Grendel's Ideas On The Balance Between Good And Evil

Grendel, generally seen as a monster or giant, is one of the main antagonists in the popular Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. Portrayed as the epitome of evil, Grendel brutally attacks the meadhall of the Danes for twelve years before being defeated by the epic hero Beowulf. Gardner, through his book Grendel, creates a new point of view of these events through Grendel eyes, as Grendel learns about the humans and how they seem like wild animals in their actions. In Grendel by John Gardner, Gardner reveals that “Man must have evil so that he may have good to balance…” through the use of juxtaposition and aphorisms (Gardner 6). Gardner, through his book Grendel, juxtaposes scenes to show the balance between good and evil. When Grendel spy’s on the
Hrothulf’s mentor, Red Horse, comments on the idea of good versus evil actions. Red Horse says, “The incitement to violence depends upon total transvaluation of the ordinary values. By a single stroke, the most criminal acts must be converted to heroic and meritorious deeds” (Gardner 117). Red Horse shows the idea of the similarity between good and evil and how easy it is to mistake one for the other. In the quote, “heroic and meritorious deeds” show the idea of good, and “most criminal acts” communicate the idea of evil (Gardner 117). The quote also mentions that “violence depends upon total transvaluation of the ordinary values”, meaning that the ideas of good and evil are subjective, depending on personal or societal opinions or ideas (Gardner 117). As such, it implies that good and evil are subjective, as certain actions may be seen as good in one's eyes and evil in others. There must always be a balance of the two, as the ideas of good and evil change from person to person (one person may believe that they are doing good, while another thinks that the action is in fact evil). Gardner uses aphorisms through a mentor to communicate ideas of balance between good and