Grendel's Morality In Beowulf

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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 the motions of everyday life and trying to figure himself out. Here, he is seen as more anthropomorphic and leads the reader to be more sympathetic of his actions. For example, when Grendel’s foot is caught in the tree, readers feel a sense of panic for him, as he struggles to escape the kingsmen, and a sense of relief when his mother comes to his rescue. There is even a sense of sadness towards the end of the book when he is killed. The writer allows the reader to watch Grendel mature throughout the book. Readers are allowed to see Grendel’s thought process and reasoning. Even on the front cover of the book, Grendel is depicted as a small,almost childlike creature. He eats humans, but only as a way to survive. His intentions are not as wicked as the Danes and Geats presume. He even criticizes them for wasting food and natural resources. He figures that was he is doing is perfectly fine. He feels that he is only feeding himself. Though he is still a murderous being, Gardner’s diction persuades a reader to feel a sense of empathy towards Grendel, the lonely, confused child. In contrast, Grendel's character in the YouTube clip and in the epic poem takes the theme “instinct”.
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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 survive. Also, in the video and poem, Grendel is not introduced. His background story is not given. The only descriptions of him are villainous and monstrous, telling of his “being born of sin and of murder”. Because of

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