Should The Shaper's Point Of View In Beowulf

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The novel Grendel by John Garner portrays Grendel’s unheard-of perspective in the story of Beowulf. As a young child, Grendel finds himself wandering out of his cave to incidentally become confronted by a bull. The bull charges at Grendel while he is stuck in a tree and rips at his leg. Grendel then realizes that the world around him is not what he perceived. In fact it’s quite opposite; the world is a cruel and violent place. Grendel’s reason to go against mankind is coming from his existentialistic point of view. “I was Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings! But also, as never before, I was alone.” (Garner 80). As an adolescent, Grendel encounter’s a bull who attacks him instinctually at his leg. The bull thrashing his horns into …show more content…

Grendel understands that his words are nothing but lies; a false allusion of humanity. However, despite the Shaper’s words Grendel is amused by the message in the music. An article written about Grendel’s emotions towards the Shaper says, “Grendel is again swept up by the words of the Shaper. He's conflicted by the Shaper's version of the humans' story—so conflicted that he starts arguing with himself, out loud. He's watched mankind, and he knows that they aren't so fantastic.” (Shmoop Editorial Team) Grendel has watched the Thanes indulge themselves with the darkness in the world. He understands they are not what the Shaper portrays them to be. While Grendel walks through the wilderness he trips over a dead corpse. This helps Grendel prove his belief on the humans that they are brutal and inhumane because they left their fellow own out to rot. Then, the Shaper sings the biblical story of Cane and Able. He finds out that Cane kills his own brother Able over jealousy. Consequently God punished Cane by leaving him alone to wander the Earth with others not being able to hurt him. This allows Grendel to examine the humans and himself. He wants to believe he isn’t the evil one; God didn’t curse him as he did Cane. He wanted to prove himself …show more content…

He was certain that the humans were the ones to be cursed. He tries to prove he is good by visiting the Thanes at the Meadhall, but it just results in him defending himself from them. They attack Grendel with weapons, because they don’t have a personal connection with him. They are frighten of Grendel, which results in them having to go to battle with each other. In an article, “Back at the cave, Grendel makes up his mind: there is no good God, there are no brothers, and there is no cursed race.” (Shmoop Editorial Team) Grendel continues to live his life believing he is the only one to exist in the

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