Grendel Isolation Essay

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

At first, the humans do offer their support but get scared and attack Grendel when he is only asking for assistance. Over time Grendel sees a recurrence of this due to his multiple attempts to adapt to the human society, however, he is always rejected. Throughout the novel, Grendel, Grendel shows that he is deeply affected by the humans' actions, of which leads him to transform into a terrifying monster. Another reason for Grendel’s transformation into a monster is due to the humans’ ongoing violence towards one another. Throughout the novel, Grendel witnesses the Hrothgar kingdom and other Danish tribes engage in brutal fights filled with senseless violence and destruction.

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

Throughout Grendel it shows how nature cannot respond to him and how language makes him isolated. Grendel speaks to the sky and he gets not response ever; this shows how lonely and desperate he is for someone to talk to (p.1). Grendal often compares his language to some kind of barrier(p.6). When he talks about his childhood and imaginary friends you can see that he has always been alone (p.6). Grendel’s recurring mention of the shapes hint that his only relative is his mom, and as he grew older he became

In the novel, the readers are allowed to see the progression of Grendel. As Grendel starts to grow up there are changes in his personality, more specifically his innocence. Grendel becomes conflicted, being the monster that he is and the choices that he makes. Grendel wants to know what his purpose in life is, or what is the purpose of life at all. While Grendel becomes evil there are signs him struggling against that way. Now I will talk about Grendel’s balance between good and evil.

A. Grendel is impatient with the music and celebration of Hrothgar’s men; his home is a hell on earth; he was born in slime; his parents are the children of Cain, who were exiled by God; he is family to “a thousand forms of evil,” who angrily fight against God.

My point that Grendel’s pre-destined path of evil is proven in lines 1260-1276 where we learn the history of the bible story Cain and Abel, and see where Grendel’s roots lie. “And from Cain there sprang/ misbegotten spirits, among them Grendel, / the banished and accursed… (Lines 1265-1267). Once again I feel sympathy for Grendel because it seems he did not have a choice but to be the “enemy of mankind.” (Line 1275) Good could never come from these people of Cain because they fell from the grace of god, but it appears that Grendel never directly did anything to deserve this fate, he was a victim of circumstance and was trapped in his monstrous position. Grendel did not kill Abel, yet he suffers for Cain’s behavior.

Grendel never became enemies with the Scyldings until he sought out the route of this shadow, the dragon. When the dragon says unto Grendel in the line, “If man’s the irrelevance that interests you, stick with him! Scare him to glory! It’s all the same in the end, matter and motion, simple or complex,”(Chapter 5, page 73) he tricks the human-like beast into carrying out havoc on the villagers. After this long, deadly confrontation with the fabled creature, Grendel always seemed to smell the evil presence of the dragon. This smell made the monster go mad and his actions towards the Scyldings got to the point of massacres. Some may think the winged lizard remained the source of the shadow, but it was not the only thing that led to Grendel’s actions. The Shaper, that seemed to enchant Grendel with his songs, became another key part of Grendel’s shadow. This shadow made it hard for Grendel to continue to grasp the basic concepts of the

The Path to Isolation In the novel Grendel, Grendel was never seen as anything other than a monster by the humans in the novel. This causes Grendel to live a life of isolation and loneliness. He was always thought of as frightening and demonic by the humans. Grendel was not even able to identify with his monstrous mother either.

            There is a stage in everyone’s life where they feel they are not accepted by someone or something. Whether it is because of one’s age, appearance, or emotional and mental stability, a sense of disproval and isolation appears to be glaring through the eyes of society. Throughout Grendel’s life, he is shunned from humanity for he was viewed as something of destruction and harm. However, not one person ever took the time out to see Grendel’s true personality or really discover what he was all about. When facing the realities of the cruel world, Grendel found himself severely struggling with some psychological deficiencies. After performing multiple psychoanalysis tests on Grendel’s behavior, his

Isolation in Grendel Feeling isolated is a common feeling in today’s world. In John Gardner's Grendel, the idea of isolation is one of the many themes in this novel. It is portrayed by the main character Grendel. He feels alone because all the humans around him are afraid of him because of the way he looks, so they try to attack him or terrorize him any chance they get. This makes him develop a deep hatred towards himself and everything around him because he feels left out, not wanted around.

In John Gardner's book Grendel, the prevalent theme of isolation plays a vital role in shaping the story and its protagonist. Throughout the novel, Grendel is portrayed as a lonely, isolated creature who is unable to communicate with humans. Grendel's isolation is evident from the beginning of the novel, where he is introduced as a solitary creature living in a cave. He is an outcast, feared and hated by humans, who see him as a monster. This sense of isolation echoes the Sartrean concept of existential alienation, emphasizing the book's satirical critique of social norms while Grendel quests for purpose and connection in the hostile and indifferent world.

Grendel could only take so much neglect and abuse before he transformed into the monster that readers recognize him to be. The actions of man were nothing short of monstrous, and they caused Grendel to turn into a monster. The men did not allow Grendel into the Mead Hall and they tried to kill him whenever they saw him. Even when man was not doing something directly to Grendel, their

Grendel's first encounter with the human beings is simply defined as not being incredibly pleasant. After Grendel managed to accidently trap himself in a tree, he was discovered by a patrol. Grendel did not show, nor did he plan any hostile intentions towards the men or "ridiculous creatures" as he stated. (ch.2, pp.24) Sadly enough due to ignorance and fear the men simply try to destroy anything they see to be abnormal, despite Grendel trying to communicate.

(Pg 20) Even as a child full grown animals were scared of him and felt that he was a danger to their children. Grendel takes the fear and violence done to him as a sign to continue to isolate himself even further from all living