Who Is The Real Monster In Beowulf

In Raffel’s translation of Beowulf, the poet talks about three monsters who have distinct characteristics. All three monsters are enraged, but they are fighting for different reasons. Throughout the fighting their human qualities are put on display. Grendal shows human characteristics such as greediness, loneliness, and ruthlessness; whereas, Grendal’s mother portrays her features of grief, revenge, and love throughout this poem. The dragon also shows human characteristics including hate, anger, and temor. The human attributes assist in personifying them as more than ordinary monsters: the monsters are also not normal because of how complicated it is to get in their homes. The poet gives human qualities to all three monsters in Beowulf and it is represented by the characters Grendal, Grendal’s mother, and the dragon. …show more content…
Grendal has attacked Herot for years alone; however, he only attacks at night time when the guards at the mead hall are sleeping. Grendal does this to avoid any type of physical abuse that might happen in the day time—showing his cowardness. Furthermore, Grendal portrays as being “spawned in slime” p.33 ,conceived by a pair of monsters, born of Cain, and punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death. Grendal has thoughts that are quick like his greed for murder. He never feels remorse, and he is always delighted by his actions. Although Grendal is afflicted with violent, animal attributes, his actions occur based on other human emotions, such as jealousy and resentment. Grendal is unconscious and unaffected by the pain and suffering he causes to everyone around him. Grendal has no feelings, and he rules the area while all fear