More handpicked essays just for you.
Psychological factors to isolation
Impact of isolation and loneliness on society
Loneliness and isolation in grendel
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
As a creature of evil, Grendel finds absolutely no one he can consider a companion. He constantly finds himself feeling alone, even if he is around humans or even his mother. Grendel is always around other living beings but it seems it is hard for him to connect to them, since he is seen as a monster in everyone else’s eyes. He is either too human or too monstrous for anyone to make him less lonely. The theme of isolation and loneliness is present throughout the novel, making it very important and significant to the characterization of Grendel in the story.
In the very first chapter of Grendel, his loneliness is portrayed vividly. No matter who or what he tries to talk to, he gets no response. All the animals he’s tried speaking to obviously couldn’t
…show more content…
respond to him because they cannot talk. He encounters an issue with a ram and asks the sky for assistance. “‘Why can’t these creatures discover a little dignity?’ I ask the sky. The sky says nothing, predictably” (6). It could be understood that Grendel is looking for help from a higher power, which is completely ironic. Grendel is seen as a child of Cain and he’s looking at God for assistance. During the same chapter, Grendel meets a deer in the woods as he leaves the scene with the ram. He describes how the doe and him stood there, neither one moving as they stared at each other. The doe ended up running away “... at the sight of [his] horridness…” (7). He defined this action as a “blind prejudice”. It shows how even creatures that never associated with him personally would rather run off than spend another second with him. There is a lot of isolation shown between Grendel and his mother, and also where they dwell. This is mostly seen in the second and tenth chapter of the novel. Grendel describes his mother as “... only [my mother] really looked at me.—Stared at me as if to consume me, like a troll” (17). So although his mother seemed to be the only one to actually regard him, she saw him as an animal would look at their prey. Grendel thinks his mother is absolutely insane and stupid, since she cannot speak like he can. Because of this, he does not spend much time with her. In chapter ten, Grendel talks about how is mother is trying to trap him and keep him with her forever in their isolated cave. Although he is pressed up against her in an embrace, he feels alone since she is unlike a human. He feels that he is better and more advanced than she is because he can speak and walk on two feet for most of the time. The home they live in is described to be deep underwater in the epic Beowulf. It is far away from other creatures and is said to be feared by them. Another chapter that proves how present the theme of isolation and loneliness is in the novel Grendel is chapter three.
In this chapter, Grendel watches how men treat each other and nature. Though he is not attacked much by them at this point, he just watches them from afar as they fight one another. “Then suddenly the birds below me in the tree would fall silent…” (35). This proves that he is an outcast. In most of the story, Grendel seems to be telling it from the perspective of an outcast. In chapter two, Grendel is trapped in a tree and men are trying to attack him. They think he is some sort of spirit or evil being. That mentality shows how humans were scared of Grendel and suddenly assumed he was dangerous. This would relate to the theme of loneliness because of how no one seems to accept him for his monster lifestyle and everyone judges him when they first see him. They would rather leave him alone or watch the life leave his eyes. At the end of the novel, he says “‘Poor Grendel’s had an accident … so may you all’” (Gardner 174). This is relevant to the theme because even though he seemed to be extremely lonely and isolated throughout the book, he believed everyone should feel the pain that he
does. Grendel seems to understand how isolated and lonely he is throughout his life, even though he seems to be around plenty of living creatures. He stays away from his mother and most animals are afraid of him. Even when he looks to the help of the Holy Spirit, he does not get a response. Whenever he is around humans he feels hated and unwanted, since they all see him as a blood-thirsty monster. Grendel is just a lonely creature, who is either isolated by himself or others around him.
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
Towards the end of the novel, Grendel finally becomes ‘himself’. 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 at the beginning of the novel, surrounded by mindless eyes, he states, “Poor Grendel’s had an accident.
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
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.
The story begins with a flash-back into Grendel’s early years. He is all alone even then, but he is too young to realize it and fills this void with imaginary friends. He talks about how he entertained himself during his early years saying “Crafty-eyed, wicked as an elderly wolf, I would scheme with or stalk my imaginary friends, projecting the self I meant to become into every dark corner of the cave and the woods above” (17). People in our world may invent imaginary friends also, sometimes for companionship, as part of play, or for other reasons. Imaginary friends can serve as an important source of companionship to some children and even adults, especially if companionship is absent for them in the social world. As an example “young children in boarding schools often develop imaginary friends to cope with extreme stress and separation from their intimate relations” (www.phycologytoday.com/z10/fl/mllr.7se.php)
...life. In not seeking the connection between heart, mind, and soul, Grendel lives a disjointed life, fulfilling the prophecy of the dragon; all is meaningless, because it is meaningless to and through him. "Nihil ex nihilo, I always say."
