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Why grendel is evil
Why grendel is evil
The religious portrayal of beowulf
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Fratricide; a person who murders his or her sibling. In this case Grendel a descendant of Cain, Cain a person from the bible who is notorious for killing his brother able. He killed his brother due to envy. Cain was jealous of God’s favoritism toward his brother able. So with his hate spewing he killed his brother in a field. So with this Grenades blood line it makes him the most obvious representation of evil in this poem. Being a part of the most envious scripters in the bible, It just furthers the influences of biblical scripter of this times culture, also it shows the theme of good versus evil being Grendel, Cain, and good being God, Beowulf. Them being the main characters of the poem it goes deep into the background of the poem. With that implanted in the poem it shows a lot of values, views, and way of life. During this time Great Britain. …show more content…
From the start Grendel terrorizes the city of Herot just for them singing and celebrating god. So right from the start the theme good versus evil is there. Also the reference to religion is there as well. The poem wanted you to know who was evil and how evil they were right away. Grendel on of the main evil conflicts between evil and Beowulf .it’s the first battle he has before he turns into the legend he is known for. The battle shows readers who is divine and who it wicked so you know from the start so you know who the hero and who the villain is of the poem. This first battle also represents a motif of good defeating
Since the beginning of time, fairy tales, stories and legends have shared a common theme where good and evil are played against each other. In the story of “Beowulf”, translated by, “Burton Raffel”, there is a hero who plays as a good character, and there is also a demon who rules the dark side. The hero Beowulf, agrees to take a journey to conquer the evil monster Grendel. But when Beowulf is trying to defeat the beast, Grendel fights back, causing integrity and generosity to vanish. The common theme in various tales like in Beowulf is, good vs. evil.
The first battle in the poem occurs between Beowulf and Grendel because these characters best embody the Anglo-Saxon value of courage. Beowulf is the perfect representation of this value because he is reckless and says, “No weapons, therefore,/ for either this night: unarmed he shall face me” (Heaney 683-84). Thus when Beowulf proclaims that he is not using weapons he displays both honor and courage since it takes guts to go against a monster without an advantage. This quality was respected in his culture and the Anglo-Saxons made sure to make their epic hero a perfect fit for this trait. Grendel however, is the complete opposite
Our first character, Grendel, is an exceptionally diverse character. It is implied that in both book and poem, Grendel is a blood-thirsty monster. All Grendel does is go through meadhalls and kill the drunk, often asleep people. But when narrated through the eyes of Grendel, the true nature of this beast is discovered. The author of Grendel entails that Grendel is a depressed and misunderstood monster, restrained to the confinements of his own underwater cave. He is a lot like the monster in the book Frankenstein. Both Grendel and Frankenstein are born with no real purpose to life, going off of what they hear other people say and taking it as the truth. Both monsters, knowing that everyone detests them for being unattractive and different, retaliate by way of murder and mayhem. From the perspective of the people in the stories itself, Grendel is exactly how the narrator in the poem Beowulf makes him out to be. The people, or the thanes, of Hrothgar’s kingdom see Grendel as a demon from hell, representing all that’s evil in the world. He’s a supernatural creature and in this time period anything supernatural that wasn’t human was considered a spirit, a god, evil or, in Grendel...
The most important events in Beowulf’s life seem to all be a matter of Dichotomy. Good versus evil. Beowulf encounters perilous monsters throughout his life that no man or woman would ever stand a chance of defeating. Beowulf embodies the classic storybook hero, whom is built with a strong body and a pure heart. Throughout this epic, Beowulf must harness his heroic body and pure heart into destroying the forces of evil in the world.
Grendel is the embodiment of all that is evil and dark. Grendel by John Gardner retells the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf from the perspective of the antagonist, Grendel. He is the outcast of society; doomed to roam in the shadows of Hrothgar’s city, Heorot. He is an outside threat to society and all that is good. His whole existence is to hate good simply because it is good. Mankind can only be truly free if good and evil coexist in the world; and all people are born with an evil and dark side.
The epic poem Beowulf, an abundance of apparent evils such as the monsters. What about the not-so-apparent ones? Often the true evil hides behind what is obvious to us. In modern society, evil is everywhere because it resides inside society itself. Although the story of the warrior Beowulf is riddled with evil monsters, the true evil lies just beneath the surface.
