preview

Grendel Chapter 1 Summary

Decent Essays

Grendel is an amazing book that shall cover generations and generations. Grendel by John Gardner is a Fantasy Fiction book that was originally published in 1971. It was published by Alfred A. Knopf in the US and by Gollancz in the UK. Grendel is a great book told from the perspective of a huge monster who himself is discovers a lot about his inner self and as do the characters around him. The story is set in Denmark around the year 1000. The author doesn’t exactly state or clarify what time/year the book takes place in. Chapter 1 really focuses on understanding the setting and vibes of the setting in Grendel. Grendel first starts interacting or more so encountering with the humans and he had a really really bad experience with them. He ran into Hrothgar’s men in the woods. Grendel tries his best to try to communicate with them but since they are humans, they had never seen such a thing like Grendel so …show more content…

Watching their every move and how they function. The more Grendel watches the humans the more he is disgusted and hates the way they live and how they maneuver. This part of the book is really what makes this a classic. Even though Grendel is a monster he still has feelings and emotions and what the humans thought was right hurt him. It just shows that everyone and everything can be affected by anything. While Grendel is basically studying the humans, Hrothgar is taking a lot power and control of Denmark. “Not, of course, that I fool myself with thoughts that I'm more noble. Pointless, ridiculous monster crouched in the shadows, stinking of dead men, murdered children, martyred cows. (I am neither proud nor ashamed, understand. One more dull victim, leering at seasons that never were meant to be observed.) (6)” This is such an incredible quote from Grendel. It shows how much he knows he isn’t better than the humans he hates. This type of self awareness of characters is what makes this book

Get Access