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Beowulf has been a very good and controversial piece of literature since it was first written back in the 14 th century. John Gardner, an American author was born in Batavia, New York. Gardner was novelist, epic poet, and a scholar. He was born on July 21, 1933. There he attended local schools and worked on his fathers farm. He grew up liking music and literature.
Although being drawn to chemistry he decided to go into writ ting, having good grades in English an all. Gardner eventually became a well-known writer and wrote many stories, one of them is Grendel. In one of his greatest works, entitled, Grendel, he depicts a fierce man-like creature, who kills warriors and eats them for lunch. In the story, Hrothgar is the good guy, and Grendel is the enemy.
In the story of Grendel, the monster is depicted as intelligent rather than a monster full of violence. Grendel is very astute and clever and takes advice from the dragon. Grendel proves this when he defies Uther in not killing him. He makes fun of him when Uther challenges Grendel to a fight. Grendel is much bigger and makes fun of him in the throwing of the apples.
The monster as Grendel is often refered as, tries at one time to convene with the people, but is often attacked when he causes fear, such as the fear that the dragon caused him. The point of this paper is to say, Is Grendel really a monster or is he just trying to survive like any other living creature. ? I Grendel a hero? Or is he just a nuisance to society that has to be crushed for the better of the people. What I will try to prove in this paper is the question, Is Grendel really a monster or is he not? (my own opinion) Grendel is a monster who is strong and astute. But is he really a monster.
In the story he is depicted as such. When he attacks the soldiers or the people and eats them up, we can see the wrathfulness and the power where he attacks the people. Grendel at one point tries to make friends with the Scyldings but they take it as an act of violence. Of course, when the people see Grendel they attack and Grendel has to defend himself. He roams the town exploring his empire. What the Scyldings do not know is that he has a very keen vision.
He could see into embark when everyone e thought that he could not. Grendel was very strong when he met the dragon. The dragon gave the monster a power resembling immortality. Why Grendel was caught tin the extreme and was bering rammed by the bull, his keenness and his smartness enabled him to dodge or defend himself from the dangerously horns of the bull. This is not a monster like any other monster. He does not use only brute force to get what he wants but uses his intelligence to outsmart them.
Grendel is more than a most. This is proven first in the latter sentence as I explained about the bull and how Grendel astutely fights him even though he cannot move. H ingeniously dodges the bulls horns and the bull charges. The many times he outsmarted the men and killed them when they thought that monster could not see and when they were drunk. Also the times he hid when the people though by some kind of fungus or mold growing out of the tree.
and when he hid behind the statue when he was talking to the priest Ork and heard the other priest coming. A very important part of the story is that proves that he is a thinker more than a monster is when Unferth challenges him to a fight. Unferth being courage's but kind of stupid at the same time challenges this monster. Grendel takes care of him wi apples. He does not kill him however takes him back to his lair. After a talk, Grendel lets Unferth go.
This is a big dishonor to Unferth who then tries hard to have Grendel kill him. Grendel however hard that Unferth tries, spares his life proving that Grendel is smart enough to understand the meaning of shame and honor. Grendel also seems kind of human when he feels all alone and without anybody to talk to. No friends only his mother which language she does not speak.
He cares for his mother although this is not really shown in the text. Grendel at one point wants to be with the Scylds and wants them to accept him. Although he tries, he fails. He wants to be with them after getting almost used when after a while of watching how they react and act he is almost drawn into that. Also at one point, he is lured by the Shapers songs. Grendel loves poetry and the songs of the Shaper almost lure him into it.
Also at the end he knows he can kill the Scylds but thinks smart and says that if he kills the Scylds, he will no longer have a reason to live, he will not have anymore fun. Bibliography: WORKS CITED Douglas, Hugo, James, Knox, Lawall, Mack, Mc Galliard, Pasinetti, Patterson, Thalman, Space, Welleck. The Norton Anthology World Masterpieces. 7 th edition. Vol. 1. New York. WW Norton & Company. 1999. 1057 - 1103.
Gardner, John. Grendel. New York. Random House, Inc. 1971
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