How Is Grendel Portrayed As Evil

In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel is portrayed as a dreadful monstrous being and he has to be slain. In the novel Grendel, Grendel is portrayed to be more than just a evil monster. In a way Grendel is shown to have feelings and that he is sensitive to what the humans think of him. Grendel is misunderstood by the humans, and they can not seem to accept him. Grendel seems to be a non-human being who possesses human qualities. In the novel Grendel, Grendel is implied to be lonely and isolated. Grendel is portrayed as evil, dreadful, and even compassionate, but that will not stop him from being who he is and who he wants to be. In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel is portrayed as monstrous and evil. “So times were pleasant for the people there until finally one, a fiend out of hell, began to work his evil in the world” (Heaney 9-11). In Beowulf Grendel is known as the epitome of evil and he has been described as a “fiend out of hell” in the quote above. The poem portrays Grendel as the common enemy between the Geats and Thanes. The people perceive him to be be naturally corrupt and offensive in his own way. The people in Beowulf see Grendel and only see what he has done and they still do not see who he really is and they …show more content…
“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 were never meant to be observed.) "Ah, sad one, poor old freak!" (Gardner 6). This quote shows evidence that Grendel has compassion to some things and that he is not completely evil and heartless. Grendel is shown to be a quite compassionate guy especially when he chose not to kill Wealtheow even when it would have been so easy to do so. He showed great empathy towards