Grendel's Morality In Beowulf

The saying “there are two sides to every story” rings especially true when comparing the various personas of Grendel throughout the poem, Beowulf, the story, Grendel, and the YouTube clip shown in class. Grendel’s characterization varies greatly in the movie, book and poem equally. The contrasting viewpoints play off of the theme “Morality vs. Instinct”. Also, Grendel’s character differs based upon the perspective of the writer and his prior experiences with Grendel. However, Grendel’s action remain constant throughout each outlet. The deviations occur when considering the writer each one.

In the book, Grendel’s perspective is shown. In John Gardner’s adaptation, the leading theme is “humanity”. Grendel is shown as a lonely adolescent going through …show more content…
According to a Google search, instinct is defined as “an innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli”. Instinct is much more common to animals, rather than humans because animals are without souls and thus, morals. Grendel is far more animalistic in both the poem and video, in contrast to the novel. The writer of Beowulf describes Grendel as “a powerful monster” and one who had “made his home in Hell”. This diction leads a reader to picture Grendel as a big, burly monster rather than the isolated and misunderstood child that is shown in the book. In the video, he is pictured as a slimy, gargling monster who slobbers and mumbles. He is a giant with flesh-like skin and huge teeth. The filmmaker illustrates these characteristics based upon his perspective and feelings towards Grendel. Beowulf, in these senses, is portrayed as the hero because the person who created the story saw him this way. However, upon reading the novel, Grendel, a reader might have a change of heart and think of Beowulf as a cocky, murderous being who mutilated a child that was only trying to