Grendel, once the epitome of fear and evil, is now modernized by Gardner to nothing more than a naïve and misunderstood creature. Grendel by John Gardner is a classic take of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Grendel maintains animalistic physique, in both Grendel and Beowulf, however in Gardner’s book the creature has more humanistic personality. Gardner dwells into the mind of Grendel giving the true conscience motivations behind Grendel’s actions, developing the monster as a character, and in turn causing the reader to sympathize with Grendel. In Beowulf Grendel is described as more than just an outcast of society he is revered as a monster. The reader can never truly sympathize with Grendel since it is revealed that the stem of Grendel’s …show more content…
Gardner gives us an improved version of Grendel with a full set of emotions and a character the readers can actually empathize with. Right away the reader can see a change in Grendel. Grendel has become a more logical being, and a being that the reader can sympathize with. "Ah, the unfairness of everything, I say and shake my head. It is a matter of fact that I have never killed a deer in all my life, and never will." (Gardner 8). Gardner allows for sympathy by showing the reader that Grendel is not just a menacing monster who kills anything with a heartbeat, but instead he has restrictions and in sense morals since the deer is an innocent creature. Grendel is full of metaphorical journeys where Grendel searches for his meaning in life. Grendel is intelligent beyond compare recalling constantly effortlessly and eloquently describing his multiple murders. The world is not set up between good and evil but everyone has evil and good in them. Grendel is not just rabid beast but observant, seemingly aware of himself and of the abilities of others. Gardner creatively tugs at the readers’ emotions by characterizing Grendel as a young child. Children are confused, lost even and yet they retain a sense of innocence. Gardner creates a realistic work of literature with characters far from two dimensional. While Beowulf, in comparison, looks like it is surrounded by golden aura. The epic’s characters