Grendel's Evil In 'Beowulf'

In the epic Beowulf, malicious acts are portrayed through the monster Grendel. Grendel has been attacking Hrothgar for twelve years. He goes into the mead hall Heorot and attacks the soldiers causing them a long and painful death. He is an unsightly monster who gets angered easily by the villagers who create a boisterous sound. As he entered the mead hall,

The door gave away, so toughened with iron, at the touch of those hands. Rage-inflamed, wreckage-bent, he ripped open the jaws of the hall. Hastening on, the foe then stepped onto the unstained floor, angrily advanced: out of his eyes stood an unlovely light like that of fire. He saw then in the hall a host of young soldiers, a company of kinsmen caught away in sleep, a whole warrior-band.

In his heart he laughed then, horrible monster, his hopes swelling to a gluttonous meal. He meant to wrench the life from each body that lay in place before night was done. It was not to be; he was no longer to feast on the flesh of mankind after that night. [...] As a first step he set his hands on a sleeping soldier, savagely tore at him, gnashed at his bone-joints, bolted huge gobbets, sucked at his veins, and had soon eaten all of the dead man, even down to his hands and feet.
(Beowulf 38)

Grendel’s acts of evil are seen through his mannerisms.

He is described as storming through the doorway as he was ripping the door off. This shows how strong and powerful Grendel is when he becomes angered. The door was made of iron hinges and tough wood so the king would be protected from the outside. But Grendel was able to tear the door off and proceeded to violently enter the mead hall. As Grendel is in the mead hall he sees the host of soldiers in front of him. Instead of feeling threatened he laughs at them. Grendel doesn’t feel inferior to the large number of soldiers because he knows he can easily destroy them. While Grendel is laughing at the soldiers he enjoys the fact that he will have a good meal. Grendel then proceeded to gnaw on a sleeping soldier. The process of him eating the soldier helps visualize how dangerous Grendel is toward humans. These details help to portray the characteristics of malicious

behavior.
Grendel is a malicious monster and doesn’t hold attributes of a nice monster. If Grendel were a nice monster he would have knocked on the door instead of tearing it down. He would have waited for a soldier to come answer the door and invite him into the hall. He would have also brought a gift for the host. Grendel could have picked out a bouquet of flowers or a fruit basket. A nice monster would also shake the hands of all the people he met while in the mead hall instead of laughing at them. While he would be shaking hands he would learn their names and ask the people polite questions. Instead of eating the soldiers for his dinner, Grendel would have accepted the food given to him without any complaints. During dinner, he would know how to politely chew his food and use a napkin instead of eating in a barbaric manner. If he did want to munch on a soldier, he would have to politely ask a soldier if it would be allowed. If Grendel was nice he would have needed to use his manners and thank the host for the invitation for dinner. And afterwards he would have sent a thank you note for the pleasant evening in the mead hall.
The life of Ivan IV can be compared to the evil characteristics of Grendel.

Ivan IV’s parents both died by the time he was eight years old. Death, abuse, and violence were prevalent in Ivan IV’s life. After the parent's death, noblemen were fighting for the power to reign Russia. The noblemen treated Ivan IV with respect in the public eye but immensely belittled him in private. When he was a child he would torture dogs and push them off at steep heights. After he became Tsar of Russia, he was involved with the construction of St. Basil’s Cathedral. After it was fully constructed he blinded the architects so they could not build anything as magnificent again. His wife Anastasia died and was believed to be poisoned. After that tragic event, Ivan IV distrusted people and believed they were disloyal to the country, so he decided that he would have absolute power to execute anyone he believed was unpatriotic. Ivan IV’s behavior became more erratic as he aged. During an argument with his son, he ended up killing him with a pointed staff. Ivan IV gained the nickname Ivan the Terrible. The word terrible translates to grozny in Russian. This translates to fear, terror, and threatening. Ivan the Terrible's life of murdering people and his parents’ death can be compared to Grendel. Grendel’s mother died and many soldiers deaths originated from either attacks from Grendel or being devoured by him. Though Ivan the Terrible was not cannibalistic he did murder people and did not allow

it to affect his reign of Russia. (http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/the-ryurikovich-dynasty/ivan-iv-the-terrible/)