Frankenstein And Grendel Comparison

Grendel and the “Monster”
The character of Grendel in John Gardner’s is more appealing than the “monster” in the novel Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley because they both use of first-person point of view, they both show how the characters grow, and they both have difficult situations in the end.
In the book Grendel by John Gardner you are taken on a journey through the mind of Grendel the beast that terrorized the land of old Denmark. In this story you get to experience what Grendel is thinking as the story plays out in a first-person point of view. This helps the reader create a connection with the reader as they go through his thoughts. John Gardner’s Grendel says, “I understood that the world was nothing; a mechanical chaos of casual, brute
enmity which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears” (22). In this quote you can see how Grendel has a sort of epiphany as he seems to discover what the world is really about. The monster in the book Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley is portrayed as a veil and evil creature and we come to believe that’s as we live the story through Dr. Frankenstein’s point of view not the monsters. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein says, “It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony. I collected the instruments of life around me that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet” (47). In this quote Frankenstein speaks about how he brings his monster to life. Grendel undergoes some major changes in his journey to discover who and what he really was, as they show him not only grown up but also as an infant. John Gardner’s Grendel says, “I used to play when I was young-it might as well be a thousand years ago” (15). This quote shows how Grendel no longer cares for things like playing and also shows how he has matured throughout his life. He has grown up and all the things he wanted as a child are no longer of interest to him now that he is older. He no longer questions his place on earth or tries to make friends with the humans. All he wants to do is kill them as the hatred for them keeps on growing. In the story Frankenstein you can see how the monster grows and learns what it means to be alive as he speaks to Frankenstein for about the first time since he was created. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein says, “It was with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being; all the events of that period appear confused and indistinct; and it was indeed a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses” (87). Here you can see how the monster learn to comprehend how his body works and what senses are. This example of intelligence shows the growth that he had to undertake to get to the point he was at while speaking to Dr. Frankenstein. At the end of the story Grendel by John Gardner, Grendel is faced with a gruesome situation which ends with his inevitable death. As he cries out for help there is no one who will give him aid. John Gardner’s Grendel says, “Mama! I bellow. Mama, Mama! I’m dying! But her love is history” (173). As displayed in this quote Grendel is all alone and not even his own mother will help him. John Gardner creates sympathy for Grendel by describing how all the animals gather to watch the death of Grendel. At the end of the novel Frankenstein we find the monster standing over the body of Dr.
Frankenstein as he has perished due to his old age. He is found crying for his creator even though he had nothing but anger for him the monster is sorry as he loses the last piece of his past, and the only connection to humanity that he really head. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein says, “Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The light of that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace or if it thinks it will not surely think thus. Farewell” (186). Here we find Frankenstein says that he will vanish into the world where he will never be seen or heard from again. Grendel and Frankenstein’s monster are very similar due to the fact that there particular books use a form of first person which enables us to be a part of their story. They both show how each character grows whether they grow to show hatred for human or grow to understand life they both grow. Both characters have very difficult situations as they both deal with deaths whether their own or someone they loved. All these situations and characteristics make these two characters and their situations very
similar.