Grendel By John Gardner: Good Vs. Evil

Out of the nearly seven billion people living in the world, not one can truly be classified as purely good or evil. Rather, people are a combination of both good and evil. The understanding of what it means to be good or evil is often flawed in today’s society. Good can best be defined as the ability to put others before one’s self. On the contrary, evil is a trait that is defined as having no mercy and lacking the ability to see another person's perspective. In Grendel, written by John Gardner, the main character named Grendel has been in battle for twelve years with King Hrothgar and his mead hall. Grendel can best be described in the novel as a sort of monster who has a tendency to become quite violent toward humans. Despite Grendel’s violence,

However, this is not the case. Early in Grendel, a bull attempts to attack Grendel. While the bull does not cause much physical damage to Grendel, it does prompt him to ponder the purpose of the world. Grendel says, “All at once, as if by sudden vision, I understood the emptiness in the eyes of those humpbacked shapes back in the cave. I understood the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of brute enmity of which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears” (21-22). Indeed, Grendel has demonstrated the capability to put himself in the bull’s perspective and even understand the “emptiness” they experience. In addition, Grendel also manages to conclude that the world is full of “mechanical chaos.” Grendel’s attempt to put himself in the bull’s perspective provides evidence that he is not purely evil. Grendel also refutes the claim that he is purely evil by pardoning one of Hrothgar’s men named

Unferth, one of Hrothgar’s men, tells the other warriors to step aside as he will solely defeat Grendel. Indeed, Unferth attempts to appear very confident saying, “Tell them in Hell that Unferth, son of Ecglaf sent you, known far and wide in these Scanian lands as a hero among the Scyldings” (82) As Unferth begins to circle Grendel, an evil idea overcomes Grendel. Grendel begins to throw apples at Unferth as this prevents him from attacking Grendel and humiliates Unferth. Grendel claims after the battle that “I got more pleasure from that apple fight than from any other battle in my life” (86). Wow! Grendel, a supposedly evil monster, claims that he experiences the greatest satisfaction from a battle that lacks bloodshed. Grendel refusing to kill Unferth and instead pelting him with apples proves that Grendel is not purely evil because a purely evil being would have killed Unferth. However, Grendel’s conflict with Unferth will