Grendel's Mental Illness

In Seamus Heaney’s popular translation of Beowulf, Grendel is nothing but a lifeless monster with zero meaning on earth. Grendel is merely a spawned creature with zero signs of intellectual thought process or consciousness. Although Grendel’s life has zero meaning, his existence is a quintessential representation of undesired evil in a human beings life. Grendel’s representation is that of an abominable spirit portrayed through his physical build and birth, his evil motives, and the battle between him and Beowulf.
Starting with the birth and physical appearance of Grendel, there is nothing about him that could be considered ‘good’. He is described as “a fiend out of hell”, “a prowler through the dark” and a “grim demon” (Lines 86, 100, 102). Heaney proceeds to talk about why
It is not only Grendel who represents mental illnesses humans face, but his mother and the dragon as well. When Beowulf kills Grendel, it is comparable to a phase of despair humans face in mental illness. This phase does come to an end, but it is followed by another phase, and that is Beowulf killing Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother wants to avenge her son, leaving the Hrothgar saying, “Rest? What is rest? Sorrow has returned.” This comes and passes, but eventually Beowulf reaches the final phase of facing hardships in his life. Beowulf wants to eliminate the dragon that was haunting his land, but in the end, Beowulf ultimately ends up executing himself. Beowulf goes out with some final words, as people do when they commit suicide and reflect on their lives. The similarity between his death and a suicide is evident when Beowulf says, “Fate swept us away; sent my whole brave high-born clan to their final doom. Now I must follow them.” The trend in mental illness often ends in one final straw, one final phase, before the victims ultimately execute