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Beowulf from grendel's perspective
Beowulf from the perspective of grendel
Beowulf from the perspective of grendel
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The Monstrous Grendel of Beowulf
It is true that Grendel is monstrous. He is not only a deadly enemy to Hrothgar and Herot, but to the Geats in general. Grendel seems to take his only pleasure from assaulting Herot and destroying the warriors inside. He is a bane to all those that live under Hrothgar's rule. They hate him. He is called the “enemy of mankind” (29) and rightly so. However, because of Grendel’s actions, they cannot see the other part of Grendel that makes him do the evil he does. Grendel, like the Angels before and the Geats soon after, is symbolic of displaced races/peoples and not simply a mindless monster. When Adam and Eve had children, they had two boys. Their names were Cain and Able. When Cain killed Able, God “banished him far from mankind” (29). From Cain came trolls, elves, monsters, and giants. Grendel is a descendant of Cain, so he shares Cain’s banishment. Cain may have been the first displaced person after Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden. Grendel shares his ancestor’s sentence. He is displaced not only from whatever land or wealth he would have if he were “human” but he is also displaced form God. It is this displacement that causes Grendel to destroy. Since he cannot “approach the throne” (28) like other people, he chooses to try to destroy the throne, because he has “no love for him (God)” (28). This is the main reason Grendel is symbolic of displaced peoples. After all, he is a direct descendent of the very first displaced people, Adam and Eve. However, unlike Adam and Eve, Grendel is doomed to an eternity of banishment from God’s light because of Cain’s sin against his brother. That is why Grendel kills, because he cannot be in the light, because he is at war with God. Grendel is not only banished from God’s light, but from the light in general. Throughout the text, references are made to Grendel as “the walker in darkness” (36), and “the dark-death shadow” (29). This kind of imagery further shows how displaced Grendel has become. The text refers to him as a “creature deprived of joy” (36). The text also refers to Grendel’s dwelling as “his joyless home” (37). It is no wonder Grendel was considered so monstrous. Like other displaced peoples, he has nowhere that is a refuge to him, because he has been removed from his home, or in Grendel’s case, the love of the Lord.
For ages, humanity has always told stories of the classic struggle between man and monster. The battle between Beowulf and Grendel is a prime example of this archetype, but is Grendel only purely a monster? In his article “Gardner’s Grendel and Beowulf: Humanizing the Monster”, Jay Ruud makes a point that Grendel is a hybridization of both monster and man, particularly in John Gardner’s novel Grendel. In the poem Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as a purely evil monster who terrorizes Hrothgar and his people, but the novel provides a more humanistic backstory to the fiend. Throughout the novel, Grendel tells of his internal struggle between his thoughts of filling the role of the monster versus attempting to make amends with the humans. This conflict
One night, as Grendel was sleeping soundly in his home in the swamplands, he was suddenly awakened by the sound of music. The music angered Grendel because he had been up late the night before entertaining his monster friends and was in need of his beauty rest. So he headed out the front door and headed to see what the commotion is all about.
No one knows who wrote Beowulf but we do know who wrote Grendel. John Gardner took the epic Beowulf and added more to the brilliant story. Grendel takes on the same story as Beowulf but from the perspective of Grendel, the beast in Beowulf. The story of Grendel is very interesting because from reading Beowulf it is completely uninspected. In Beowulf Grendel is said to be a disgusting monster that’s only job is to kill. In Grendel we really see him as very nice but turns to be evil because he is pushed into that direction.
He does not act like the blood hungry beast he is seen as in Beowulf. In
Grendel watches the humans commit unnecessary acts of violence, and he uses them to justify his war with Hrothgar. He watches human tribes fight with one another, and is appalled by how they waste livestock, burn villages, and slaughter people. He finds himself “sickened, if only by the waste of it.” (Gardner, 36) Grendel doesn’t understand why the humans kill unnecessarily, but he is viewed as a monster when he kills for his own survival. Hrothgar becomes the most powerful king in the land, and Grendel has watched him waste and sin more than anyone else. Grendel sees himself as better than Hrothgar, which justifies attacking him for punishment. A similarly influential event occurs when Grendel steps on a dead man one night while listening to the Shaper sing. The Shaper says a
A building is ablaze and a crowd of people stare helplessly from the streets, listening to screams coming from within. A single person runs in to rescues whomever he or she can find. Whether or not that person emerges with a child in their arms, empty handed, or not at all, does nothing to alter our society’s perception of their heroism. Today’s society would classify such an action as heroic, regardless of outcome, for one reason: intentions. During Anglo-Saxton times the interpretation of such an act, based on the tale Beowulf, would not be so understanding of what was intended, but rather of the outcome. If one perished and failed in an attempt of such a heroic act words like weakness might arise. It is here that the clash of what a hero is occurs between the Anglo-Saxton tale Beowulf and John Gardner’s Grendel. Beowulf in Beowulf is a hero for he defeats evil and restores order to and for the common people. Unferth in Grendel however is unsuccessful in his campaign against evil, but like the man who emerges empty handed he is by no means any less of a hero. For heroism, as demonstrated in the Anglo-Saxton tale Beowulf, is altered in Gardner’s Grendel to convey the idea that intentions define a hero as opposed to actions.
