Hatred In John Gardner's Grendel

Hatred is a strong emotion that can overtake anyone at any given time. This capability leads many on a path of ruin and destruction, which is greatly portrayed through Grendel in John Gardner’s Grendel. Grendel, a destructive feral being, is taught in nihilism, which gives him the ideology of being superior over all living things (except the dragon), and it is because of this superiority complex that he begins a reign of terror over Hrothgar and his kingdom because of his disdain for humanity. His disdain for humanity stems from the humans senseless violence against one another and their lack of restraint against nature One of Grendel’s many reasons for hating humans is that they wreak senseless havoc upon each other. Grendel often watches humanity as it advances and notes patterns that he see as humanity goes in number and power, one being wars and

As human have been advancing in sophistication Grendel has grown to hate the human for what he see them as, barbarians who only know how to destroy, such as the nature around them, which is observed by Grendel as he continues to watch the growth of humanity when he says, “They hacked down trees...and blistered the land….They..., killed birds for sport, set accidental fires that would burn for days.... There was nothing to stop the advance of man” (40). This quote expresses the human condition for destruction for no cause, which is a cause for Grendel to grow in disdain of the them, so much so that he begins to act against the humans, slaughtering some in their mead halls and others on separate occurrence; however, while his actions seemed to damp the spirit of the lowly humans, Grendel ended with more disdain for the humans because of their unwavering belief in their religion. This is disdain is observable in Grendel’s observation on the recently terrorized humans as they commence their