The Theme Of Characters In Gardner's Grendel, By John Gardner

John Gardner’s Grendel is the retelling of the heroic epic poem Beowulf; however, the viewpoint has shifted. Grendel is told from the viewpoint of one of Beowulf’s antagonists and the titular character of Gardner’s work—Grendel. In Grendel, Gardner humanizes Grendel by emphasizing parallels between Grendel’s life and human life. Through Gardner’s reflection of human feelings, human development, and human flaws in Grendel, this seemingly antagonistic, monstrous character becomes understood and made “human.”

Grendel by John Gardner unveils thematic motifs throughout the novel that expose the reader to hidden actualities in our emotions and actions. Grendel persistently expresses boredom of isolation, but fear and annoyance for the inability to break free from the “brute instinct” that surrounds himself. Every chapter allows the reader to connect with aspects of the Zodiac, including instincts that label them and how we follow their roles. Through​ ​the​ ​seasonal​ ​elements​ ​of​ ​astrology,​ ​Gardner​ ​reveals​ ​the​ ​torment​ ​of​ ​time​ for humans and creatures which are subjected to fateful instincts all controlled by the seasons of the year.

Like many whom suffer the same disorder, Grendel completely changed his mind, extending from one topic to the exact opposite. He goes against his own ideas as if he were two totally opposing characters. He also always thought the dragon was near. Grendel allowed the ways and beliefs of the dragon to get in his head. He would claim he could “smell the dragon’s scent” whenever something sinister occurred. All of these symptoms, in addition to the isolation from Hrothgar’s people lead to the overall cause in withdrawal from society. Grendel’s emotional disturbances caused him to react completely unreasonable and rather foolish many times within his life.

As a “bloodthirsty fiend,” Grendel was the first of the foes Beowulf battles. (line 407) He is “a powerful monster,” who “was spawned in... slime.” (lines 1, 19) He is a descendant of Cain, and chose to sacrifice the Danes to no one but himself. Grendel is “set on murder.”(49-50) Nothing can “quench his thirst for evil. (lines 52-53) Grendel stalked Herot and set his wrath loose on all who came to the hall. His mother, the “she-wolf” lived in an underwater cavern. (line 572) She is the “water witch,” one that no one’s “sword could slice her evil skin.” (lines 493, 496-497) Both characters are demons living only to hate, and cause terror in the hearts of those who know of them. The third villain comes much later than the first two. The dragon is Beowulf’s last enemy, and last battle. The beast poured out fire and smoke, and was one who “coiled and uncoiled” at the sight of a human. (line 673) The dragon menaces Beowulf’s kingdom and as an old man he is forced to fight the beast. The antagonists are evil and uncaring of human life, each choosing to end it when they please. They are bad and it shows.

"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive...." Joseph Campbell made this comment on the search for meaning common to every man's life. His statement implies that what we seem bent on finding is that higher spark for which we would all be willing to live or die; we look for some key equation through which we might tie all of the experiences of our life and feel the satisfaction of action toward a goal, rather than the emptiness which sometimes consumes the activities of our existence. He states, however, that we will never find some great

In the background water, droplets fall to the ground. Each smack of water against the stone sends a shiver down his spine. Left with nothing but his thoughts, Grendel watches his mother restlessly toss and turn as she sleeps when a faint noise is heard. Intrigued, he walks just beyond the mouth of the cave, and in the distance, what appears to be the flickering light of candles of a great hall can be seen. As Grendel walks closer, he realizes the noise is actually singing. Looking through the windows, he gazes at strange creatures singing a song of joyous times as they dance and clank their mugs together. Engulfed with rage, he swings the doors open so quickly that they nearly fall off the hinges, and the frenzy begins. In John Gardner’s tale,

Grendel A hero, a villain, and a quest for peace, the typical plot line to any adventure, but in Gardner’s novel Grendel, things are not so black and white. Grendel is the antagonist in this epic tale, but being able to read his thoughts, the reader develops a very close relationship with him. Through Grendel’s eyes it is evident that he is lost and all alone in a world where bloodthirsty warriors like Beowulf are called upon as ‘heroes’. In the third person perspective from the people of Herot, Grendel is perceived as a God-cursed demon that endlessly torments their city.

