After hearing the Shaper's words, Grendel weeps, "Mercy! Peace!- (Gardner, p.50) in the hope of salvation from men. The men, in a drunken state, merely misunderstand Grendel's intentions and attack him once again. Instead of killing the men, which would have been an easy task for the giant, Grendel escapes into the night. This action alone defines the men as the "beasts" and Grendel as the victim. .
Another characteristic of the humans in the story is that Grendel is defined as a concept of heroism. Not only does he allow for heroes to exist, he gives them their purpose in life. Grendel is the monster in the darkness that every loyal "thane- would defend against for his king. In the human eyes, anything described as a monstrous beast must be, without a doubt, evil. Without Grendel, this unique situation would not exist. .
Conversely, Grendel has the ability to humiliate and cause men to be named cowards. Grendel does this to none other than, Unferth. Unferth is treated like a hero, because he would defeat the "monster" Grendel, or die trying. When Grendel does not allow him to complete this task, Unferth is shamed by his fellow comrades from Hrothgar. Grendel realizes that by killing the man, he will be defining him as a hero in the eyes of the humans. Considering the way Grendel was treated by Unferth, and others like him, it becomes easy to sympathize with Grendel, and extract this tiny bit of revenge. .
Later on in the story, however, Grendel gives a man the glory of being a hero at the cost of his own life. This man is Beowulf. By defeating Grendel in battle, Beowulf becomes a legend and fulfills his destiny. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time, even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically.
The character Grendel in both works Grendel and Beowulf portray him in different lights. ... In Grendel, Grendel is characterized as a ridiculously hairy creature. ... In Beowulf and Grendel the character Grendel hides in the woods. ... Grendel makes Grendel a self-understanding creature. ... In a sense, Grendel is the story of Beowulf told by Grendel's perception. ...
Many times Grendel seems to be walking a fine line between the two. ... Grendel the truth-teacher, phantasm- tester! ... (110) In this quote Grendel is expressing his need to kill Wealtheow to teach the Danes that reality is not ideal but in actuality he displays his feelings of hatred for her because she represents everything Grendel canhave. ... This could be a compassionate side of Grendel sowing itself because Grendel has feelings for Wealtheow so it would not allow him to kill her. ... Although Grendel is considered a primitive beast the chain of events that lea...
While Grendel was full of themes, one of the main ones I noticed was Grendel's desire for community. Grendel is isolated from civilization because he is a monster. ... Therefore, Grendel is a lot like a teenager himself. ... First of all, Grendel desires acceptance into society. ... However, Grendel is a dynamic character. ...
In Grendel, by John Gardner, the humans had the opportunity to understand the monster Grendel, but wouldn"t give him a chance because he was different. ... Instead of eating Unferth, Grendel toys with him. The first time they met Grendel was throwing apples at him. ... Grendel basically demonstrated human thought process. ... Grendel had no intention of killing Unferth. ...
Grendel Final 1. ... This bothers Grendel, because she has had to give up the life she would have wanted, being forced to marry the king, all because of him. ... This is what Grendel has been wondering all along. 3. ... Grendel would just think that if he wasn't there to murder that then, his sole purpose is to murder. 6. ... The story would like to lead you to the conclusion that man is the true evil, but even the text states that overall Grendel is evil, and was damned for Cain's sin, so even if man is the judge, Grendel is still the one compelled to murder. ...
Grendel Passage THESIS: Through the language that he uses, Grendel realizes that he has meaning. In the passage on pages 79 - 80, Grendel has just begun to launch his raids on man. ... In this example, one can see the meaning that Grendel has been searching for through the language that he uses. ... He realizes his purpose and that it "[he] was Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings" (80). ... A bond now exists between man and Grendel, something Grendel has always wanted, and because of this bond, they each create meaning for the other. ...
The word Grendel itself sounds like a monsters name and makes you picture it in your head what Grendel actually looks like. ... Grendel encounters a ram, the ram doesn't pay attention to Grendel and it upsets him. ... This is the twelfth year of Grendel's war. ... After Grendel meets the dragon, Grendel becomes a beast of pure destruction. ... Grendel shows another conflict however. ...
Grendel "Nothing was changed, everything was changed." ... Grendel went to visit the dragon to seek advice after hearing the Shaper's song. ... Grendel is angry and upset with the dragon because of this. ... Soon after Grendel's view of men changes, he begins his war with men and all that matter's to them. Grendel's awe of the Shaper became hatred and the Shaper's song began to enrage him. ...
