What Does Beowulf Mean When They Say I Have No Faith In Humanity

Edgar Allan Poe once said “I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.” His statement is completely true about how humans have presented themselves within the past 1000 year. In the two tales of Beowulf and Grendel, humanity is seen as ugly, self indulging , over glorified, pompous, and flawed through their actions. The author of Beowulf flaunts humanity’s flaws through man’s actions, achievements, and possessions for superiority, whereas John Gardner focuses on the flaws of humanity with Grendel as an observer of imperfection, but in the end Grendel goes into further depth of describing humanity, proving that the monsters are the closest beings to humanity.

In Beowulf, it is clear in seeing how man flaunts its pride. The humans in the storyline of Grendel and Beowulf tend to show off their accomplishments, victories, and their superiority. After Beowulf conquered Grendel, “People came around from far and wide to praise Beowulf’s deed. Hrothgar promise to treat Beowulf, thereafter, as his own son, then commands that Herot be cleaned and decorated with

golden tapestries in preparation for a feast. Beowulf’s victory is rewarded by gifts of armor, weapons, and armor.” (Raffel, Cantos 14-18) The citizens of Herot are overly proud of the murder of man’s closest relative. Man was too concerned and fearful in that fact that they saw something different that opposed norms and they attacked it. Sure, Grendel did attack them first, but through a reputation of being “Spawned in slime, conceived by a pair of born of Cain” (Raffel, 1014-106), none of the citizens wanted to attempt to acquaintance themselves with the so called monster. Instead of thinking, the people allowed man to come and fix their problem, in return for future glory and for reward.
While greed is embodied in the form of the dragon, it is also a key human characteristic. As humans are far from perfection, they tend to prove that in their actions. Humans do not always think and react on instincts like an animal. There is one commonality animal and human natural share, alphas. In in every form of society, community, gathering, grouping, etc. there is an alpha, or a Superior. It is a constant competition for humans to contend for the title of a leader. Two constant flaws of humanity is the repeated control for power with desire for pride and glory . In Beowulf, the queen wants the people to “ “( , ) Praising him for conquering monsters. The achievement of killing Grendel sets Beowulf apart from the rest of the people of Herot. Eventually after dying, Beowulf passes his crown to his aid, but ensures that he die with glory saying “ “ ( , ) If he has to guarantee his legacy, he really is full of pride. This again proves how humans boast and flaunt their success over others to assert themselves from the average. Though being a boastful megalomaniac is not the only form of visual representation of human perfection.
John Gardner made Grendel the observer of human flaws. In Grendel, Grendel mainly interacts with humans by terrorizing, eating, or by observing them, “This nobility of his, this dignity: are they not my work? What was he before? nothing! A swollen-headed raider, full of boasts and stupid jokes and mead.” (Gardner, 122-123) Grendel discusses that fact that without him, Hrothgar would not be as powerful and makes a bold statement in saying he is swollen headed over that fact. With Grendel angry, he is now showing his more humanistic, the emotion of anger. While he may or may not be human, does portray show human qualities and emotions.
While can think and talk, it is difficult to defend the fact that his origin is from human descent.

Grendel sometimes does seem to be more compassionate than some of stubborn humans in Grendel. Grendel has a variety of, almost human-like, approaches to life, especially when he says “I picked him up gently and carried him home. I laid him at the door through Hrothgar's meadhall, still asleep, killed the two guards so I wouldn't be misunderstood and left." (Gardner, 90) While he did kill those guards, he did do that because he prefers the reputation that he has and that can be interpreted as simply being egotistical. Though he does have compassion for Unferth. Grendel is shown as more human in his perspective, instead of the cold hearted monster in

Beowulf.
The author of Beowulf flaunts humanity’s flaws through man’s actions, achievements, and possessions for superiority, whereas John Gardner focuses on the flaws of humanity with Grendel as an observer of imperfection, but in the end Grendel goes into further depth of describing humanity’s characteristics, proving that the monsters are the closest beings to humanity. Beowulf focused on the reputation aspect of humanity and Grendel sheds light on the characteristics of humanity.While being human or a monster, does not really matter, they are the same being.. According to Stephen King “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”