How Does Gardener Present Grendel As Evil

Throughout the novel, Grendel, by John Gardener, the narrator Grendel, is searching for his meaning in the world. This monster from Beowulf is perceived only as a cold-hearted killer, but in Grendel, he shows the readers a better understanding of who he is. He shows that he is struggling to understand what his purpose in life is. In this novel, Grendel is guided on a path struggling to search for his understanding of himself.

The more complex approach taken in this novel shows the real struggle that Grendel has while trying to figure out his purpose. Grendel was raised as “evil” and does not know how to be good. His childhood revolved around being extremely lonely with only his mother around, who couldn’t even talk. He envies the humans because they have each other and show feelings of love and care towards each other while Grendel does not have that. The fact that he seems to desire those feelings are a sign of potential goodness in Grendel. These “seeds” of goodness are

prevented from developing because of his lack of knowledge and experience with being anything other than evil. If it weren’t for the evil in the world, the humans wouldn’t have a cause to be good. They wouldn’t have anything to fight against or a reason to be good. They wouldn’t have a drive to religion or a need for it. The good is what protects them from the evil.
Grendel is a monster, for not only his appearance, but his understandings as well.

For one, he was raised in a cave at the bottom of a lake with his mother who is also a monster. He was brought up only knowing evil. He never was given any chances to become good. He also gets angry when he hears pleasure or joy from others and is completely unconscious of the pain he causes others. Unlike other evil figures, he is unaware of the suffering that his actions bring others. The fact that he was only taught evil makes it where he only knows how to be evil. While Grendel does identify himself as being a monster, he does not exactly see himself as being evil. In a way, he feels he is doing what is normal because this is all he knows how to do. He has no problem killing people, yet Gardner uses personification to make Grendel appear more human like because he can think and has feelings just like anybody else. The constant war with the humans is frustrating to Grendel because he wants to be

accepted.
The confusing thoughts Grendel felt began with the Shaper, whose songs made him feel important. Grendel wanted to live off of the Shaper’s beliefs and thought that this could finally help him accept himself, but did not want to live believing in tales. This caused Grendel to continue with his search to find something with a more powerful influence. Grendel’s search drove him to visit the dragon in chapter five. The dragon gave him the idea that killing people gave him a purpose. The dragon encouraged him to commit the evil actions and continue doing what he has been doing all along. “You improve them, my boy! Can’t you see that yourself? You stimulate them! You make them think and scheme. You drive them to poetry, science, religion, all that makes them what they are for as long as they last… If you withdraw, you’ll instantly be replaced.” Grendel felt that this was the answer to his question of what his purpose in life is. This gave him an identity. Eventually, Grendel realized that the beliefs of the dragon did not give him the importance he desired to feel.
The duration of Grendel’s life, he lived trying to find himself while going off of other’s beliefs rather than trying to be content with himself. Grendel died with a bunch of jumbled ideas of what his purpose in life could be. In a way he succeeded because he now does not have to live with the unclear perceptions of other people’s beliefs in his head. The theme of good versus evil is significant in this novel as a whole because it shows that there is something deeper than the black and white idea of something be good or evil. Grendel is identified as being on the evil side, but he also has struggles just like everybody and this is portrayed by showing he is not only bad. This novel shows the importance that good and evil bring to society in a reasonable amount of each.