Personal Narrative: My Hero's Journey

526 Words2 Pages

Adrienne was mingling with friends on the bus, or that's what I assumed. All of the children were excited because the basketball team had just won their last game that would qualify them for regions. Over the course of the journey back to the school, I heard bickering, but I thought nothing of it. I proceeded in talking to the bus driver and looking over some late work turned in by my students. Suddenly, the bickering got louder! As a first instinct, I jumped up, as I was alarmed by all of the chatter. In a swift manner, I went to the back of the bus and discovered that Adrienne and another student were involved in some sort of altercation. I watched as one of the students began to charge at Adrienne, so I wasted no time in trying to diffuse the …show more content…

Adrienne was trying to diffuse the problem herself. She continuously asked the student to leave her alone, but that wasn't clear to me. Adrienne would never allow herself to take part in such disgraceful activity. Like Adrienne, Grendel was misunderstood because Hrothgar and his people thought Grendel was just coming and causing chaos for no ultimate reason. But little did they know, as a young boy, Grendel took interest in animals and humans being afraid of him, but as he aged it ceased to amuse him. Grendel has grown to hate his mother and his dislike for their home continues to grow, so he searches for other means to supply happiness to him. Grendel finds happiness in visiting Hrothgar's extravagant hall. He felt like he was a respected guest since he came to the hall and politely knocked before entering. From Grendel's point of view, the people loved him and were ecstatic to see him, because of how they exclaimed his name when he entered the hall. Grendel doesn't notice a problem, because all he does is gather his nightly feast of men, and carry on with his night. No harm, no

Show More
Related

  • Nature Vs. Nurture In Beowulf

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The monster’s thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws: He slipped through the door there in the silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them…” (Raffel Lines 34-37) In other words, Grendel is characterized as a monster whose only desire is to kill. However, the humans chose to forget their beginning encounters with Grendel and don’t realize that they are the true cause. When Grendel tries to communicate with the humans because they speak the same language, he is repelled by the Danes. “The harper broke off, the people screamed. Drunken men rushed me with battle-axes. I sank to my knees, crying, “Friend! Friend!” (Gardner 52) In other words, Grendel wants to be friends with the humans but they immediately judge him based on his appearance and reject him. This causes Grendel now have become isolated from both the humans and animals. This isolation leads to Grendel to start killing the humans as a form of interaction. Sadly like with animals, the only form of communication with the humans Grendel will receive is through killing them like the Grendel we see in Beowulf. Overall, due to Grendel being surrounded by humans who misjudge him, he is motivated by isolation in which the only attention he will get is from killing

    Read More

  • Adolescence And Power In John Gardner's Grendel

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    He is giddy with joy for the battle that will soon commence. Before the bloodshed finally erupts the Scylding king (talks) offers his sister Wealtheow to Hrothgar as a peace gift for the powerful king. Hrothgar accepts the beautiful Wealtheow and Grendel still waiting in the thick forest is suddenly flooded with emotions. Even to the point of saying, “She tore me apart as once the Shaper’s song had done. As for my benefit, as if in vicious scorn of me, children came from the meadhall and ran down to her weeping, to snatch at her hands and dress. “Stop it!” I whispered. “Stupid!”.” Wealtheow emits propaganda not by her words but her actions. Her courage and beauty cause Grendel to see the good in humans which in a way torments him. He sees the children running to her weeping and feels as if he is a child again wanting to be comforted by her. This play on Grendel’s adolescence and lack of a strong mother figure drives her message of propaganda deeper into his subconscious. (Her courageous deeds influence Grendel to the nihilistic view of the

    Read More

  • The Changes In Grendel's Character In 'Beowulf'

    500 Words  | 1 Pages

    The other one who helped Grendel learn was the dragon. The dragon tells Grendel of the world and what has happened over time. Grendel would feel fear for the first time after meeting the dragon. Dragon had been said to have been around from around the beginning of time and he tells Grendel all of what he has seen and all that he has witnessed. The dragon tried to make Grendel become a nihilist which means that life is meaningless and the rejection of all moral principles. Grendel began with nihilistic beliefs and slowly moved onto solipsistic beliefs. Solipsism is the belief that you are all that exist and is known in existence. Generally Grendel and the dragon became some sort of buddies this time and Grendel would tell the dragon his plan for what he was going to do to the kingdom. The dragon would tell Grendel to not risk his life to something meaningless such as that. Saying there is no real point in even wasting your breath on the kingdom. He gave Grendel a word of advice before Grendel would leave his cave and told him to not waste your time and to just search for gold the reason being because the dragon only seemed to care for that,

