How Is Grendel An Outsider In Frankenstein

When hearing the story of a murder, we seldom withhold our comments of how malicious the murderer is. The reasoning behind their actions might as well cease to exist, as we would not want to believe that they share the same state of mind as a criminal. However, in John Gardner’s Grendel, we see that Grendel has morals and feelings, contrary to how he is portrayed in the poem the novel is derived from, Beowulf. Similarly, the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein shares the same emotional characteristics as Grendel, along with innocence at birth, the desire for a companion, and the pain of being an outsider. It is believed by many philosophers that humans are born innocent; we are good until exposed to evil. Grendel said early in the novel,

The terrible race God cursed,” (51). His visage widens the gap between humanity and civilization, thus resulting in his animosity and feral behavior towards those who shunned him. Comparably, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster expresses his contempt for isolation, “ . . . I longed to join them, but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered . . .” (99). After being scorned for his grotesque and unbelievable physique, the monster observes and admires the De Lacey family, but, like all humans, is scared of rejection. He is quite literally an outsider, as he secretly lives adjacent to their cottage, watching them in their daily lives. The monster’s toddler-like behavior dissipates as he grows older, an evident human maturation parallel, but he never achieves full

He longs for a companion of any kind, but his malign actions drive him further from intimacy of any kind. His attempts in finding a friend are dispirited and ephemeral, like an exhausted toddler throwing a tantrum before falling asleep. Unlike Grendel, however, the monster demands from his creator, “ ‘It is true we shall be monsters, but off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another,’ ” (130). Feeling abandoned, the monster initially acts out, but recognizes his anger can be cured with company. He promises to disappear, so long as he has a wife to do so with