Examples Of Evil In Grendel

To be Evil or Not to Be Evil Throughout the story of Grendel, the deemed ‘monster’ ,Grendel, is shown as the villain most frequently due to his violent acts towards humanity. However, it seems Grendel’s savage ways are not due to his own cold heart but infact the cold hearts of the humans around him. His monster acts are only mimicking what he witnesses mankind do to each other. Grendel shows remorse, resentment, and loneliness which are all qualities shared not only by monster but also by man proving he’s no more evil than man itself. Grendel’s remorse is shown most often after one of his attacks and then hearing one of the Shaper’s songs. Grendel wishes for the fulfillment that the Shaper’s songs speak of but don’t offer to him. It is a

He resents the fact that they have other people of their kind who understand their language and beautiful music. Gardner shows Grendel resenting that the humans don’t understand his version of the same language and his efforts to be friendly are taken as aggression due to his monster like appearance. While it’s thought that Grendel is cruel simply because he’s a monster, the unfair treatment towards him is what truly causes his outbreaks and anger. In chapter two Grendel has his first encounter with humans while trapped in a tree. At first the humans believe Grendel is a hungry spirit and they send someone off to fetch him a pig. But once Grendel laughs at their confusion the men suddenly have a change of heart and believe he’s an angry spirit killing the tree and they begin throwing axes and darts in attempt to kill him. Simply because the men don’t understand Grendel they assume the worst. His resentment towards how he was treated then sparks the inner motivation for his future attacks. During the attack Grendel yells, “”You’re all crazy,”...”you’re all insane!” (Gardner 27). He doesn’t understand why he’s being treated so cruel by the humans when he’s just met

Grendel and his mother are the only two who exist of his kind and she is the only one he can confide in. However, Grendel’s mother cannot speak like Grendel can which leaves him even lonelier with no one to talk to. In attempts to communicate with humans Grendel ends up scaring them which causes their lashing out towards him. The fact that humans don’t understand him causes more of his rage to be thrown at them. His beastly actions are only in spite of their misunderstandings. In chapter three Grendel says “And to clear my mind, I sucked in the wind and screamed. The sound went out, violent, to the rims of the world, and after a moment it bounced back up at me—harsh and ungodly against the sigh of the remembered harp—like a thousand tortured rat squeals crying: Lost!” (Gardner 45). Standing at the top of the cliff wall Grendel is faced with his loneliness when the only sounds he hears are of his own screams. On pages 109 and 110 Grendel storms the village taking Wealtheow from her bed and deciding to kill her for a moment. This random want to take Wealtheow and kill her seems out of spite of Hrothgar who doesn't deserve her company. Grendel has been fascinated for a long time by her grace and beauty and longs for his own companion. He acts the same way many humans do when they want something they cannot have which shows he is not