    Read More

  • Violence In Grendel's Misunderstood

    92 Words  | 1 Pages

    He derives a satisfaction from his interactions with the Danes that he cannot get from interactions with any other creature. violent outbursts and antagonistic relationship with humans can be seen as the result of a lonely creature’s misunderstood attempts to reach out and communicate with someone else. Grendel was amused by the humans, observing of their violence that (ch 3) He was sickened by the waste of their wars, all the animals killed but not eaten. Ashamed of his monstrousness, what better that to be like the thing you envy the most.

    Read More

  • grendelbeo Epic of Beowulf Essay - Beowulf from Grendel's Perspective

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    Upon arrival at the mead hall, Grendel notices the door is much to small for him to enter through it easily. This does not make him happy because it happens everywhere he goes in the little human towns. So he squeezes his shoulders through the small opening and manages to ask the man at the nearest table what was going on. The man, being exhausted from his own celebrations, was to tired to even notice the beast standing over him. Monsters of Grendel's type are not used to be ignored and see it as disrespectful and so do not like to be ignored. Which is why Grendel pulled his head from the doorway and reached his claw in to snatch up unsuspecting man. Everyone else in the room was too busy to even notice the man being lifted from his place behind his drink. With the first man out of the way, Grendel decided to try a different approach. Again, scrunching himself down partway through the door, Grendel looked for someone to tell him what was going on. He cleared his throat and said with a rough, gravelly voice, "Excuse me!" No one noticed. So he said it louder, "Excuse me!" A few heads turned. After a number of astonished gasps, more turned to see. Detecting he was now the center of attention, Grendel asked what they were all doing making so much noise so late at night. The men only stared at him. So he asked more simply and slowly, not knowing if they were intelligent or not, "What are you doing?" The only response this time was an echoed "Get him!" This surprised Grendel because they seemed to say it in unison. He jumped slightly and hit his head on the doorway. He stood up and rubbed his head and knocked over a horse and its cart with his foot.

    Read More

  • Loss Of Innocence In Grendel By John Gardner

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the beginning Grendel is very confused with why he can’t talk or get along with people or animals. He starts off wandering through the forest when he gets caught in a tree. Grendel cries out for his mom but is disappointed to be without her arrival. He later encounters a bull that nearly kills him but instead ends up wounded. Grendel could not communicate with the animal and out of this encounter he perceives life in a nihilistic way. After waking up from his sleep humans wearing armor surround him and believed him to be a tree spirit. Grendal tried to speak to them but again he had failed to do so. Finding out he wasn’t, they became hostile but fled after hearing Grendel's mother.

    Read More

  • Grendel As A Psychopath Essay

    1465 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as an evil monster that destroys Herot-hall and kills people for no reason. In the poem, Grendel had filled the Danes with terror as he ravaged their mead-hall and killed their men again and again. He did so without remorse and even took joy in killing, and even eating them. He had stopped, because a great hero, Beowulf, caught and killed him. However, what readers do not hear is why and how Grendel was treated by the Danes. When he was a young little creature, Grendel had been ignored, humiliated and bullied by Danes in Herot-hall. He wanted to fight back, but instead, he decided to give them a second chance. However, the Danes began singing the “Song of Creation” which totally

    Read More

  • Grendel and the Importance of Human Values

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even if, at first, Grendel seems almost kind, and the reader is pleased with his character, he soon becomes more and more evil, and his actions bring about a feeling of uneasiness, to say the least. Before, the killing of people for no apparent reason disgusted Grendel. However, when he brings Unferth home, he kills the two guards "so I wouldn't be misunderstood" (90). Later, in probably the most disturbing scene of the book, we see how meaningless killing has become to Grendel. He brutally attacks the queen and is determined to kill her.

