Examples Of Falsehood In Grendel

Grendel’s Internal Battle Throughout John Gardner’s novel, Grendel, Grendel’s thoughts are constantly at war with each other. He does not know what or whom to believe, and how to distinguish lies from what he knows to be true. The Shaper’s songs, the brutal reality of the corpse, and the dragon’s cynical way of thinking all change Grendel’s view of life and thoughts, and are examples of how the art of falsehood in seen throughout the novel. The art of falsehood is a constant, reoccurring theme in this novel. In chapter three of Gardner’s novel, readers are introduced to the Shaper; whose songs about life and history cause Grendel to question everything he had ever believed to be true. In this chapter the Shaper tells of the Danish history, including songs about Scyld Shefing the founder of the Danish line. The Shaper sung of greatness and heroism and even to those who witnessed the

It was a man. They’d cut his throat. His clothes had been stolen.” Grendel knows that some of the Danes had brutally killed one of their own, and wants to use the corpse as proof that he is not the only evil being in Hrothgar’s kingdom. Grendel goes to the Mead Hall to prove his point but stops to listen to the Shaper’s newest tale, “He told of an ancient feud between two brothers which split all the world between darkness and light. And I, Grendel was the dark side, he said in effect. The terrible race God cursed.” Even though the corpse shows that the Shaper’s line of darkness and light is not as black and white as he says it to be, Grendel believes in the words and enters Hart asking for “Mercy!” and “Peace!” The corpse symbolizes the theme art of falsehood because it contradicts the Shaper’s words. The Shaper says that there is a distinct difference between men and Grendel, but the man killed by a fellow Danes says