The Monstrous Grendel
“An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through.” Throughout John Gardner’s Grendel, William Makepeace Thackeray’s idea of “never letting the light shine through” aptly portrays Grendel’s evil and monstrous figure even though Grendel himself is not a person. Living in a world of loneliness, Grendel searches for the meaning of his own life, attempting to discover the “good” aspects that life brings instead of focusing on the evil individual he was predestined to be. Grendel manages to discover and gain knowledge about life’s various “good” qualities from his enemies, the humans. Although Grendel is exposed to these qualities by the humans, he never changes his approach to life, continuing …show more content…
In the beginning of chapter six, Grendel acknowledges the charm that the dragon put on him when he says, “I discovered that the dragon had put a charm on me: no weapon could cut me” (Gardner 75). If Grendel was good, why would he continue brutally killing humans if he knew that they could not harm him? Grendel expresses his own evil regarding his power of weapon invincibility when he states, “they [the humans] were powerless. My heart became darker because of that” (Gardner 76). This emphasizes Grendel’s evil because Grendel used his power to “become darker,” knowing that his enemies were powerless to him. Thus, Grendel’s gruesome killings are acts of pure darkness and evil because he does not need to kill to protect himself, he only kills because he finds joy in it. For example, Grendel states in chapter twelve, “I will move from bed to bed and destroy them all, swallow every last man. I am blazing, half-crazy with joy” (Gardner 168). In today’s society, killing only one person is considered an evil act. If Grendel’s intentions to destroy the whole human race are put into that perspective, his ideas should be considered completely monstrous.
Overall, Grendel deserved to be punished for his evil acts by Beowulf. Grendel did not simply have an “accident.” He was punished because he chose to continue his evil ways instead of doing everything in his power to cease them. Grendel did not need to commit the monstrous acts that he performed throughout the novel, he had the choice. Because of this, Grendel is evil because he is cursed by God, he purposefully tarnished Unferth’s image, and he continued to brutally kill humans knowing that he was invincible to
“An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through.” Throughout John Gardner’s Grendel, William Makepeace Thackeray’s idea of “never letting the light shine through” aptly portrays Grendel’s evil and monstrous figure even though Grendel himself is not a person. Living in a world of loneliness, Grendel searches for the meaning of his own life, attempting to discover the “good” aspects that life brings instead of focusing on the evil individual he was predestined to be. Grendel manages to discover and gain knowledge about life’s various “good” qualities from his enemies, the humans. Although Grendel is exposed to these qualities by the humans, he never changes his approach to life, continuing …show more content…
In the beginning of chapter six, Grendel acknowledges the charm that the dragon put on him when he says, “I discovered that the dragon had put a charm on me: no weapon could cut me” (Gardner 75). If Grendel was good, why would he continue brutally killing humans if he knew that they could not harm him? Grendel expresses his own evil regarding his power of weapon invincibility when he states, “they [the humans] were powerless. My heart became darker because of that” (Gardner 76). This emphasizes Grendel’s evil because Grendel used his power to “become darker,” knowing that his enemies were powerless to him. Thus, Grendel’s gruesome killings are acts of pure darkness and evil because he does not need to kill to protect himself, he only kills because he finds joy in it. For example, Grendel states in chapter twelve, “I will move from bed to bed and destroy them all, swallow every last man. I am blazing, half-crazy with joy” (Gardner 168). In today’s society, killing only one person is considered an evil act. If Grendel’s intentions to destroy the whole human race are put into that perspective, his ideas should be considered completely monstrous.
Overall, Grendel deserved to be punished for his evil acts by Beowulf. Grendel did not simply have an “accident.” He was punished because he chose to continue his evil ways instead of doing everything in his power to cease them. Grendel did not need to commit the monstrous acts that he performed throughout the novel, he had the choice. Because of this, Grendel is evil because he is cursed by God, he purposefully tarnished Unferth’s image, and he continued to brutally kill humans knowing that he was invincible to