Theme Of Diction In Grendel

In Grendel by John Gardener, the author describes a humane-minded monster’s, Grendel, struggle to find a purpose due to his isolation with the world. Gardener uses exuberant techniques of diction and sensory imagery to depict the theme. The utilizations capture every single detail of Grendel’s thoughts and struggles for existence. The beginning of the novel introduces the readers to Grendel’s past and his uprising conflicts with humankind due to their unacceptance of him. Grendel and his mother are unable to communicate and he feels the “shocking separateness” between them. As a child, he wants someone to talk to, but it is too near and too far away. According to Grendel, of all the creatures, “only my mother looked at me … stared at me as

Even though Grendel knows the Shaper’s stories are not indeed true, he becomes fascinated by stating, “yet I swept up… my heart became light with Hrothgar’s goodness… I backed away, crablike, further into the darkness” (48). The Shaper’s stories give Grendel an even worse impression of himself; whereas, he is portrayed as the bad one. Grendel feels even more isolated from the ones he wants to collaborate and be friends with. The humane-minded, Grendel, then approaches the dragon to seek advice, the advice that will make him more isolated and lonelier in the world of humankind. After the encounter, he describes that the dragon has put a “charm” in him and that is he indeed undefeatable because humans are “powerless”. Grendel, according to him, has transformed into a “darker” being and is “invulnerable”. The choice of diction by Grendel above creates a significant shift in the thoughts by claiming that life is meaningless and transforms him into a real monster. It is only due to the unacceptance, the unacceptance of a humane-minded being with only a different