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Grendel By John Gardner: Character Analysis

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“Grendel” by John Gardner details the life of Grendel, a monster, who observes and interacts with the human world. Grendel’s villainy is characterized by his desperation to find purpose and meaning in a cruel world that isolates him. Villains are not born, they’re created. Grendel begins as a curious young mind that is entranced by the world of humans. However, in his attempt to communicate with the humans, they attack him in fear. Despite this, Grendel cannot contain his desire for a community and the beautiful world painted by the humans. His internal struggle with rejection and yearning is deeply tormenting. It comes to a climax as Grendel goes to the humans and begs them for relief. Nonetheless, it is futile as the humans once again attack …show more content…

However, he is capable of holding back on his violence as displayed by his interactions with Unferth. Unferth is a budding hero that Grendel spares each time on his raids. It is Grendel’s way of developing a connection, something that he still longs for, even if it is unconventional. He also takes out part of his rage on Unferth by destroying his heroic ideals through sparing Unferth. Grendel’s conversation with the dragon solidified the boundary between hopes and reality, something Grendel is now doing to Unferth. Another instance where Grendel stops himself is his observation of Wealtheow. Her queenly nature and beautiful personality gives him hope of salvation as she can even forgive traitors like Unferth. This spark of hope remains in Grendel and causes polarizing thoughts in himself. Grendel ends this internal conflict by violently attacking the humans and destroying Wealthoew’s image. His heinous actions are a subconscious manifestation of his attempt to extinguish the flame of hope and prevent himself from falling for these desires. The examples of restraint illustrate Grendel’s self-control and ability to give up antagonizing the humans. Still, Grendel is motivated to continue his terror as a way to have meaning in this world even though he, in turn, plays into the mechanical role of his villainy and actually loses meaning in his actions. His villainous nature is a greater reflection of his

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Grendel the “Monster” Do not underestimate the power of a human being. Monsters are everywhere near and far. The sources that will be discussed are Beowulf (2007) film, Printed Cantos and textbook, and the Grendel Excerpt by John Gardner. The portrayal of Grendel in the movie differs greatly from the cantos and excerpt because in the readings he comes off as such a greedy monster, but in the movie he is lonely and in need of help.

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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.

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Up until the end of Chapter 7, Grendel’s actions are influenced by the dragon.   He believes nothing matters, there is no good or bad, and everybody eventually dies. The people of Heort know Grendel as a monster and a killer and he lives up to his reputation.

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Despite Grendel’s violent attacks, he desires only for others to communicate with. In a fit of rage against the unfairness that the humans can have and take part in a functioning society while Grendel cannot, he expresses ““Why can’t I have

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Grendel is frustrated and confused that he is trapped as a human in a monster’s body, but this confusion make him want to evolve. Grendel’s anger even leads him to sort of insanity as Gardner comments “Grendel is crazy” (Gardner 92), charging that humans may too go insane. cummings describes human anger resulting because they had lost their “ultraomnipotence” (cummings 13) in “Progress” (cummings 2). The theme of anger perpetrates the motif of cycles as Grendel curses “the twelfth year of my idiotic war” (Gardner 92).

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He asks the cosmos for someone to talk to, but of course receives no answer. Despite his aspirations to philosophical introspection, Grendel is essentially a lonely child looking for a friend. He envies both the Shaper and Hrothgar their companionship, even though he is constantly complaining about their self-deception and futility. Grendel sees the companionship of another as something higher (at least at the moment) than some abstract set of principles by which to live his life. So much for heroism.

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Moreover, Grendel’s last words indicate that something will happen to mankind as it did to himself. For instance, Grendel expresses, “there is no limit to desire but desire’s needs.” (Gardner 93). Such illustrates that Grendel can desire as much as he wants

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Grendel often watches humanity as it advances and notes patterns that he see as humanity goes in number and power, one being wars and

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Many times throughout western literature, monsters are portrayed as a threat to the existence of humanity. In Grendel by John Gardner and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, this idea is skewed by the actions of their respective monsters. Both of these novels captivate the reader by having a monster narrate the story, which is uncommon in many works of literature. Although in Frankenstein the reader only witnesses the monster as a narrator once, it has a profound impact on the overall storyline of the book. In Grendel, the book is entirely narrated by Grendel, so the reader adapts to the idea of the main character being a monster.

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Pointless, ridiculous monster crouched in the shadows, stinking of dead men, murdered children, martyred cows” (Gardner 54). Grendel recognizes that it is the isolation that has turned him into what he is. He has seen how the humans have rejected him and tried to kill him, the first person viewpoint allows us to share this experience with

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Using a monster to help us examine what it means to be human is how the novel helps readers to make that distinction between humans, and monsters. Indeed, aside from Grendel’s horrible appearance and nasty eating habits, very little actually separated him aside from the humans such as Hrothgar or Wealtheow. Even his extreme brutality was not unique. The author, John Gardner, stresses man’s inherent violence many times throughout the novel. Additionally, Grendel’s ethical journey was a very human one, its urgency intensified by his status as an outsider.

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His violent nature grew so much that he became crazy with the need to kill the humans. Therefore, Grendel’s actions reflect that his existence has drifted away from its partially civilized nature and into the barbaric. Grendel had no choice in becoming more beast than human because external forces constantly push him towards that fate. Whether it was the dragon, the actions of the humans, or Grendel’s own unconscious tendencies, he never really had the opportunity to make a choice, human or beast. What Grendel said and thought always clashed with the situations he encountered until there was simply no possibility of becoming the good in the way

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Therefore, ultimately resulting in the use of violence and brutality to restore order and peace once again. Grendel whole existence is shrouded in darkness and mystery, which foster widespread fear among the mass due to their inability to control or comprehend

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He attempts to make peace, his actions are no different than those of others, and he is experiencing resentment. Although there is no excuse for murdering others, Grendel does not kill for the fun of it. His actions are just reactions to emotions he is experiencing. Furthermore, his willingness to make peace emphasizes the remorse he feels for the crimes he has committed. This also shows that he acted impulsively because of his strong feelings of resentment.

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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.

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