“The only motive that there was was to completely control a person… and keep them with me as long as possible, even if it meant just keeping a part of them.” Jeffrey Dahmer explains here why he became the animalistic being people have seen him as for the last 25 years. Some questions remain, however. How do societies define the term “monster”? What shapes our perceptions of monsters, and how do time and culture affect them? Several centuries separated Grendel, from the epic poem, Beowulf, and Jeffrey Dahmer, the Milwaukee Monster. Dahmer, whose offenses spanned from the late 1970s to the early 90s, had a different cultural setting than the Anglo-Saxon demon. His jury declared him legally sane, making him serve 16 life sentences. Another inmate
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As a teenager, Dahmer lacked friends and was not memorable to most. Likewise, Grendel never got to spend time with anyone, and therefore had no companionship. Abandonment left them both with their mainly morbid thoughts. Having only evil inside as comfort left them wanting to make fantasy become reality. Both also evaded religion, not just people, which exacerbated the evil living inside them, pushing them each forward in their heinous pursuits. Finally, both were cowards. Each wanted dormant victims beforehand as neither could handle the confrontation of someone conscious and planned their murders accordingly. As shown above, seclusion and fear drove these monsters to …show more content…
Dahmer, a more detailed planner, went to gay clubs, public baths, and similar places to lure men, even teenagers, to his apartment, promising sex, drinks, or photography sessions. After getting drunk, he crushed enough sleeping pills to get his prey unconscious. Afterwards, he performed disturbing acts, including rape, strangulation, necrophilia, and dismemberment, preserving several body parts for later consumption or gratification. This became a weeks-long process. Grendel, conversely, took a faster approach. He simply waited for the warriors to fall asleep after their partying before sneaking in. From there, he smashed some inhabitants around the mead hall and fled, dragging bloody bodies behind him. In short, Dahmer had a more complex, intimate method than Grendel’s guerrilla
As a teenager, Dahmer lacked friends and was not memorable to most. Likewise, Grendel never got to spend time with anyone, and therefore had no companionship. Abandonment left them both with their mainly morbid thoughts. Having only evil inside as comfort left them wanting to make fantasy become reality. Both also evaded religion, not just people, which exacerbated the evil living inside them, pushing them each forward in their heinous pursuits. Finally, both were cowards. Each wanted dormant victims beforehand as neither could handle the confrontation of someone conscious and planned their murders accordingly. As shown above, seclusion and fear drove these monsters to …show more content…
Dahmer, a more detailed planner, went to gay clubs, public baths, and similar places to lure men, even teenagers, to his apartment, promising sex, drinks, or photography sessions. After getting drunk, he crushed enough sleeping pills to get his prey unconscious. Afterwards, he performed disturbing acts, including rape, strangulation, necrophilia, and dismemberment, preserving several body parts for later consumption or gratification. This became a weeks-long process. Grendel, conversely, took a faster approach. He simply waited for the warriors to fall asleep after their partying before sneaking in. From there, he smashed some inhabitants around the mead hall and fled, dragging bloody bodies behind him. In short, Dahmer had a more complex, intimate method than Grendel’s guerrilla