Similarities Between Grendel And Frankenstein

Both Grendel and the Fiend in Frankenstein share many similarities throughout their independent novels. Both creatures were clueless about society and as the novels and their lives progressed their knowledge grew, they were molded into creatures which were based off of their perception and experiences with society.

Grendel had his first encounter with humans when he was young and began to discover the world and its processes, and he discovered that humans were not like the past animals in which he had encountered. At first the humans posed no threat to him, but when he tried to speak to them they became frightened, “The king snatched an ax from the man beside him and, without any warning, he hurled it at me. I twisted, letting out a howl, and

As Grendel grew he became interested in the ways of man as he viewed their development and adaptations from a distance. As Grendel viewed them over a period of time he began to feel a connection between them and himself. He debated whether to revel himself to the villagers, because he knew the reaction in which they would demonstrate towards him. However, he chose to revel himself even after the previous encounter, “I staggered out into the open and up toward the hall with my burden, groaning out, “Mercy! Peace!” The harper broke off, the people screamed. / Drunken men rushed me with battle-axes. I sank to my knees, crying, “Friend! Friend!” They hacked at me, yipping like dogs.” (51-52). Grendel’s second encounter with men demonstrated that men would not accept him for the creature he was and would kill him if they had the chance. This event changed his view points of the villagers, he no longer felt the same way towards them, “Some three or four nights later I launched my first raid. I burst in when they were all asleep, snatched seven from their beds, and slit them open and devoured them on the spot. I felt a strange, unearthly joy. It was as if I’d made some

Frankenstein throughout the process envisioned a beautiful creation and anticipated it. However, he regretted his creation as soon as life was bestowed upon it, “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I have finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room...” (35). Just as his creator could not accept his disfiguration others could not also, “Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me? Agatha fainted; and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung: in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick.” (96-97). These where the villagers which the Fiend wished to be a part of and for them to except him after he had helped them and observed them for so long. After this he realized he would forever be alone and with this suffering he wished to bestow it upon others, “I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph; clapping my hands, I exclaimed, I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable: his death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him.” (102). He no longer viewed