According to the dragon in Grendel, it is ethical for humans to place value on the life of another creature since nothing in the entire universe has any true meaning or value. In chapter five of Grendel, the dragon tells Grendel that “In a billion billion billion years, everything will have come and gone several times, in various forms… Meaningless, however. These jugs and pebbles, everything, these too will go” (Gardner 70). The dragon clearly believes nothing in the universe has a meaning or a purpose; everything just exists. Therefore, the dragon says, it is ethical for humans to place value on other creatures because the value they place on those creatures is meaningless – simply an illusion created by humans to make sense out of the universe.…
Fate and free will are two of the most discussed topics in Grendel. Grendel, the main protagonist, states that all the actions done by animals including feeding and reproduction are mindless tasked control by instincts. In this statement, Grendel is alluding to fate which he describes as an unbreakable cycle that will ultimately be completed. However, throughout the book Grendel is trying fight back against fate by determining his own future through his own actions, free-will. While speaking with the all-knowing dragon Grendel learns that no matter what he does that he will always be portrayed as an evil monster. Although Grendel likes to think he does have free-will, it doesn’t make a difference since his fate has already been sealed.…
In writing from Grendel’s perspective, I think Gardener is trying to makes us sympathize with Grendel. While reading the story from Grendel’s point of view we can see that he also felt fear at some point in his life. Like when he caught his foot in the crack where two old treetrunks joined Grendel says “I shrieked in fear; still no one came.” In Grendel’s story he says men are dangerous thinking creatures, “Suddenly I knew I was dealing with no dull mechanical bull but with thinking creatures, pattern makers, the most dangerous things I'd ever met”. In his story we can see that they were the ones that made him a monster because they could not understand him. They just saw that he was an ogre an assumed he was a monster, so they attacked him…
In Chapter 5, Grendel falls in the lair of the Dragon. Through his conversation with the Dragon, Grendel is introduced to nihilism. The Dragon it seems, is the ultimate nihilistic entity who knows "the beginning, the present, the end . all time, all space." (62, 63) The Dragon believes that all things in the universe will come to an end and are therefore meaningless and discounts existentialism as a philosophy. His final advice to Grendel is to "seek out gold and sit on it" (74) if for no sake other then doing it. Grendel leaves the Dragon's lair with a renewed confidence in himself. Believing the Dragon's words to be true, Grendel finds no reason to restrain his inherently…
The dragon also says, “That’s where the Shaper saves them. Provides an illusion of reality . . . spins it all together with harp runs and hoots, and they think what they think is alive, thinks Heaven loves them. It keeps them going” (65) He is trying to prove to Grendel how humans use and make up God and Heaven as a source of comfort and faith. The dragon also blatantly says to Grendel that there is no god, no heaven, and no hell, that the universe has no purpose. He solidifies this idea by…
When Grendel first raids the meadhall, he “[feels] a strange, unearthly joy… as if [he is] born again” (79-80). Grendel feels like raiding the meadhall gave a meaning to his life, and, like the dragon said, he raids the meadhall to “improve” and “stimulate” humans (72). The dragon says that Grendel “[drives humans] to poetry, science, [and] religion” through his raids by helping them recognize “the blunt facts of their mortality,” which is “death” (72-73). Gardner uses the dragon to represent Grendel’s nihilistic feeling of joy upon bringing death and destruction to mankind. Later in his raid, Grendel mocks Unferth, saying “everybody [is] always watching you, weighing you, seeing if you’re still heroic” (84). Grendel mocks Unferth because of his desire to heroically defend his king—his ability to hope. The dragon instilled his nihilistic philosophy into Grendel, and Gardner makes it explicitly clear that the dragon’s influence is prevalent here by saying “the dragon-scent in the room grew stronger”…
Bored by the isolation of the Wild West, Grendel begins to pick up a drinking habit to kill time. It all started when he went out to hunt for food. He found an old woman living outside the town. After killing and eating her, Grendel found multiple jars with the word “XXX Granny’s Moonshine” written across it. Disgust by the spleen taste of the old woman in his mouth, Grendel decided to drink down the liquid to clean up his taste butt. He was hooked.…
