In both Grendel in the novel and the epic poem Beowulf, the character Grendel is perceived in two different perspectives. Although some similarities do connect from both stories, Grendel's character is very different because in the novel, Grendel is a way more sympathetic character that is victimized rather in the epic poem, Grendel is a ruthless crazed monster who murders everyone he wants. Some main differences that help us see who Grendel really is in these two stories are what point of view they were told in, Grendel's isolation, and Grendel being perceived as a victim vs. a murderer.
Grendel the novel by John Gardner is told in first person which helps the readers get a better insight on the character Grendel. The readers get to see Grendel's true emotions and how developed his character is. For example the novel says, "I understood that the world was nothing; a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, ….as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back." (22).
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This quote shows the reader a different perspective of Grendel of how he's really observant and suffers from being alone. On the other hand, this would of never really been known in the epic poem Beowulf because it is told in third person and doesn't really spend time in talking about Grendel's feelings. In the Beowulf it says, "How the monster relished his savage war ….On the Danes" (67). This doesn't give much insight on Grendel and shows how he's perceived as a horrible monster. The reason is because it's in third person point of view ,and the outlook of Grendel is portrayed by the other characters. Rather where in the novel ,which is in first person point of view, Grendel is the main character and the reader connects with the character on another level. Isolation is something that Grendel experiences in both the novel and the poem. The novel says, "So it goes with me day by day and age by age, I tell myself. Locked in the deadly progression of moon and stars. I shake my head, muttering darkly on shaded paths, holding conversation with the only friend and comfort this world allows, my shadow. " This shows the dark imagery that highlights the misery he finds in himself. Grendel doesn't really understand why he's in this lonely state and is suffering. In Beowulf , Grendel is isolated because he's a big horrible killer monster. For example the poem says, "A Powerful monster, living down.... In the darkness, growled in pain, impatient" (1-2). This shows that in Beowulf the characters know Grendel is in some type of pain and isolated in the darkness. Once the readers read Grendel, they will realize that he is in serious pain and is a victim.
The novel says, "Tedium is the worst pain. The mind lays out the world in blocks, and the hushed blood waits for revenge"(157). Remember how the whole novel is structured around the signs of the zodiac and the irresistible movement of the seasons? What Grendel is going through is the worst kind of torture ever. He has to play the evil guy time after time and he's used to it. Grendel is so over the whole thing. It's not much of a surprise to him when he battles with Beowulf. In the poem, Grendel is just a heartless murder with no reason to tell why he gets to that state. In Beowulf it says, "Killing as often as he could, coming …... Alone, Bloodthirsty and horrible." (80-81) This shows Grendel is perceived as a ruthless
murderer. Grendel's character is just perceived as evil in Beowulf without showing reasons behind it. Although what Beowulf says about Grendel's character might be true, In the Grendel you gain a deeper understanding to why he is the way he is. Having read both stories is like hearing both sides of problems and getting the truth out of that.
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?
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...
One night, as Grendel was sleeping soundly in his home in the swamplands, he was suddenly awakened by the sound of music. The music angered Grendel because he had been up late the night before entertaining his monster friends and was in need of his beauty rest. So he headed out the front door and headed to see what the commotion is all about.
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
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
This is controlled by appetite and impulse, as seen in Grendel 's drastic urges to go on a killing spree in the mead hall killing the drunken Danes. Grendel hides away watching everything and everyone: hiding behind sheds or in a tree. Grendel speaks of his longings for friendships; of his captivity in his mythical role; of his disdain for his roots, as seen in the quote describing is an affinity for his mother. "When I sleep, she presses close to me, half buries me under her thistly fur and fat. Dool-Dool," she moans. She drools and weeps. "Warrovish," she whimpers, and tears at herself. Hanks of fur come away in her claws. I see gray hide." (Gardner 146) Where as, in the poem Beowulf, Grendel is made out to be a savage monster full of evil just looking to kill with no sense of remorse or good qualities. These qualities are seen when the narrator speaks "Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty hills and bogs, bearing God 's hatred, Grendel came, hoping to kill." (285 - 287) Giving the appearance and goals Grendel portrayed in the epic poem
He does not act like the blood hungry beast he is seen as in Beowulf. In
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.
Even if, at first, Grendel seems almost kind, and the reader is pleased with his character, he soon becomes more and more evil, and his actions bring about a feeling of uneasiness, to say the least. Before, the killing of people for no apparent reason disgusted Grendel. However, when he brings Unferth home, he kills the two guards "so I wouldn't be misunderstood" (90). Later, in probably the most disturbing scene of the book, we see how meaningless killing has become to Grendel. He brutally attacks the queen and is determined to kill her.
As Friedrich Nietzsche said; “What does nihilism mean? That the highest values devaluate themselves. The aim is lacking; “why?” finds no answer.” Grendels journey through finding himself, leads him ultimately to becoming a nihilist. After his newfound view on the universe, Grendel steps out in his overly destructive ways only to be shown up by the hero, Beowulf. In John Gardner’s novel, Grendel, it shows Grendel throughout his life, from rejecting the morals and beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons, and his philosophical views on Nihilism. As seen through both Grendel and Beowulf, Grendel shows characteristics of a monster with no motive for destruction. Grendel only strives to live based on his ability to continue terrorizing and destroying all things that don’t believe in Nihilism.
Both of these characters remain static throughout the poem. Beowulf portrays the heroic figure who saves everyone, while Grendal always remains evil with bad intentions. Grendal attacks mead hall because of jealousy. Grendal envies the fellowship and happiness he observes. He dislikes living in the outer world, excluded from the company of men; thus he stalks the moors, jealous of the pleasures of mankind.
Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson 2005) depicts a very different protagonist than the one in the epic (Heaney 2000). The Beowulf in the film learns how to have mercy as the movie progresses, while the epic Beowulf is very flat. This is due to the fact that the modern culture is very different from that of the epic. Our culture isn't content with such characters. We want our characters to have more lifelike characteristics such as emotions and a change of heart.
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.
In the poem, Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as a monstrous, evil villain that possesses a few human-like qualities: such as the ability to walk on two feet. However, his most notable characteristic that occupies his mind and body in the poem is the constant mindset and actions of primitive human tendencies. This quote conveys Grendel’s primitive ways as the humans perceived it. “The monster’s thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws: he slipped through the door and there in the silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies…” (Raffel 8). His lust for blood of the human race, alongside their Christian views, forced Beowulf and others to view
Imagine being scooped out of a couch, in the middle of the night, while you’re dead asleep, and run off with to be eaten. That’s the fate of more than a few warriors in the mead hall of King Hrothgar of the Epic Beowulf. I, for one, think such horrifying actions deserve the very bloody consequences they brought about. Beowulf is a hero above all others for his fearless actions to combat the monster responsible, Grendel, who torments and murders anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path. Though Grendel is part of a race of monsters, (Breeden) that is not the basis for the justice served to him, that punishment was entirely decided by his deeds.