John Champlin Gardner was born in Batavia, New York, on July 21, 1933. Gardner was not only a fine novelist, but also a critic, historian, and respected medieval and classical scholar. Gardner retells the story of the poem, Beowulf, in the novel, Grendel. Gardner was drawn to writing fiction novels the most. The kind of themes Gardner used in his novels are all clued to human nature. Gardner's criticism was hailed, and his novels were called "disturbing" by the readers.
In the poem, Beowulf, Gardner sees Beowulf as the hero does everything he can to do be a perfect hero, and in the end he is killed, for the reasons he doesn't understand, thinking he has saved his people from when in fact the treasure he's captured is worthless and his people are now certain to die, since the Swedes will no longer be held off by Beowulf's strength and wisdom. Gardner saw this as an irony at the end of the poem, Beowulf. In another words, one of the main things Beowulf is about is how, in this world, you cannot win. The best you can do is hope for fame. Gardner uses the characters to retell the story of Grendel and Beowulf in his novel, Grendel. The dragon presents the long-range point of view: everything will eventually die. In Beowulf, Grendel represents irrationality. Gardner uses the characters differently from the original story in Beowulf. Gardner views the character Grendel in a different ways. He portrays Grendel as a kind and a gentler monster and the world changed him.
Gardner's vision and purpose of writing the novels are all clued to the human nature and he had an ambition to write fiction novels. In addition to the novels he wrote, Gardner wrote a number of novels on the purpose of and craft of fiction. The remarkable thing about Gardner's fiction is its consistent clarity of purpose and moral vision. From the beginning of his career as a writer he has looked for ways to reshape the fiction of exhaustion and despair that is now fashionable.
