The British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote “Summarize the quote” Stern’s assertion concerning a man’s struggle when being plagued by opposing forces can destroy a man’s sanity. In the novel entitled, Grendel by John Gardner, Grendel, the protagonist in the story is plagued with two conflicting ideas on how his life should be lived. Throughout the novel, Grendel contemplates the meaning of life, and seeks to discover the workings of the universe thought his encounters with nature and man of such significant encounters is the Shaper who is storyteller who creates meaning out of life. As the story continues Grendel is presented to a Dragon who seems to be omniscient, the Dragons advice to Grendel is that he should stop bothering the humans and be concerned with bettering himself. Both proposals are equally tempting, however Grendel is unable to utilize both ideas so he must choose one and bring meaning to his life.
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The Shaper is first seen in the story as a blind man arriving at Hrothgar hall where Grendel spends most of his time stalking. His presence in the hall causes Hrothgar men to have a sense of empowerment and pride of their race. He was able to tell the men a history of their ancestors and bring a sense of community to the people. ”They would seize the oceans, the farthest stars in Hrothgar’s name! Men wept like children; children sat stunned (43).” As a result of the Shapers encouragement Hrothgar decided to build a hall that would be a symbol of his greatness and accomplishment where his future generations can look upon it and reference back to him. Not only did the Shaper produce this reaction from the humans, Grendel felt transformed by the Shaper’s stories, despite his awareness that the shaper’s stories were made up lies, encouraging Hrothgar’s men. Grendel described his conversion “ridiculous hairy creature torn apart by poetry (48)” that
The Shaper is first seen in the story as a blind man arriving at Hrothgar hall where Grendel spends most of his time stalking. His presence in the hall causes Hrothgar men to have a sense of empowerment and pride of their race. He was able to tell the men a history of their ancestors and bring a sense of community to the people. ”They would seize the oceans, the farthest stars in Hrothgar’s name! Men wept like children; children sat stunned (43).” As a result of the Shapers encouragement Hrothgar decided to build a hall that would be a symbol of his greatness and accomplishment where his future generations can look upon it and reference back to him. Not only did the Shaper produce this reaction from the humans, Grendel felt transformed by the Shaper’s stories, despite his awareness that the shaper’s stories were made up lies, encouraging Hrothgar’s men. Grendel described his conversion “ridiculous hairy creature torn apart by poetry (48)” that