Grendel’s interactions with the world outside his childhood cave reform his identity and make him question his purpose. He must grapple with the new ideas he is exposed to from the Shaper and develop an understanding of men and their motivations to discover where he fits in their world. Grendel’s new insights into good and evil, his intelligence compared to animals and men, and his longing for community shape his evolving identity as he accepts his monstrous role in the world of mankind. Grendel loses his childhood innocence after he gets stuck in the tree and is left at the mercy of the men who find him. He is exposed to new ideas of good and evil as the men misunderstand him and resort to violence. His understanding of men is expanded when
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The primary arbiter of these stories is the Shaper, whose masterful command of words paints a picture of humanity for Grendel. He learns that humans believe he is evil by nature as a descendant of Cain. This forces Grendel to question his identity and actions, but he has a difficult time comprehending the way men discern between Grendel’s evil and their own evil acts. How can they call him evil and disgusting while they constantly murder each other and are driven by greed? He observes when “some trivial argument [...] break[s] out, and one of them [...] kill[s] another one” (Gardner 32) and witnesses their apathy toward nature and the resources they waste while fighting each other. Still, the Shaper’s story intoxicates him and he begins to accept his predetermined role and identity, feeling his “heart [become] light with Hrothgar’s goodness, and leaden with grief at [his] own bloodthirsty ways” (Gardner 48). Grendel …show more content…
During his early ventures in the outside world, he only encounters animals which he describes as mechanical and instinctual. This is especially evident when Grendel encounters the bull that “[fights] by instinct, blind mechanism ages old” (Gardner 21). Grendel can easily outsmart the bull and predict its actions, but his intelligence is useless when it comes to anticipating the behavior of the men that find him in the tree. He recognizes the aptitude of humans once he hears them speak his language and understands that they are “thinking creatures, pattern makers, the most dangerous things [he’d] ever met” (Gardner 27). Their intelligence frightens Grendel not only because it makes them unpredictable and dangerous, but also because he must question his supposed superiority to everything in nature. These insights cause Grendel to be fascinated by men; he becomes addicted to observing them as they interact and reason through problems. He is especially interested in Hrothgar, since “he’d worked out a theory about what fighting was for, and now he no longer [fights] with his six closest neighbors” (Gardner 37). Hrothgar’s strategies that expand his rule prove his intellect and further cause Grendel to question his own intelligence compared to that of
The primary arbiter of these stories is the Shaper, whose masterful command of words paints a picture of humanity for Grendel. He learns that humans believe he is evil by nature as a descendant of Cain. This forces Grendel to question his identity and actions, but he has a difficult time comprehending the way men discern between Grendel’s evil and their own evil acts. How can they call him evil and disgusting while they constantly murder each other and are driven by greed? He observes when “some trivial argument [...] break[s] out, and one of them [...] kill[s] another one” (Gardner 32) and witnesses their apathy toward nature and the resources they waste while fighting each other. Still, the Shaper’s story intoxicates him and he begins to accept his predetermined role and identity, feeling his “heart [become] light with Hrothgar’s goodness, and leaden with grief at [his] own bloodthirsty ways” (Gardner 48). Grendel …show more content…
During his early ventures in the outside world, he only encounters animals which he describes as mechanical and instinctual. This is especially evident when Grendel encounters the bull that “[fights] by instinct, blind mechanism ages old” (Gardner 21). Grendel can easily outsmart the bull and predict its actions, but his intelligence is useless when it comes to anticipating the behavior of the men that find him in the tree. He recognizes the aptitude of humans once he hears them speak his language and understands that they are “thinking creatures, pattern makers, the most dangerous things [he’d] ever met” (Gardner 27). Their intelligence frightens Grendel not only because it makes them unpredictable and dangerous, but also because he must question his supposed superiority to everything in nature. These insights cause Grendel to be fascinated by men; he becomes addicted to observing them as they interact and reason through problems. He is especially interested in Hrothgar, since “he’d worked out a theory about what fighting was for, and now he no longer [fights] with his six closest neighbors” (Gardner 37). Hrothgar’s strategies that expand his rule prove his intellect and further cause Grendel to question his own intelligence compared to that of