Grendel: The Battle Between Good And Evil

Monsters in today society are becoming acceptable and sometimes adored. But epic poems always depicted monsters as terrible and man eating beasts that are evil and have no common interest with humans. Beowulf is a great example of an epic poem that depicts a monster that is a flat character. All that is known about Grendel is that he is evil and eats men. But in Gardner novel Grendel is depicted as a complex character that has feelings and emotions. He is smart and wishes nothing but to find meaning in life. In Gardner's novel Grendel becomes more than just a monster that terrorizes humans, but he creates a purpose to the monstrosity that Grendel is, the author reveals pieces of Grendel's life that are not known in Beowulf, such that he can think like the humans do and he is weak in his own ways. Garner wanted to create a complex monster that left to the imagination and perspective to decide how evil he truly is. In the novel Grendel is kind and carrying towards his mother his curiosity brings the best of him, but his evil is nothing but a perspective of the humans. Grendel appears …show more content…
All humans share that characteristic, the sense of wonder. His wonder is truly seen through out the story when he wonders around the humans and watches and sees their conversations, he then learns that they are more similar than he thought. His sense of wonder to the world brings him closer to human form rather than to that of a monster. We can sympthise with his wonder of the world. After leaving the cave where he lived with his mother he began to find out that life was not all roses and butterflies. The same way we grow up and realize that life can be hard and that decisions can bring us good or bad consequences. We begin to truly feel connected with Grendel and how he feels about the world, bringing us closer and questioning whether he is evil or