Grendel

In the story of Grendel, Grendel begins as a young immature child, who wishes only to explore and ponder how and why things are the way they are. As he continues to discover the reality of the harsh cruel world that is the human world Grendel begins to feel lonely, unaccepted, and shameful. Instead of simply watching the humans as they evolve like he has for so many years, he begins to question himself and why he is the way he is. He watched the people develop into a happy and stable society and now he wishes to do the same fore he is neither happy nor stable. In the fifth chapter Grendel comes across the all-knowing dragon that is willing to answer his questions about why things are the way they are. The dragon represents the greed and darkness that is with in Grendel. It could be seen as Grendel’s id because it has been influencing to stop searching for answers to the questions of life and simply embrace the destruction he could cause to the humans. The dragon tells him to attack the humans and instead of asking why to ask why not. This vision of “why not” that is put into Grendel’s head makes him no longer have reason behind trying to be good and join the humans who were so unkind to him in the past. When Grendel leaves the dragon’s lair it marks a major tone shift in Grendel’s behaviors. The shaper that Grendel previously listened to with much interest, about why the people embraced the manipulation of history to create organization, no longer appealed to Grendel. This marks Grendel’s coming of age for he is passed the curiosity and exploration part of his life and is now making decisions based off knowledge. Grendel says “it is one thing to listen to poets’ versions of time past and visions to come, it’s another to know, as coldly and simply as my mother knows her pile of bones, what is” (75). He knows that what the shaper says is completely false and “it no longer filled [him] with doubt and distress, loneliness, shame. It enraged [me]” (75). His desire for harmony with the human race is now a distant memory and now the cruel reality that he and the humans are enemies fills him with anger. As a young adult Grendel is fighting to find his self-identity and his evil unconscious mind, the dragon, has made him into a human hating monster. When he is first attacked the part of him that is still a kid is frightened of the humans despite his invulnerable flesh, but when he finally has victory and bites off the head of the guard, he fulfills the desires of his subconscious. From this he develops an unknown joy from satisfaction that he is doing what he is “meant” to do. Finally feeling complete and having purpose Grendel is forced into a lifelong war with Hrothgar to continuously fulfill the needs of the dragon dictated to him.

Is Grendel Bad?

            The story of Grendel begins in the 11^th year of his unstoppable rampage of Hrothgar’s kingdom. From the story of Beowulf it seemed that Grendel was upset with the people of his kingdom because of the loud music they played and their celebrations that seemed to go late in to the night; however, Gardner uses a mindless ram as a symbol of what truly bothers Grendel. Grendel seems to be frustrated that the ram solely acts off instinct as apposed to using his brain. Grendel says “do not think my brains are squeezed shut, like the ram’s, by the roots of horns” (6), which opens the book giving the impression that he has not simply been mindlessly killing the human race off the instinct of being a monster. It even points out that he also enjoys eating other animals such as cows and pigs. While Grendel is watching the ram he emphasizes that he “cannot bear to look” at it because it has a “mindless ache to mount what ever happens near” (6). Although it is natural for a ram to want to have sex during it’s mating season, the fact that it does not put thought into what it is doing annoys Grendel. This shows that Grendel’s mind is more complex and logical than the book Beowulf had suggested. He even asks himself “why can’t these creatures discover a little dignity?” (6), which further points out his desire for reason and answers to questions about the world. His intellectual thought process is more developed than even an average human which causes the actions of humans to look worse than those that Grendel performs himself. Although Grendel spends a lot of time criticizing the ram he is also aware that he too cannot help but act off instinct and acknowledges that some things are uncontrollable. Before Grendel plans to go back to the natural world to eat he thinks, “I feel my anger coming back, building up like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up—as mechanical as anything else—fists clenched against my lack of will my belly growling, mindless as wind, for blood” (9). Grendel knows that when his need for food arises that he is unable to control his lack of will, he describes himself as “mechanical” and “mindless as wind”, which are similar descriptions he used to describe the ram. This suggests that Grendel too is simply acting off instinct rather then simple anger against the humans. Gardner uses the contrast between the ram and Grendel to show that since many do not view a ram as sinful or bad for “mounting everything” because it’s natural, then it would be wrong to accuse Grendel of being wrong and sinful for feasting on humans. They may simply be viewed as lower on the food chain. Just as a bear eats a fish, Grendel eats people because his “belly [is] growling […] for blood”, not with intentions to harm the people.