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What is the significance of the battle with grendel in beowulf
Grendel and beowulf comparison
Grendel and beowulf comparison
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The idea of a hero is explored differently in the ancient Anglo-Saxon text Beowulf and John Gardner’s Grendel. During the time period of both of the stories being a hero is very important to everyone. Beowulf is not a true hero, even if he tries to make himself out to seem like a true hero, based on modern ideas of the Hero. In the poem Beowulf being a hero is very important to the main character Beowulf.
“He awoke in the basement of Gacy’s home his body naked and pressed into a pillory like rack which held his arms and head. John Wayne Gacy a powerful, heavyset man was also naked, his fat, hairy belly sticking out obscenely. Gacy showed his victims various whips and instruments of torture along with number of strange looking sexual devices explaining lasciviously how he intended to use these implements on him. The assaults and torture went on for hours” (Nash 1247). A candidate that measures up to this disturbance would be the monster from Beowulf, Grendel.
Monsters are always a big part of stories. Usually they are an Antagonist of a story blocking the hero from completing his/her quest showing qualities of being powerful, immoral, and determined. Beowulf and the Hobbit have good examples of monsters in their stories. Beowulf is about a man who is the strongest there is, the nicest, and the most intelligent defeating great threats to kingdoms. There are three main antagonists in beowulf, Grendel, the troll wife, and the dragon.
Argument Essay: Beowulf and Grendel Many people have read or heard of the epic poem of Beowulf, which spins a tale of Grendel, the monster, attacking the admirable Danes and their king, Hrothgar. Some may not be as aware of a book titled Grendel written by John Gardner in 1971. Gardner’s book tells a completely different account of the more familiar tale of Beowulf, from the perspective of Grendel, the monster. The narrator from Grendel portrays a more plausible, powerful story than the excerpt from Beowulf by drawing the reader in with a more emotional viewpoint from the character Grendel, making him more relatable by giving him humanlike qualities, and clarifying why certain events took place in Beowulf.
At the beginning, we are introduced to Grendel ─ the evil monster ─ described as a powerful monster growing in pain as there is music in the Mead Hall. Hence, one wonders whether Grendel should be pitied, as some Danish fellows were playing loud music bothering him. Grendel is also referred to as demon from hell. Besides there is also an allusion to Cain ─ the oldest son of Adam and Eve who murdered his brother Abraham. That is why he is described as a violent creature.
How does exile as a theme apply to Beowulf and Grendel? Exile applies to Grendel because he is related to Cain from the bible, and in the story of Cain and Abel, Cain kills Abel through jealousy. God punishes Cain by exile, he would have to wonder the land for the rest of his life and we can see how Grendel is alike. Grendel would not pay the price for death since he killed for fun so he was exiled, from humans and from God.
First, From the epic poem, the value of Anglo-Saxon is display fame. Beowulf has biggest influence in the Great Britain. One hand, when Beowulf beat the Grendel, and many people believe he has super ability. However, Grendel’ mother also was a big trouble in this society. Then Beowulf fighting with Grendel’s mother and won.
The common characteristics of what makes a monster have remained constant throughout society: evil, isolated, violent. Monsters have no regards for social normatives, and cause chaos and destruction wherever they go. Grendel is no exception. In Beowulf, Grendel manifests every characteristic of a stereotypical monster. He is considered inherently evil, and is an outcast; he roams alone and commits devilish atrocities whenever he pleases.
In the epic poem, Beowulf, there are clear distinctions between an epic hero and a monster. Beowulf is the prime example of a epic hero possessing characteristics such as superior strength, courage, and loyalty. On the other hand, Grendel and Grendel’s mother are characteristized as evil and immoral based off of their actions. These characteristics are presented throughout the poem, and monsters are given grotesque, hideous appearances to further prove that they are evil. After Beowulf kills Grendel, Grendel’s mother reaction revealed how the full presentation of a character can allow readers to react differently than before and even sympathized with them.
The poem and movie of “Beowulf” are very different and they are also sort of similar. There are a lot more differences between the two than you would expect and while some of them are minor differences others are drastically different. Most movies are very different from the book they are made from. The biggest differences between the movie and poem were the three battles. The three battles have drastic differences.
Beowulf and King Arthur are both portrayed as heroes and someone to look up to. Some similarities are both of them are very brave. They are also both very compelling leaders in their own respective ways. Even with their similarities they have differences in their heroic qualities such as Beowulf not really being a human in the sense that he can do superhuman things and King Arthur being a normal human being. It's also interesting to note that King Arthur was more of a hero for his character whereas Beowulf was more of a hero in the sense that he slays monsters and dragons.
Grendel and Beowolf both seem to impact a reader’s outlook upon societal systems, and how treat things in our society but do they actually have much of an impact at all upon the outlook of the reader? Not only does Beowolf question a system that most, if not all, people of that time lived by. Beowolf also questions what we’ve been taught, and what we have been shown to believe in since birth; that, there is a system all of society falls into, no matter who you are, from the rich, to the poor, from the intellectuals to the brutes, everyone has their place, this novel shows the truth to it all. All throughout the beginning of Beowolf there is an algorithm of sorts, anyone living under Hrothgar’s rule has a chance that this great beast may come at any moment to eat them, their family, their friends, basically anyone around them, and just put an end to life as they know it. This type of situation leads to a life of fear among Hrothgar’s people, even when they hide away, or run from the beast, no one could ever be certain of whether or not they would awaken from their slumber any night, which is where Beowolf soon enough, stepped in, thanks to Hrothgar.
Stories contain many characters with some that stand out more than the others. A person is considered the protagonist depending on who is telling the story and what story is being told. The protagonist is the main character in a literary work. Whether good or evil, the audience sympathize with the protagonist and understands the motif of the character. Beowulf is a protagonist whose encounters with evil proves him to be a strong heroic warrior.
Grendel in the novel displays the idea that he is far more superior than mankind. He mentions, "I am swollen with excitement, bloodlust and joy and a strange fear that mingle in my chest like the twisting rage of a bonfire" (Gardner 167-168). Grendel knows that that the people fear him because he is different and he uses that to his advantage. The "Monster", Grendel, seems to be fascinated in attacking Meadhall and is not frightened at all. Although he is brave in the novel, Grendel in the epic poem is described in being scared and weak on the attack at Meadhall.
Even though the Harry Potter series and Beowulf were written hundreds of years apart, they both are exceedingly comparable to each other with minimal differences. When a person first reads the novel and poem separately, they are not going to see the connections at first. Archetypes, or motifs, are things that appear in many works of literature that are not connected in any way. There are several archetypes that connect Beowulf and Harry Potter.
