The character Grendel is more complex in the novel due to the bias in the original story, range of emotions, and ability to invoke sympathy in the reader. It is important to realize that in the novel “Beowulf” Grendel is not the main character, meaning his role in the novel is not as great as in his own book “Grendel”. In the epic story “Beowulf”, Grendel is demonized due to the epic being told from a hero’s point of view. The narrator wants to make Beowulf seem as fearless as possible so they make Grendel come across as a devilish monster. “How the monster relished his savage war” (Beowulf 25). They describe Grendel as a blood thirsty monster who is waging an unjustified war against humans. Although it is almost impossible to know if they
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Grendel reacts to different animals in a way that would show he has some form of intelligence linked to an emotional basis. “A baby bird falls feet-up in my path, squeaking. With a crabby laugh, I let him lie, kind heavens merciful bounty to some sick fox” (Gardner 8). Although it’s a somewhat cruel thing to do, Grendel decides to let the bird lay there instead of eating it; for he finds it amusing that it will suffer at the paws of a fox. Now from the story “Beowulf” we can infer that Grendel has no thoughts, only actions. “Made his home a hell” “The Almighty drove those demons out” (Beowulf 14). These two quotes from the story characterize Grendel has a demon from hell, most demons in story’s are defined as greedy, violent monster known for their bloodlust. Now if we look back at the novel Grendel doesn’t come across as a demon when he “bellows to his mother” (Gardner 26) to save him from a few …show more content…
Due to his complex set of emotions in the novel Grendel has human-like qualities that make him more sympathetic to the reader. “I cry, I bawl like a baby” (Gardner 172) is a great example of giving Grendel human like attribute to connect to the reader. We as humans have natural empathy towards babies, therefore when we see an image of Grendel crying as he slowly slips into the void, we can’t help but feel pity. The epic provides nothing more in regard to Grendel dying then “To die, to wait for the end” (Beowulf 18). Grendel has no depth or interesting personality, making his death that much more
Grendel reacts to different animals in a way that would show he has some form of intelligence linked to an emotional basis. “A baby bird falls feet-up in my path, squeaking. With a crabby laugh, I let him lie, kind heavens merciful bounty to some sick fox” (Gardner 8). Although it’s a somewhat cruel thing to do, Grendel decides to let the bird lay there instead of eating it; for he finds it amusing that it will suffer at the paws of a fox. Now from the story “Beowulf” we can infer that Grendel has no thoughts, only actions. “Made his home a hell” “The Almighty drove those demons out” (Beowulf 14). These two quotes from the story characterize Grendel has a demon from hell, most demons in story’s are defined as greedy, violent monster known for their bloodlust. Now if we look back at the novel Grendel doesn’t come across as a demon when he “bellows to his mother” (Gardner 26) to save him from a few …show more content…
Due to his complex set of emotions in the novel Grendel has human-like qualities that make him more sympathetic to the reader. “I cry, I bawl like a baby” (Gardner 172) is a great example of giving Grendel human like attribute to connect to the reader. We as humans have natural empathy towards babies, therefore when we see an image of Grendel crying as he slowly slips into the void, we can’t help but feel pity. The epic provides nothing more in regard to Grendel dying then “To die, to wait for the end” (Beowulf 18). Grendel has no depth or interesting personality, making his death that much more