What Is Grendel's Nature Or Nurture

Grendel's nature, his identity or essential character, cannot be changed or altered. This would be his ancestors or appearance. Depravity is not something that can be passed down through a line of ancestors, and appearance is something Grendel would be able to look past or get over. Thus, Grendel's original nature wouldn’t have contributed to his wickedness. His nurture, however, would be in what conditions he grew up, and by whom he was raised. These are things that Grendel had to live with for most of his life. His nurture is his mother and where he grew up. In addition to this, his nurture is the encounters he had with the Danes and other beings. These encounters, along with the way his mother raised him, were the main catalyst of the evil being Grendel was to become. …show more content…
Upon approaching him, men thought Grendel was a spirit, and treated him carefully, saying that they should leave it be, and then offering to get it food: “Go get the thing some pig!.. Yes, sir!” (page 26) Their view of Grendel changed when they heard him roar. Immediately assuming he was a monster, they began to attack him. Grendel describes the humans as the “most dangerous beings [he] has ever met.” (page 27) This assault was what made Grendel hate the humans, and what fueled his loathing for the Danes, therefore sparking his twelve years of attacking them, as well as the beginning of his monstrous tendencies. Before this encounter, Grendel had the curiosity and innocence as any young being. After it, though, he had lost both of those things and had only gained a distrust and hatred towards the