Utah is known to have the best snow on earth, we have beautiful scenery, relaxation and recreation all within minutes of our front door. But what about that dirty air that seems to last for months? Utah has four of the nations 100 largest oil fields, which produces 1.2% of the nation’s output, with 3,600 active wells. Utah ranks 11th in the nation of oil production, and we have five refineries in the Salt Lake area that can produce 175,500 barrels of oil per day (House,2012). The major effect of these practices, is the effect of air pollution along the Wasatch Front and the serious health consequences on children, teens and adults.
The deeds one does leave an impression on the people for a lifetime, a person is remembered by what he did, no matter what the situation is. Thus, in the same way Beowulf is defined as being a hero and Grendel as a monster. For instance, Grendel killed a lot of men in the kingdom of Hrothgar but, on the other hand Beowulf killed Grendel for the sake of his people and his honor. Furthermore, this tells us that a person is defined by the deeds he does for his people. And as we can say Without defeating Grendel, Beowulf would have never been considered a hero. Therefore, Beowulf would have been deemed as a liar for his whole life and he would have never been made the king of Geatland.
Grendel represents everything that an Anglo-Saxon warrior should not be. As he is introduced into the story, he is characterized by having, “…no idea of the
Even though Grendel is depicted as a monster in the story Grendel, his story still makes him an epic hero. An epic hero is described as a character whose heroic actions are central to his/her own culture, race, or nation. Grendel may not be an actual hero like Beowulf, but a monster who endure appropriate trials for themselves. Grendel’s terrifying and violent actions are things that are feared by many people and encouraged by his race. This is what makes Grendel and epic monster.
Grendel is the embodiment of all that is evil and dark. He is a descendant of Cain and like Cain is an outcast of society. He is doomed to roam in the shadows. He is always outside looking inside. He is an outside threat to the order of society and all that is good. His whole existence is grounded solely in the moral perversion to hate good simply because it is good.
Kate Chopin lived from 1851 until 1904. She was born Katherine O'Flaherty and was raised in post- Civil War St. Louis by parents who were on the upper end of society. She married Oscar Chopin, moved to New Orleans, and had six children. After her husband died, Chopin moved back to St. Louis to start her writing career at age 33. She incorporated many taboos about literature into her writing. Some of these taboos were female sexuality, struggles, and triumph over the stereotypes that had been placed on them over the centuries. She was a very popular writer until 1898 when she wrote about even more controversial issues in Awakening. Many people felt that her views were very feminist and her previously loyal fans quickly rejected her writings, causing her to not attempt to write anything more.
Stratospheric ozone absorbs 97-99% of ultraviolet radiation. As this protective layer continues to dissentigrate, human health will suffer. One American dies every hour from skin cancer, a direct result of ozone depletion by anthropogenic chemicals, primarily CFCs, which damage the ozone layer. Alternate chemicals are now being used in the place of CFCs that will not damage statospheric ozone, and there is international recognition of the importance of developing these chemicals. The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty which limits the production of ozone depleting substances. Still, human health is at risk from the deletion of ozone, and the risk factor will continue to rise unless people and industries become more aware of the implications connected with everyday use of chemicals which destroy stratospheric ozone.
The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the reader’s perception of Grendel and his role in Beowulf by narrating the story through Grendel’s point of view. John Gardner transforms the perceived terrible evil fiend who is Grendel into a lonely but intelligent outcast who bears a striking resemblance to his human adversaries. In Grendel, John Gardner portrays Grendel as an intelligent being capable of rational thought as well as displaying outbursts of emotion. He portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression ostracized from civilization. The author of Beowulf portrays Grendel as the typical monster archetype as compared to John Gardner’s representation of Grendel as an outcast archetype.
“Reggae means 'regular'”, by that Jamaicans mean that they are average people who undergo hardships. Music that was once about love and sex began to subside. The music then shifted in meaning and had more powerful lyrics about social and political inequality. To the reggae artists, this was the only way to get their points across and to be heard. It was away to express how they felt about these injustices and how it affected not only them but others in the country.