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
The very opening page is an allusion to the Creation, also present in Christianity. “…The Almighty making the earth, shaping these beautiful plains marked of by oceans, then proudly setting the sun and moon to glow across the land and light it;” (lines 7-10). Also, Grendel lusts for men not just for the meat, but he kills out of sheer pleasure. He enjoys killing much as Satan enjoys killing men spiritually. “No savage assault could quench his lust for evil” (lines 52-53). Also in the fight between Grendel and Hrothgar, there was no truce as is true in the spiritual battle between God and Satan, so one can gather that Hrothgar symbolizes God and Grendel is symbolic of Satan.
He is described as a monster, demon, and a fiend. Grendel has swift, hard claws, and enormous teeth that snatch the life out of his victims, which are numerous. This “shadow of death” not only kills; he drinks the blood of his prey. His forefather, Cain, was also known for this fiendish act. Just as Grendel is an outcast, so Cain was cast out of the Garden of Eden. To the Anglo-Saxons, the worst crime a person could commit was the crime of fratricide, the killing of one’s own brother. Their society and culture was structured around themes of brotherhood and kinship. The mead Hall, Herot, was a symbol of peace. It was a place where warriors gathered in a spirit of brotherhood and harmony to celebrate. Grendel was jealous and enraged by the festivities and the sound of laughter that he kept hearing while he was alone in his mere.
The author creates a realistic picture during the battle between Beowulf and Grendel. Throughout the scene, light and dark portray events according to their corresponding characters. Beowulf, the hero, symbolizes light and goodness while Grendel symbolizes darkness and wickedness. The poem describes him as demonic, “While a baleful light, flame more than light, flared from his eyes” (726-27). Beowulf continues to represent
Beowulf is an epic poem written in Old English by an unknown author. The main character of the book, Beowulf, ultimately clashes with an evil monster named Grendel. However, before that battle, Grendel goes on a murderous rampage that spans fourteen years, and he continues it every night. Fueled by a hatred for the God-praising citizens of the town and the construction of a boisterous town hall right above his home, Grendel’s ensuing rampage earns him the reputation of a purely evil being. Although Grendel’s continued mass murder is not justified, the invasion of his home and unlucky birth make it understandable.
Rough Draft Beowulf is littered with a myriad of literary devices that are intended to enhance the story, whether it’s something that ties into Old English such as kenning or even as simple as imagery. All of these elements come together to make a riveting story filled with gracious heroes and chilling villains. The harrowing tale begins with a quaint story that is well packed with details to prelude the readers to the upcoming adventure. In many aspects, the literary device known as symbolism plays an important role in the overall essence of the story. Furthermore, symbolism creates an underlying tone and atmosphere for the whole story.
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.
The epic poem, Beowulf, is one of the oldest European epics in existence. When Beowulf was written, the writer incorporated many of the ideals of the Anglo-Saxons. Some of these ideals included loyalty, bravery, selflessness, and justice and were demonstrated in the hero. Both the characters Beowulf and Grendel represent aspects of both good and evil, Christianity and Paganism, and what occurs when they collide with one another. A characteristic of an epic poem is the concern over struggles that humans face, which is presented in a serious manner. The hero often embodies the religious, national, and cultural values of his homeland and abroad. The premise of the story is quite simple: the Danes were in distress because of the great monster Grendel, so Beowulf, a native of the Geats, sails to engage in battle with Grendel and become victorious in saving the seemingly faithless Danes. Throughout the epic, there are many instances where examples of the thirteen epic conventions are used in the writing of Beowulf and in describing both the ideals of the Anglo-Saxons and the underlying challenges with mortal problems, such as good versus evil.
The theme is revealed through the use of imagery. In the quote the narrator is talking about Grendel and his suffering as he listens to the people in halls of Heorot, tell stories of god, “A powerful monster, living down in the darkness, growled in pain, impatient as day after day the music rang loud in the hall…” (Beowulf 1) The author uses imagery to describe the pain and suffering, Grendel faces as he listens to the people of Heorot celebrate and tell stories of god and the creation of the world. Because of this Grendel seeks revenge on mankind by attacking Heorot, for mocking him through their success, joy, glory and favor in the eyes of god. The author uses imagery to help describe Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the dragon’s pain and suffering to further understand why they want revenge. Their revenge reveals their effect on