The Dragon asserts that Grendel's life, as all others, are all tiny blips on the vast future and history of the entire world thus far. When speaking on the subject the Dragon sarcastically implies that free will is a facade stating, “So much for free will and intercession.” (Gardner 63) In this quote, the Dragon is explaining how, even though he can see the future, he is powerless to alter it. This realization plays a major role in the ideas of the Dragon and the philosophies that he exerts. As a result of the realization that the future is finite, the Dragon concludes that nothing truly matters. The Dragon then pushes further with the assertion and treasures Grendel that it is not only his life that is meaningless but his own as well. Through these teachings to Grendel, the dragon is beginning to build his nihilistic…
For example, he includes “It didn’t matter what they did to each other. It was slightly ominous because of its strangeness-no wolf was so vicious to other wolves”(Gardner 32). This is when Grendel began to see mankind's brutal characteristics as they slaughtered each other. In his death bed Grendel continues to progress before he dies. He curses everyone, including animals by stating “So may you all”(Gardner 174) suffer from a tragic ending as he has. He turns into the ultimate nihilistic once he damns everyone; but it’s ironic due to the fact his victims have felt just as he…
This passage reveals the Danes’ understanding of Grendel as a creature in direct opposition to God who destroys and literally consumes human life. They believe him to relish…
Several scenes in Grendel reflect real world situations. In some scenarios, Grendel interactions with other characters are no different than that of us with friends or family members. This is most easily seen in chapter seven when Grendel stumbles upon a dragon guarding a large pile of gold and gems. The dragon proceeds to give Grendel advice and discuss the habits of, not only Grendel himself, but also the humans. The dragon very clearly views himself as wiser and superior to humans and Grendel. Let’s face it, we all have that one classmate who thinks he knows absolutely everything and is not afraid to let us inferior students know about it. The dragon reminds me of a know-it-all student, or maybe even an older sibling- someone who has been praised for knowing so much that they assume they know everything.…
The Dragon on the other hand is set with his future, he is ready for it to happen and very casual about his acceptance of his fate. The dragon tells Grendel “In a billion billion billion years, everything will have come and gone several times, in various forms. Even I will be gone. A certain man will absurdly kill me. A terrible pity—loss of a remarkable form of life. Conservationists will howl." He chuckled. "Meaningless, however. These jugs and pebbles, everything, these too will go.” The dragon expresses the other side of the human-like reliability on fate and that nothing he does in his lifetime will change his ending. He relize on fate and a higher power so he can rest easy and not have worry about his actions and how they affect others because everything will be gone one day. In the end Grendel knew his fate of death but that didn’t stop him from fighting “Afraid or not, I would go to the mead hall, I knew. I toyed, of course, with the ridiculous theory that I'd stay where I was safe, like a sensible beast. "Am I not free?—as free as a bird?" I whispered, leering, maniacal. I have seen—I…
Grendel in the beginning of the novel is naïve and innocent to the world and really does not know what to believe, leaving many questions. After leaving his mother’s cave Grendel’s innocence is no longer unblemished and is introduced to an obscure world. As a shield against the rest of the universe and its many skeptics Grendel tries to derive meaning from the world. Although after he leaves his mother and becomes independent Grendel realizes his mission in life is to disrupt the lives of the humans. During this time Grendel is stuck in profound confusion by how he feels that nothing is truly of significance in the world, and how no matter how many men he kills, he will not break their spirits.…
In the fifth chapter when the dragon has his long talk with Grendel, the dragon really does a lot to influence both Grendel's spiritual and overall life outlook. Given the situation that both Grendel and the dragon are in, it is hard to disagree with how the dragon advises Grendel to live. "He shook his head. My advice to you my friend, is to seek out gold and sit on it.'" (Gardner 74) That statement is funny simply because it is, but it also makes the reader think of how they would find purpose in life if they were either immortal or granted unnaturally long life. After a while there is only so much that can be achieved.…
In the epic of Beowulf, one of the warrior’s biggest adversaries is a creature from the swamp named Grendel. Although the character of Grendel is present for only a short portion in the story of Beowulf, Grendel signifies one of the important messages in the text about humanity. In Beowulf, Grendel is called a ‘monster’. However, if observed closely, analyzing the meaning behind the story, it is easy to see that Grendel is not a typical monster, in fact, it doesn’t seem like he is a monster at all. There is much evidence within the short period of the text where Grendel is present, which indicates he is not a true monster. In observing the relationship with his mother, his circumstances of his given situation, and his own actions it is obvious that the character of Grendel is extremely complex and is much more than just your typical ‘monster’.…