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Analysis Of Grendel, The Captain Of Evil

1144 Words5 Pages

Shadow Stalker, God-cursed Grendel, The Captain of Evil, and Monster are all nicknames of one creature. This one creature was named Grendel who brilliantly said “Balance is everything”. For Grendel to figure out that balance, or in other words the yin and yang, is integral to living says a lot about a “murderer.” Grendel cannot live without a hero and a hero cannot live without a challenge. The humans symbolize the hero withstanding the forces of Grendel, while Grendel symbolizes the villain trying to hurt and dismantle the hero. This constant fighting creates a balance between the two forces of good and evil, until one succumbs to the other. Throughout the novel, John Gardner will put Grendel through certain stages of his life, which would …show more content…

This time however, he is swept away by a person name the Shaper, who Grendel is ultimately scared of, because of the fact that the shaper is very good at changing the view of people very easily. During this same period, Grendel started to become more violent as well, first by attacking the humans. Grendel didn’t like the way Hrothgar lived and made the Mead Hall and in response, Grendel started to attack it at night. He killed anyone and everything that came into his sight, and even ate the humans. Grendel now became a real threat to the humans, which inevitably changed his status from sinister to pure …show more content…

In the end, for Grendel to find out that balance is needed throughout the universe is brilliant. Grendel symbolizes the evil while the humans symbolize good. The balance between these two forces is what Grendel is talking about in his quote. There is always a counterpart to evil and good, in which both will try to gain ground, but one day be vanquished by the other. At the end, Grendel was defeated by the good or humans, and ended the novel. In conclusion, it is very clear what the humans and what Grendel represented in the yin and yang, which really made the novel Grendel stand out. “Balance is everything” according to Grendel and this may hold true with us

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