This machine theme is an uncaring monstrosity, a creature with no aim of evolving, which Grendel fears will be his own demise. The three animals of the novel come to embody Grendel’s comprehension of nature as unconcerned and mechanical. At the beginning of the novel, the ram irritates Grendel because of the way it mindlessly follows its instincts and mechanical urges. Then comes the bull who can do no real harm to Grendel, since he can easily dodge its horns, but the bull repeatedly charges at Grendel without altering its approach at all. Grendel finds the bull’s stupidity and inability to think amusing, laughing scornfully at the animal. Yet, several times in the novel he berates himself for being “as mechanical as anything else.” We see
