of his
...n very human feelings of resentment and jealousy. Grendel was an unstable and saddened figure because of his outcast status. Though Grendel had many animal attributes and a grotesque, monstrous appearance, he seemed to be guided by vaguely human emotions and impulses. He truthfully showed more of an interior life than one might expect. Exiled to the swamplands outside the boundaries of human society, Grendel’s depiction as an outcast is a symbol of the jealousy and hate that seeks to destroy others' happiness and can ultimately cripple a civilization. This take on the outcast archetype ultimately exposes the Anglo Saxon people’s weaknesses, their doubts and anxieties towards the traditional values that bounded nearly every aspect of their life.
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.
Gardner plays Grendel as like a child when he first discovers the the new world. For example, Grendel announces, “ I played my way farther out into this world” (Gardner 16). This shows Grendel’s first look in the real world. He first thinks that this world is going to be a fine place to live. Unfortunately, Grendel explore more into the world and sees the “Burning eyes of the strangers” (Gardner 17). To explain, Grendel has never seen such people in his life, so he starts to rethink life. In other words, his exploration of the world of humans changes the way he perceives the creatures in the underground world. This mentally changes his self
Philosophies such as nihilism, existentialism, and solipsism are explored throughout Grendel, a novel by John Gardner. Throughout the book, Grendel embarks on a journey of self-discovery, in which he tries to find himself through philosophy. Despite trying many different philosophies, Grendel is only met with dissatisfaction. However, the nihilistic philosophy that is introduced by the enigmatic dragon seemingly provides Grendel with a way out of his banal existence. Despite this, Grendel couldn’t fully commit to nihilistic beliefs therefore leading to the development of his scepticism philosophy. In the end, Grendel meets his death at Beowulfs’ hands, who disproves his scepticism and forces him to die an existentialist. The fact is that if Grendel had decided to
In John Gardner’s Grendel, the Shaper is an important contributing character that carries the plot in a historical sense. During the first encounter between the monster and the humans, Grendel hears of the stories and tales the Shaper is singing about in Hrothgar’s mead-hall. Throughout the story the Shaper tells about Danish history and the creation of man’s existence and Grendel is fascinated by this. After listening to the Shaper’s stories, Grendel starts to realize that what he is saying is not true, “I too crept away, my mind aswim in ringing phrases, magnificent, golden, and all of them, incredibly, lies,” and starts to question what is true and what is not (Gardner 43). The Shaper’s eloquent tales had a large effect on Grendel, “He told of an ancient feud between two brothers which split all the world between darkness and light. And I, Grendel, was the dark side...I believed him! Such was the power of the Shaper's harp!” (Gardner 52). Gardner’s writing of Grendel sheds light on a whole new side of Grendel, as opposed to the monstrous being in Beowulf; so much so that we can see a divide in G...
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.
It bears mentioning that Grendel was strongly influenced by the idea of nihilism, which means that he believed that nothing has meaning and everything in life was an accident. “Nevertheless, it was
Grendel and Frankenstein are two monsters whose society ignores their existence and find them to be burdensome to their society based on the mere fact that they are not like the rest of their surrounding man-kind. Grendel and Frankenstein both strive to accept their place in the views of their surrounding peoples. Although their sporadic happiness comes from them engaging in fights and killing members of their societies, they learn to accept their place within the societies by coping with their ability to stay loyal to themselves and to fight back with self-devotion and not wanting to give up on themselves.
One thing that influences perception of reality that is initially explored in Grendel are words. This is demonstrated when Grendel secretly listens to the poem sung by the shaper, who is a blind court bard who sings poems with the harp, and sees how the people are
Grendel, as a character, has a much more complex identity than just a monster and a human. Some, such as Ruud, classify him as a mixture of three different characteristics, but alone, they tend to conflict with each other. By making the connection that Grendel represents immorality, the previous idea makes more sense, while simultaneously incorporating more aspects of the character into the analysis. In either case, Grendel represents much more than meets the eye, and provides a fascinating insight into
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
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.
Someone once said, “stories can conquer fear. They can make the heart bigger.” In Grendel by John Gardner, the dragon represents immortal monsterhood and its lawlessness. The Shaper represents the mortality and noble pursuits of human culture. The Shaper and the dragon act as philosophically opposing forces in Grendel’s mind as he discovers how to define himself in relation to the rest of the world and explores the monumental power of stories.
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.
With the introduction of the Shaper, Grendel’s ideals are transformed by another’s words. The Shaper is able to show Grendel that he can have an identity and not just be a mere obstruction in the dark. The Shaper created his own theories and stories about life and fed them to the people in a way that enabled them to follow what he said as truth. The Shaper gave the Danes a purpose by telling them what great feats they had overcome and his words excited and encouraged the men to become even more magnificent. The more Grendel listens to the Shaper’s songs, the more apparent it is that Grendel is captivated by the Shaper’s perspective on life. The Shaper’s songs tore at Grendel because he wanted to believe in everything said, but felt ashamed to live his life believing in lies: “I listened, felt myself swept up. I knew very well that all he said was ridiculous, not light for their darkness but flattery, illusion, a vortex pulling them from sunlight to heat, a kind of midsummer burgeoning waltz to the sickle” (Gardner 47). Grendel wanted to believe in the Shaper and his theories but he knew that in the end they were all lies meant to deceive, to fool, and to ensnare the listener. It was the Shaper’s skill and imagination that stirred him, but as much as Grendel wanted to accept the Shaper’s tales, he knew they were not the truths he was looking