Beowulf and Grendel tell similar stories from different perspectives. Grendel views the world with existential angst, while Beowulf views the world as his oyster. Both displayed high egos but Grendel’s was built from hatred while Beowulf’s was built from value. While both novels centered the plot on the battle of good and evil, Grendel went into detail on the nature of “the beast,” to show that his violence is stemming from loneliness and being misunderstood. Although different, both works show similarities in Grendel and Beowulf’s character. In the introduction of the novel, Grendel views himself superior to the many animals he comes in contact with and does not communicate with anything but the sky or the air. He spews vulgarity at nothing
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Humans are the only other thing that he could possibly communicate with, yet he is barred on the outside, looked upon as disgustedly as Grendel looks upon the humans. His disgust comes from wanting to fit in and belong; yet he refuses to admit this. Instead, he turns his loneliness into hatred to keep him occupied and give him an excuse to not blame himself. He has many questions about the world and the way humans interact, and his views start to shift from innocence to violence. In his meeting with the dragon, he was told to “seek out gold and sit on it”(Gardner74). It was then that his cynical ways came through, and his many years of bottled up anger caused him to make killing his purpose in life. In Grendel, he was almost pushed into becoming a killer, yet in Beowulf, he was just a ruthless terrorizer from the beginning. After that background had been established, the remaining of the novel was similar in both works. His motives and thoughts while fighting were just for the pure joy of seeing the humans in such agony, which was revenge for his years of neglect. Once in Grendel, he questioned his motives and his innocence tried to come out again. “How, if I know …show more content…
Grendel is a monster with seemingly no human like qualities and a destruction of evil in Beowulf’s eyes. Beowulf is supernatural, like the walking dead, obeying orders and not thinking but rather acting as a machine through Grendel’s views. While Grendel is an antihero and Beowulf is a hero, both are seemingly outcasts since they operate alone and have such elevated reputations. Both of their egos and pride are high since both of them have never lost a fight, which is why they carry themselves highly into battles. There are many religion references in Beowulf, and the way he values his family portrays he practices Christianity. Grendel is related to Cain throughout Beowulf, who was the first person to ever commit murder. Grendel recalled the one time he had destroyed religious statues in Heorot and how uneasy the priests were because of it, and how it was necessary for them to rebuild them again. He had not bothered to wreck them again, but religion was another separating factor between characters; it was just another “human act” that Grendel could not understand. Grendel and Beowulf are parallels of each other, having similar characters but also opposite
Humans are the only other thing that he could possibly communicate with, yet he is barred on the outside, looked upon as disgustedly as Grendel looks upon the humans. His disgust comes from wanting to fit in and belong; yet he refuses to admit this. Instead, he turns his loneliness into hatred to keep him occupied and give him an excuse to not blame himself. He has many questions about the world and the way humans interact, and his views start to shift from innocence to violence. In his meeting with the dragon, he was told to “seek out gold and sit on it”(Gardner74). It was then that his cynical ways came through, and his many years of bottled up anger caused him to make killing his purpose in life. In Grendel, he was almost pushed into becoming a killer, yet in Beowulf, he was just a ruthless terrorizer from the beginning. After that background had been established, the remaining of the novel was similar in both works. His motives and thoughts while fighting were just for the pure joy of seeing the humans in such agony, which was revenge for his years of neglect. Once in Grendel, he questioned his motives and his innocence tried to come out again. “How, if I know …show more content…
Grendel is a monster with seemingly no human like qualities and a destruction of evil in Beowulf’s eyes. Beowulf is supernatural, like the walking dead, obeying orders and not thinking but rather acting as a machine through Grendel’s views. While Grendel is an antihero and Beowulf is a hero, both are seemingly outcasts since they operate alone and have such elevated reputations. Both of their egos and pride are high since both of them have never lost a fight, which is why they carry themselves highly into battles. There are many religion references in Beowulf, and the way he values his family portrays he practices Christianity. Grendel is related to Cain throughout Beowulf, who was the first person to ever commit murder. Grendel recalled the one time he had destroyed religious statues in Heorot and how uneasy the priests were because of it, and how it was necessary for them to rebuild them again. He had not bothered to wreck them again, but religion was another separating factor between characters; it was just another “human act” that Grendel could not understand. Grendel and Beowulf are parallels of each other, having similar characters but also opposite