Isolation Theme In Grendel

Our own philosophies can eventually be our downfall if we are not careful. In the story of Grendel, Grendel is pulled in two conflicting sides; one of which being the Shaper's words of hope and goodwill, but the other being the pain of isolation that resides within him. In the novel, the Shaper plays the part in which he speaks of great epics, the accomplishments and how breathtaking the human race is while at the same time shining a bad light onto Grendel. The Shaper delivers all of his words in such stunning ways that people can’t help to just take his word for it. This is what attracts Grendel to the Shaper. Grendel, a being that was told at a young age that essentially nothing around him and he himself doesn't matter, sees hope in the Shapers poetry. This is the point of confliction. Grendel finds a sense of hope and beauty in
After Grendel gets pushed away from the humans, despite his openness towards them and their ideals, Grendel is forced to separate himself from society. The pain of isolation leads to taking all of it out on the humans by killing and eating them without an ounce of mercy. This just adds to his feelings of loneliness as he continues on questioning the purpose of his life. The pain of isolations contributes towards his wish to turn the world on its head without any worries of what God thinks. All the deprecation devoted towards him and the emptiness within himself leads to his thoughts about death and how much better it would be to die rather than live in such a cruel and corrupt world. Eventually his death happens after his meeting with Beowulf. Gardner’s purpose for making Grendel a evil outcast is to resonate with the reader how much we take things in life for granted as to who we are and our overall purpose.Grendel was ultimately confused with his position in the world which is one of the reasons for his inevitable