Grendel 'And Beowulf': Theories Of Evil

Grendel exhibits human feelings and characteristics in many ways. Although Grendel is a monster “forced into isolation by his bestial appearance and limited imagination” (Butts) he yearns to be a part of society; he craves

Good versus Evil is an important concept. Evil sometimes overcomes our good but never exceeds good. The difference between evil and good is that good is an ability to have empathy and compassion towards other people. Evil is people who are selfish, self-absorbed and don’t have empathy towards others. Literature plays a vital role in developing concepts of good and evil and effectively portrays the morals of its time period. In the novels Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the authors explore the human nature of good and evil in men from different perspectives of Dracula, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll.

Grendel discovers and begins to gain the understanding/knowledge of different concepts such as power, etc. In addition, he observes how humans interact with one another throughout the twelve years of war; Yet, his attempt to communicate with humans gives him the title horrific monster. This leads to his loneliness and isolation from everyone. Furthermore, Grendel is left without any companion. Grendel can be best described as a monster who has human qualities but can be both rational and irrational. In Chapter 1, Grendel has an outburst because of the ram that appears.. “I stamp. I hammer the ground with my fists. I hurl and skull-size stone at him. He will not budge. I shake my two hairy fists at the sky and let out a howl so unspeakable that the water at my feet turns sudden ice and even I myself am I left uneasy.” This demonstrates how Grendel is hostile and belligerent. His emotions get the best of him and blinds his consciousness and awareness of how harmful he can be towards

Grendel in a situation where he is feeling different emotions that make him act a certain way. Every time Grendel terrorizes human beings, it seems vile and full of hate, but that is not the intention. People fail to acknowledge why the relationship between Grendel and humans is full of hate. The awful relationship started off when they started off with a negative impression due to the lack of communication. Grendel became scared of the humans and the only thing the humans can do is defend themselves when they see an enormous monster. While Grendel knows of his evil deeds he is still confused about what his true identity is. This failure to figure out his identity is what Grendel seems to try and achieve throughout the novel. It is not easy for him because of the position he has in life. Grendel does not truly know his place in the world and he strives throughout his life to find the answer.

“An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through.” Stated by William Makepeace Thackeray, this idea of “never letting the light shine through” aptly portrays Grendel’s evil and monstrous figure even though Grendel himself is not a person. Living in a world of loneliness, Grendel searches for the meaning of his own life, attempting to discover the “good” aspects that life brings instead of focusing on the evil individual he was predestined to be. Grendel manages to discover and gain knowledge about life’s various “good” qualities from his enemies, the humans. Although Grendel is exposed to these qualities by the humans, he never changes his approach to life, continuing to behave evilly like

Grendel was initially curious by nature, not cruel or vicious. He sought to explore and understand his world and the creatures in it, including the humans. Grendel

Though he does not actually remember how he’d learned it, John Gardner’s Grendel speaks a language which is similar to that of the human characters in the book and is, therefore, able to understand them. During Grendel’s first encounter with humans, he pleads to them for assistance when he is caught and wounded in a trap. The leader of the humans is Hrothgar who eventually becomes king of the Danes. When Grendel’s cry for help is mistaken for a cry of attack, the humans attack Grendel and wound him more painfully than flesh could be wounded. The first intelligent, speaking beings, with some similarity to himself, which Grendel has encountered, have attacked instead of helped him. It is in this moment that Grendel forms his first opinions of existence; the outside world does not seem to embrace good as he does. In a one-way conversation he has with his mother after the incident (Chapter 2), Grendel says, “ the world resists me and I resist it. That’s all there is. The mountains are what I define them as.” In the statement, “ the mountains are what I define them as”, Grendel starts to form a belief of a sort of reality which does not actually exist. Life is meant to be lived as the owner wishes to live it; it is what you

In the novel, Grendel by John Gardener, Grendel is a human-like creature capable of rational thought as well as feeling emotions. Early on in the story Gardener depicts Grendel as being very observant, critical and somewhat spiteful of the world around him. He describes himself as a murderous monster who smells of death and crouches in the shadows. Grendel watches the humans from the shadows of the trees and at first it seems as though they are the real monsters, slaughtering and pillaging all for the sake of their leaders and for power. This light that the humans are put in gives Grendel a certain charisma about him, making him seem like the one to side with in this novel. Later in the story, however, things change. Grendel seeks out the

When I think of the concept of “evil,” I think of The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. In The Consolation of Philosophy, Lady Philosophy stated:

Our first character, Grendel, is an exceptionally diverse character. It is implied that in both book and poem, Grendel is a blood-thirsty monster. All Grendel does is go through

What is the true meaning of good and evil. Good is that which is morally right and evil is profoundly immoral and malevolent. Good vs evil is a prominent theme used in literature. Two authors Oscar Wilde and Robert Louis Stevenson explore the theme of good vs evil in their novels The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In the novel both main characters Dorian gray and Dr. Jekyll are overthrown by the evil. Also in both novels you can see how influences, interactions, and beauty ultimately take them down the wrong path.

Evil is a part of mankind; it is something that cannot be defeated. “One recurring theme in early British literature is the idea that evil characters are directly related to experiences of tragedy, pain, confusion, and sadness” (Herrera). In Grendel, tragedy and confusion is seen throughout the story. The theme in the story of Macbeth is tragedy and pain. This early literature exemplifies evil through these themes. The philosophers whose theories support these themes through British literature are Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Sigmund Freud and Fred Alford. Throughout the stories of Grendel and Macbeth, evil is displayed differently as well as the theories that contribute to the evil seen. Although their philosophy of the source of evil is different, they all conclude that evil comes from within.

The reason that we even have an experience of a perceived evil is because for the soul to experience itself as any particular thing, the exact opposite of that thing must come into the realm of existence. In other words, in this relative existence, hot cannot be hot without cold, darkness cannot be without light, and you cannot be you without that which is not you. So I believe that what we call evil is just the opposite end of the spectrum of good, not something separate.

The most influential definition of evil is nicely summarised by Swinburne proclaimed when discussing about evil, context is very important factors to consider when talking about the subject of evil he said evil include physical pain, for

By definition, evil is an act or feeling that is “profoundly immoral and malevolent”. The problem is that evil is a subjective term. Each person sees evil differently.