In the beginning Grendel’s perspective of himself leads to various encounters that help him discover the meaninglessness to his very own existence. From the beginning through many centuries of pondering Grendel has come to the idea that the world consists entirely of Grendel and not-Grendel. Thus Grendel begins his search for meaning of his very own life with an existential philosophy, the belief that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. While Grendel’s overall perspective of nature is that of mindless and mechanical machine, he believes that he is a separate entity from this machine. Furthermore he holds the philosophy that he himself is a god like creature that “blink by blink” creates the world. This philosophy undermined when Grendel notices that events occur before he can think them into existence. Grendel witnesses the death of a deer by the hands of humans: “Suddenly time is a rush for the hart: head flicks, he jerks, his front legs buckling, and he’s dead. He lies as still as the snow hurtling outward around him to the hushed world’s rim. The image clings to my mind like a
In Chapter 8, Grendel exclaims, “I’m a machine. Like all of you. Blood-lust and rage are my character,” (Gardner 123). This profound statement establishes a connection between Grendel and the ambiguous “you,” the reader. The monster, though he confesses to his wrongdoing, asserts that readers are no better than he. Countless bible verses reiterate this concept: “For all have sinned,” (Romans 3:23) “[Humans] are all. .impure with sin,” (Isaiah 64:6). Gardner’s reminder to readers of mankind’s predisposition to sin earns pity for the monster. He expands on these sympathies by describing the nature of Grendel’s lonely existence. “But there was one thing worse,” Grendel states after discovering the dragon’s charm, “no weapon could cut me,” (Gardner 75). In this moment, nihilism overcomes Grendel; if fighting poses no danger, it has no purpose, and neither does he. Any reader who has had an experience which challenged his or her values cannot help but feel empathetic towards the purposeless creature. Perhaps more piteous, however, is the suggestion that Grendel has no choice in being “the dark side. . the terrible race God cursed,” (Gardner 51). The dragon condemns Grendel as “the brute existent by which [humans] learn to define themselves,” telling him that it is worthless to better his character (Gardner 72). It is not until after
In his translation of the excerpt, Raffel uses dark diction to introduce Grendel and his perspective in this poem. He describes Grendel as “Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty hills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred”(Raffel 1-2), immediately informing the reader that Grendel is a negative character. Lucien Dean Pearson uses the same dark diction while introducing Grendel, saying “Grendel
Grendel feels like an outcast in the society he lives in causing him to have a hard time finding himself in the chaotic world. He struggles because the lack of communication between he and his mother. The lack of communication puts Grendel in a state of depression. However, Grendel comes in contact with several characters with different philosophical beliefs, which allows his to see his significance in life. Their views on life influence Grendel to see the world in a meaningful way.
Grendel is born a neutral being, perhaps even good, but nevertheless, without hate. The transition which he undergoes to become evil is due to misunderstandings between himself and humans and also meeting with a dragon who is questionably evil. As a young “monster”, Grendel knew nothing other than the cave he lived in and his mother who could not speak any distinguishable language. He was a playful creature who seemed to be like a “bla...
...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.
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
Grendel is alone; he can not know God’s love and be comforted. He is an outcast, and the sins of his forefather have fallen upon him. Evil can not stand God being glorified just as the praising of God by the Danes angered Grendel.
...zes humanity in this scene by portraying them as the evil beings instead of Grendel who is the helpless victim of their savage assault. The men attack Grendel solely because they could not understand him and because of his appearance. Grendel makes no attempt to harm the men but to communicate with them while they are the ones that savagely tried to kill him. John Gardner portrays the men as the real monsters who mercilessly tried to kill Grendel while he was defenseless. Grendel has another revelation due to this attack in where he states. “The world resists me and I resist the world… “That’s all there is.”(Gardner, 28) Grendel makes this assertion as a means to organized the ways he perceives the world. While he once saw the world as a confusing array of frightening images, now he can separate the world into categories: those who do not resemble him and himself.