    Read More

  • Archetypes In Grendel

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Grendel is a creature of nightmare archetype, a desecrate form of human, thus the humans do not understand his ways nor his reasoning to kill. Grendel goes to the mead hall every year killing sleeping soldiers in gruesome ways, because of the hate he possesses toward Hrothgar and his people. The Danes, who are already afraid of death, fear Grendel because he himself is bringing the deaths of many with

    Read More

  • Examples Of Evil In Grendel

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    The way one is seen by others, might not be the way one see one self. Grendel is described as a monster who is only trying to fit in and get along with the people from Hrothgar’s hall. He lives at the bottom of a nearby mere, where he grows to be an “evil” monster. Without having anyone to talk to or anyone to answer his questions, he grows up turned away from all humans where he grows up feeling lonely, “And I, Grendel was in the dark side, he said in effect” (51). Grendel’s life turns out to be the outcast of what he wished it had, that when he turns out to the humans they are scared of him. When Grendel attempts to conduct himself to the humans they show their ignorance and simple-mindedness by getting startled. Grendel’s appearance to the humans is evidence of what makes him evil only because they do not know what he is. They assume he is evil and dark because of his appearance and actions. Grendel, who is left out from the people of Heorot, chooses to take revenge and show the people what evil and dark is. If one is treated wrong one might react “evil” and one will see it as a defense but to others it will be perceived as wrong and mean. One will always s...

    Read More

  • Beowulf: Grendel is Pure Evil

    485 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Humanization of Grendel

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Grendel exhibits human feelings and characteristics in many ways. Although Grendel is a monster “forced into isolation by his bestial appearance and limited imagination” (Butts) he yearns to be a part of society; he craves companionship while he is isolated. With his “ear pressed tight against the timbers [of Hart]” (43), he watches and listens to the humans and what goes on in Hart, the meadhall of King Hrothgar, to feel like he is a part of civilization. He also has feelings in relation to specific humans. Just like the citizens of Denmark, he is extremely affected by the Shaper and his songs that are “aswim in ringing phrases, magnificent, golden, all of them, incredibly, lies” (43). Grendel is profoundly “moved by the power of the Shaper’s poetry” (Butts). Queen Wealtheow shows Grendel the feminine, sweet, and kind side of life. “She had secret wells of joy that overflowed to them all” and her peaceful effect on those around her is a main cause of Grendel’s almost obsessive fascination with her and in turn, drives Grendel to feelings of rage. Grendel’s humanlike feelings show that his personality is similar to that of a human, helping those who read his story to relate to him.

    Read More

  • Reason For Alienation In Grendel

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    The people’s inability to understand and see grendel beyond just the creature, created more trouble than peace. Another firm reason for their disapproval of grendel was the fact that grendel did not appear to like humans to begin with. Aside from his original thoughts that people were “dangerous creatures” grendel was not inviting to the groups of people he wanted to be accepted by. He saw their overall ability to “create their own destiny” as a threat and a quality that he himself could not obtain, almost forming a sense of jealousy. This feeling alone was another reason that mankind did not accept grendel with open arms. His fighting with the danes was another reason for their hesitance for any kind of remorse to someone like grendel. Their societal standard’s forced grendel to be vagrant and misguided as he tried to find his only purpose in life, thus showing grendel that there was no hope for a similarity between the people and

    Read More

  • Values In Beowulf

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the beginning of the poem, Grendel is an outsider that is basically exiled. Grendel lives on the outskirts, but is still close enough to hear the partying, happiness, and joyfulness of Hrothgar and the people, which makes him angry. It seems like Grendel is

    Read More

  • Epic Of Beowulf's Argument That Grendel Is Not Evil

    383 Words  | 1 Pages

    Another basis for the argument that Grendel is not evil is the fact that he does not mean to intentionally harm people for no reason. On pages 78 and 79, he says, “Then, little by little, I understood. I felt laughter welling up inside me - at the dragon-charm, at Hrothgar’s whispering and trembling by the meadhall door, at everything - the oblivious trees and sky, the witless moon. I’d meant them no harm, but they’d attacked me again as always.” At this time, Grendel had just met the dragon and he was now coming to terms with what he had said. Grendel simply defends himself, he does not attack until he is attacked first, which is why one can draw the conclusion that he is not evil. This strategy of only attacking when attacked goes hand-in-hand with the philosophy of ethical egoism, which can be defined as the theory that one ought to do what is in

    Read More

More about Personal Narrative: My Hero's Journey

Open Document