According to dictionary.com, a hero is “a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character”. In Grendel by John Gardner, the author portrays Grendel in such a light that he is not the hero of the story, even though he is the protagonist. Grendel gave a specific list on what qualities a hero must have, and he has the exact opposite of those qualities. He says that a hero should be great with women, stand tall, be self-aware, and have a great vocabulary. The exact opposite of a hero is a villain, and if his qualities are the exact opposite of being a hero, then he is, therefore, the villain. There are other ways to tell that he is not a hero as well. He causes pain and suffering amongst Hrothgar’s kingdom. He is aware of the pain he
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Not because he is an example of one, it is because he is the exact opposite of it. He searched inside himself for what he was like and just used the opposites to come up with a suitable definition of what being a hero truly was. He said there were a few choice words to describe what being a hero, “Ah, ah, it must be a terrible burden, though, being a hero--glory, reaper, harvester of monsters! Everybody always watching you, weighing you, seeing if you’re still heroic”(84). Grendel does not have any glory to his name, and if anything he is a reaper of humans, not monsters, which makes him a monster himself. If you kill the people that kill monsters, then you yourself are automatically a monster. He also said that being a hero is a “...awful inconvenience...Always having to stand erect, always having to find noble language! It must be a wear on a man”(84). Grendel does not stand nobly, and his language skills can be somewhat childlike, especially when he is in trouble and needs his mother. He always shouts out the childlike phrase “Mama!” when he needs help, even though he is fully grown and could have saved himself in those situations. He is making a hero sound like a burden, but then he goes into the positives about being a hero. “But no doubt there are compensations...The pleasant feeling of vast superiority, the easy success with women...And the joy of
Not because he is an example of one, it is because he is the exact opposite of it. He searched inside himself for what he was like and just used the opposites to come up with a suitable definition of what being a hero truly was. He said there were a few choice words to describe what being a hero, “Ah, ah, it must be a terrible burden, though, being a hero--glory, reaper, harvester of monsters! Everybody always watching you, weighing you, seeing if you’re still heroic”(84). Grendel does not have any glory to his name, and if anything he is a reaper of humans, not monsters, which makes him a monster himself. If you kill the people that kill monsters, then you yourself are automatically a monster. He also said that being a hero is a “...awful inconvenience...Always having to stand erect, always having to find noble language! It must be a wear on a man”(84). Grendel does not stand nobly, and his language skills can be somewhat childlike, especially when he is in trouble and needs his mother. He always shouts out the childlike phrase “Mama!” when he needs help, even though he is fully grown and could have saved himself in those situations. He is making a hero sound like a burden, but then he goes into the positives about being a hero. “But no doubt there are compensations...The pleasant feeling of vast superiority, the easy success with women...And the joy of