Similarities Between Grendel And Beowulf

To most, Nelson Mandela had the reputation of being a freedom fighter. In South Africa, he fought for equal rights of all people. For accusations of conspiracy against the government, he was imprisoned. The former President of South Africa was also on the terrorism watch list in the United States until 2008. Although the governments of two countries felt threatened by his actions, many people of all races are grateful for his social revolution. Judgment of the ethics of his actions is based on perspective. The perspective of characters in books and stories gives insight into their behavior and moral beliefs. Beowulf, an epic poem by Seamus Heaney, tells the story of a hero who battles a series of monsters to protect the kingdoms. Grendel, a …show more content…
Beowulf refers to Grendel as a “fiend out of hell” when he begins attacking Danes with seemingly no reason (Heaney 100). As an archetypal hero, he wants to protect his people and sees anything that threatens their well-being as bad. The humans believe that Grendel would “never parley or make peace with any Dane” (Heaney 154-155). Killing Grendel appears to be the only solution to stop his terrorism on the people. In the battle against Grendel, Beowulf renounces his weapons (his advantage that could possibly save his life) because the monster has “no idea of the arts of war, [or] of shield or sword-play” (Heaney 681-682). In a battle to the death, Beowulf believes in fate and wants to be fair to his opponent. After the battle, Beowulf returns and “[a]pplause fill[s] the hall” (Heaney 1214). From where the citizens stand, Beowulf guards humanity from the intruder. From Grendel’s and his mother’s point of view, the “hero” pulls their family apart. His actions save some but emotionally ruin others. In the Grendel book, the readers see that Grendel is not all bad at heart. When Grendel first encounters humans, the king “snatche[s] an ax from the man beside him and, without any warning, he hurl[s] it” at Grendel (Gardner 27). Seeing as Grendel is an unknown threat that could possibly harm his people, the king attacks in instinct. Grendel knows that he is …show more content…
After Grendel talks to the dragon, his perspective on humans becomes less sympathetic. The creature goes from trying to preserve the meat of men to “bit[ting the] head off [the soldier], crunch[ing] through the helmet and skull with [his] teeth and, holding the jerking, blood-slippery body in two hands, suck[ing] the blood that sprayed like a hot, think geyser from his neck” (Gardner 79). His attacks on humans become more frequent and less sensible, actively seeking to destroy humans without being provoked. His new power of invincibility makes him forget his past principles and take advantage of the humans. Grendel’s heart “bec[omes] darker” because humans are now powerless against him (Gardner 76). After the dragon informs Grendel of how evil humans can be, he sees them only as bad. The readers see the scenes in Grendel become much gorier and violently detailed as the title character’s heart loses the code of ethics it had before the dragon encounter. He used to feel pain same as the people. Before he talks to the dragon, he would not have been happy about snatching “seven [people] from their beds, and slit[ting] them open and devour[ing] them on the spot” (Gardner 79). His world view changes when he becomes immune to pain. Although Grendel becomes darker, Beowulf keeps his original warrior