Next Grendel is outside the meadhall when he hears the Shaper's song and it enrages him, when he hears a guard behind him and is attacked. Yet nothing happens to the beast, as the dragon has put an invulnerability charm on him, his arrogence reaches its peak. The major turning point, the change, the evil that the dragon instilled in him awakens in the following reading: "I bit his head off ... and, holding the jerking, blood slippery body in two hands, sucked the blood that came like a hot, thick geyser from his neck." (79) The charm eliminates all of his inhibitions as he begins raiding the mead hall on a daily basis. Gardener intends to show how quickly evil influences ones

in chapter ten grendel described the guards and beowulf like a “mechanical dead looking” He also compare the sun , moon and stars as machines operating in a mechanical world “it's good at first to be out in the night , naked to the cold mechanics of the stars “(chapter 1 ) which make him believe that he is the only one who understand the reality around him .He makes himself a god over the mechanical ,pointless universe “ i alone exist . all the rest , i saw is merely what pushes me , or what i push against , blindly -as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the whole universe , blink by blink “ (chapter 2 ) . the more grendel think this way the more he have the instinct to kill. Grendel rejected every opportunity to take the risk beyond his instinctive instead , he believed the dragon words about the meaninglessness of existence.

The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the

Having multiple chapters of the poem dedicated to the monster Grendel, you would get the idea that he is of some importance in the epic poem. The poem storyline is majorly dedicated to monsters since the storyline is pretty much separated into three different story arcs. Grendel is described as a sin stained demon. “They have seen my strength for themselves. Have watched me rise from the darkness of war. Dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from earth, I swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate they had earned. Now Grendel and I are called together, and I’ve come.” (Beowulf page 36). Grendel was the first monster to be introduced in the story and from the time he was introduced and the time he was defeated by Beowulf, Grendel was killing and terrorizing the Danes every day and night. When Beowulf got their he told the danes he was there to defeat the mighty beast Grendel. The King of Danes Hrothgar welcomed Beowulf and threw him a big party of sorts through the night. That was when Beowulf has the

During his encounter with the Dragon, Grendel does not wholly understand what he is being told and calls the Dragon a liar for the majority of the scene. He tells Grendel that he [Grendel] is humanity, in the sense that he makes them plot and scheme, and he is the cause for their evolution. Grendel denies this, refusing to embrace such an idea even though it makes sense. The Dragon puts an enchantment on Grendel that prevents him from being harmed by the humans’ weapons, and this development makes Grendel all the more eager to torment the humans and break his

As a result of this emotional pain, the Dragon’s statement to just find gold and sit on it serves to produce an alternate path for Grendel - a path of true disdain for humans and their development. However, signs that Grendel may have been tormented by these demons present themselves early in the book, with the quote, “So it goes with me day by day and age by age, I tell myself. Locked in the deadly progression of moon and stars. I shake my head, muttering darkly on shaded paths, holding conversation with the only friend and comfort this world allows, my shadow” (8). The Dragon discusses these same concepts with Grendel (being locked in the progression of life, holding conversations with shadows) and continues to question the reason behind caring, and promotes a life of lethargy, a self-destructive

When writing a paper about one being evil, the true definition of evil must be considered. Merriam Webster defines evil as this, “arising from actual or imputed bad character or conduct.” At multiple points in John Gardner’s novel, Grendel is characterized as being evil. The characterization of this evil monster is necessary for novel. Grendel is evil because he acts inhumanely and serves as Gardner’s portal to the flaws of humans and necessary evil.

The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic, chronicling the distinguished deeds of the great Geatish warrior, Beowulf, who travels across the seas to rid the Danes of the evil monster Grendel, who has been inflicting destruction and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land fiendish monsters and stopping the scourge of evil, while the monster, Grendel, is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves death for its evil actions. However, many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel, sets out to change the reader’s perception of Grendel and his role in Beowulf by narrating the story through Grendel’s point of view. John Gardner transforms Grendel, once perceived as an evil fiend in Beowulf, into a lonely but intelligent outcast who is actually quite similar to humans, due to his intelligence capacity for rational thought and his real, and at times irrational emotions. Gardner portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression, ostracized from civilization. Although the two works revolve around the same basic plot,, the themes and characters in Beowulf and Grendel are often different and sometimes contradictory.