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,

he should be considered neither purely evil nor purely good. Grendel should not be considered purely evil since he gains the perspective of others, spares Unferth his life, and his intentions are misinterpreted by the humans. As the reader will see, Grendel is nowhere near being purely evil.
Throughout Grendel, Grendel is portrayed as an evil being due to the violent acts he commits. However, Grendel’s violent perception is caused in the beginning of the novel due to a misunderstanding. Grendel is lured towards the mead hall after hearing the shaper’s song. On his way towards the mead hall, he stumbles across a man who has been gruesomely killed. Grendel described the moment saying “I stared up at the hall, baffled, beginning to shake” (Gardner 50). This quote shows that Grendel is not purely evil because the death of a man frightens him because death would not frighten a purely evil being. Grendel makes the mistake of picking up the man’s body. As Grendel puts the man on his shoulder, several men see Grendel and make the assumption that Grendel has murdered this man in cold blood. However, Grendel has not murdered this man and has just discovered him. Grendel’s inability to communicate this to the men leads to them attacking Grendel viscously. This is one of Grendel’s first violent encounters with humans. Furthermore, Grendel’s encounter with the humans would set the precedent for Grendel’s “violence”. Ultimately, this encounter helps to shape the violent relationship between Grendel and the humans. A simple misunderstanding caused this relationship making it impossible for Grendel to be completely evil since the humans created the misunderstanding. Furthermore, Grendel is also not purely evil since he is able to see perspective.
In order for Grendel to be considered purely evil, he must lack the ability to see another person’s perspective.

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 night, Grendel launches his first large-scale raid in the mead hall.

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

continue.
After the apple fight, Grendel is asleep in his cave when he is woken by Unferth. Unferth is motivated to come to Grendel’s lair because he desires to die an honorable death saying “It will be sung year on year and age on age that Unferth went down through the burning lake and gave his life in battle with the world-rim monster” (87). While Unferth desires to be killed by Grendel, Grendel has other plans. Grendel decides to not kill Unferth and instead carries him back to Hrothgar's mead hall. Grendel’s ability to restrain himself from killing Unferth proves that he is not purely evil because he is showing mercy.
Throughout Grendel, Grendel often plays the role of the evildoer. A being who is purely evil is one who does not possess mercy and lacks understanding of others. However, Grendel proves that he does have mercy and is capable of putting himself in the perspective of others. Grendel exhibits these qualities through Unferth’s life and realizing the perspective of the bull. Lastly, Grendel is portrayed as an evil being due to the misunderstanding that he slaughtered a man. Ultimately, Grendel is a being who does not possess the qualities necessary to be deemed purely evil.