Why Is Grendel Considered Evil

Grendel is first introduced to readers in the story of Beowulf which was created in 1000 A.D. It isn't until the 1970’s that Grendel is brought up again by author John Gardner. Gardner’s version of Grendel in a very different style compared to the epic poem Beowulf . Unlike the poem of Beowulf, in which Grendel is displayed as an evil monster, Gardner has a different intention when writing his story. Gardner’s true intention is to display Grendel as a human. Also, by conveying Grendel as a human, it proves his overall message; mankind is the one who is truly evil.

One technique that Gardner uses to display Grendel as a man is by writing from Grendel’s perspective. According to John Gardner's Grendel and the Interpretation of Modern Fables,

by Robert Merrill, “Gardner chose to retell the story of Beowulf because he wanted to champion Grendel's "modern" point of view” (Merrill 4). Throughout the story, the word “I” is used, which indicates that Grendel is talking about himself. For example, Grendel describes his encounter with a ram in which he says, “I stamp. I hammer the ground with my fist. I hurl a skull-size stone at him” (Gardner 5). Doing this gives Grendel a voice, which a monster would normally not have since creatures are thought less of by humans. As stated by Marie Nelson in her article, John Gardner's Grendel: A Story Retold and Transformed in the Process, “Grendel, having received the gift of language, which can perhaps in itself be considered evidence of Gardner's "humanizing" intention, uses his gift in ways that reflect not just the alliteration of Beowulf, but Gardner's concern with the effective use of rhythmic patterns as well” (Nelson 7). Similarly, Linda Tarte Holley, added to her piece, John Gardner’s Notes From Underground, that Gardner, “Like Grendel, knows the power of language gives shape to such ideas” like, human are the true monsters (Holley 6). Also, by writing the story from Grendel’s point of view, it shows the reader that Grendel has a side to him that is more childlike than adult. Merrill even says that, “There is a childlike pleasure in Grendel's spinning” and that by being separated from his mother caused him to whine and cry like a child. When Grendel is stuck in the tree, he shrieked, “Mama! Waa! Waaa!” (Gardner 18). Physically, he’s a man, yet he has the mentality of a child. Because of his childlike mentality, he does not realize that his actions of eating people are wrong which can possible demonstrate that he is not evil.
To be considered evil, a person or thing, must know and realize that whatever they are doing is wrong and can cause harm to someone or something else.

In Grendel’s case, he does not know that his actions of eating people are wrong due to his childlike mentality. So can he really be considered evil? If Grendel is really a “monster” does it really matter whether he is evil or not, considering the fact that monsters are usually always considered evil since they are not like humans? For example, when he is approached by the men on the horses while he is stuck in the tree, they think he is an evil spirit because of what he looks and sounds like. They ask, “Could it be some type of oak tree spirit. Better not to mess with it… That’s it! King’s right! It’s a spirit!” (Gardner 25). As a result of this, the readers are forced to assume that Grendel is evil just because he looks and acts like he

evil.
Another technique that Gardner uses to convey Grendel as a human is by adding human characteristics to Grendel. One characteristic Gardner uses is making him the protagonist. By doing this, it allows the readers to get to know Grendel. Also, it helps the reader realize what he is going through since the story is told from his point of view. According to John Gardner’s Notes From Underground, by Linda Tarte Holley, “He becomes increasingly human because he fears, respects, reveres the power of language to give shape to past, present, and future” (Holley 8). Marie Nelson also agrees with this and wrote in her article, “I can readily acknowledge that Grendel's life story, as Gardner enables him to tell it, embodies varied aspects of human experience” (Nelson 3). Also, in Grendel’s story, the reader feels sympathy for Grendel due to the fact that he is lonely and his space is being invaded by men or humans. The reader is able to see that Grendel feels jealous and resentful towards mankind and God himself, since he does not receive the love, affection, and attention like humans do based upon the fact that he is a monster and God created him as the descendant of Cain. If this is the case, could it be argued that Grendel, in a way, is a man and is similar to Jesus?
Just like the readers, Grendel “learned from the Shaper's songs that he is a descendant of Cain” as stated by Nelson in her article (Nelson 11).

With this being said, all men, like Grendel, are created by God as a descendant of someone else who has passed, whether they were good or evil. Could Grendel be the doppelganger of Jesus? Jesus, like Grendel, had no father figure in his life Jesus also sacrifices his life for the better of mankind and to ask for forgiveness for the sins that they committed. Similarly, Grendel sacrifices his life to show that men are truly the evil ones. As stated by Holley, “Grendel is heroic, rises above the human, sings for us” that humans are truly the evil ones. Unfortunately, just like Jesus, Grendel’s message is still not realized by

men.
Gardner depicts Grendel as a hero to demonstrate how man is truly human. During the 1970’s the Vietnam War was occurring, During this war, men from the United States were traveling across the ocean to fight the communist that were located in North Korea. Similarly, Beowulf traveled across an ocean to defeat and kill Grendel. According to the Beowulf story, “...The ocean swayed, Winter went wild in the waves, but you vied For seven nights; and then he outswam you, Came ashore the stronger contender…” (515-518). During the Vietnam war, in between 219,000 and 313,000 men lost their lives to other men. These men brutally killed each other due to their differences, just like all the men that Grendel ate and as stated by Holley, Beowulf is as much beast as Grendel is human” since he killed any monster that he came across. Yet, Beowulf and those soldiers who fought and won Vietnam are crowned heroes while Grendel and the people of North Korea are referred to as the enemy. How could that be? How is it that Beowulf and the American soldiers who killed other “men” just like the Koreans and Grendel, be “heroes”? According to society, anyone who kills another person in the act of protecting themselves and the ones closest to them is a hero. Therefore, wouldn’t everyone be considered a hero since Beowulf defeated Grendel, the Americans won the war, the Koreans fought a strong battle and risked their lives for the ones they love and their country and Grendel sacrificed his life to show that men are the evils ones. This is another reason why Gardner wrote the story of Grendel; to show that depending on how you view the story and the situations surrounding it, it can change your perception on the true message and thoughts on Grendel and Beowulf as characters or even men. Like Nelson wrote in her piece and Gardner demonstrated in his story, “The true hero, as we suspected all along, is Grendel himself”, although in the story of Beowulf, Beowulf is the true hero.
Gardner wrote the story of Grendel to help readers understand the true message of the story. He did not write it to cause arguments or to bash Beowulf. He did not write it for fun or to add his own imagination to it. He wrote to show a bigger picture. A bigger message. He wrote it to show readers that, “ he is primarily interested in the creature's human side” (Nelson 5).