In Gardner's novel, Grendel speaks from a first person point of view and we discover that he is not so much the brutal and heartless beast that everyone believes he is, but rather a perpetually misunderstood, lonely creature. In this story the monster is given more of a personality and humane quality. He struggles to understand the human race, when every attempt is instantly shot down because of the fear he instills into every creature he comes across. In Grendel, Grendel is nothing more than a misguided being who is trying to find a purpose in life and acts violently as a result of fear. Readers are able to more closely identify with Grendel in this story and cannot help but to empathize with the monster whenever he is victimized by others. In this novel he is considered as the protagonist of the…
In defining the isolation and hatred that Grendel has experienced throughout his whole life, Gardner creates an anti-hero that has more defining characteristics than that in the “Beowulf” text. In all, without “Grendel” the reader would not be able to experience a different perspective that differs from its medieval origins but adds a new layer to complex…
Marcion: 1. Wealthy ship owner who started preaching in Rome. 2. Challenged orthodox Christianity. 3. Excommunicated in 144…
These are understood to be explored due to the historical context of when this novel was written. As Grendel ages and matures he discovers more about himself and the world around him. The philosophies he discovers relate to the real world and what was happening when the book was written. The world was in a large amount of confusion and lots of events were going on. People had disagreements on what the right thing was to do. Grendel, in this way, is trying to figure out how to live his life. He decides to become what everyone thinks him to be. He embraces it and makes it his purpose in life to be the monster he…
D) The priest plays the role of the godly guiding force that directs the characters to tell the truth and to stand up to the evil…
As one goes through life they are both outwardly and inwardly affected by their religious beliefs and code of conduct. The code of chivalry and courtly love was based on ones honor, and the keeping of it. This can be done by three ways, being chivalrous to your king, being chivalrous to god, or being chivalrous to women. These three things are also a general fit to Christianity. These beliefs and way of keeping oneself affects Gawain and his journey through out the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Specifically Christianity affects Gawain's view of himself and how he should be, adding to the pressure of succeeding and the keeping of his honor.…
A direct view of the war on Good versus Evil is seen when the young demon, Wormwood, attempts to corrupt a human with the help of his uncle (Stade and Karbiener). Lewis exposes the war by going behind enemy lines, and narrating the story in the point of view of a demon. By using a demon as the narrator, it allows Lewis to uncover the myriad of ways humans can be tempted. The demon Lewis chooses as the narrator is an elder demon, who has many experiences with being a Senior tempter. With this choice of narrator, Lewis can show the readers a glimpse into the constant temptations they face, even the temptations they do not realize they are facing. While Lewis’s Hell and devils are not meant to be doctrinally correct, but rather Lewis chose to focus on humans and their choices and temptations they must face (Daigle-Williamson).…
More advancements are notable in the extreme no devil corollary which proposes that a worse being is likely to be that which does not thrive in the understanding and therefore, such a being exists neither in the knowledge nor the reality or the actual world. Some critics such as Timothy Chambers argue that the devil premises and corollary is more logical and compelling in comparison to the Gaunilo's challenge since it withstands and copes with the difficulties that are likely to overcome Gaunilo's claims and parody. He further recommends the no devil corollary as a stronger and more powerful challenge as it underlines the no devil parody which threats and challenges Anselm's argument and satire at its very own basis and foundations (Garrett…
Though their stories are different, intertwined in their own ways, their stories, when stripped to their underlying strands of text, are quite similar. Two separate beings, forged by the hands of a creator long gone, find themselves in a cold, cruel, world where their differences cast them out. They are neglected by their creators and rejected at every turn by all they come across. Without guidance and without discipline, these beings are made to grow in a world they do not know, to fend for themselves. The beings, Grendel and the Monster of Frankenstein, charge their way through a world that despises them, searching for companionship, for acceptance, and for their self-worth. Try as they might, they cannot succeed and their sorrow turns to…
Religion has forever been, and perhaps will forever be the most controversial topic of humanity. It is arguably one of the greatest characteristics of humankind, and yet it is also one of, if not the biggest cause of violence throughout history. One could spend an entire lifetime attempting to determine exactly what it is about religion that causes such violence. But many would agree at least, that it is interesting that the history and scriptures of most of the world’s religions speak of war and violence, as they preach of peace and love. As a result of this, it becomes easy for many individuals to become lost within their own personal interpretation of religious material. This widespread problem is why so much literature of every language revolves around such issues of religious understanding. Within the novel Fifth Business, Robertson Davies uses the character of Padre Ignacio Blazon to suggest that true spiritual understanding requires more than being a dogmatizing member of the church, or any religious establishment. This is accomplished by first establishing Blazon as the “wise old man” archetype, then by pointing out the benefits and limitations of organized religion, and finally by delivering his overall message about faith.…
In this piece of writing, it is discovered in the beginning that after the “Great Burning” had occurred, countless cities were destroyed, causing civilization as a whole to start over, therefore forcing an environmental change, that soon led to people creating new laws. These new laws including priests that were of high status. As so the main character, a boy named John, is the son of a priest. And as the son of a priest, John and his father have to go to the locations known as “Dead Places” to collect metal. It is forbidden to go to any of the Dead Places except to search for metal and then he who touches the metal must be a priest or the son of a priest (par 2). It is also forbidden for anyone to go East, towards the place of the Gods. When the time comes for John to take his spiritual journey, he asked his father, and after agreement, he travels east. Despite it being forbidden to travel east, something inside of John keeps telling him to go. As John comes across the Place of the Gods, which has been known to be forbidden and trespassing will result in death, he finds himself willing to sacrifice his life to gain the knowledge that he has a burning desire for. While at the Place of the Gods, John discovered that the gods that his people had been worshiping since the beginning of time were not gods at all, they were just merely men. When John returns home, he comes to the decision to sacrifices his relationship with his father by telling him about all the things he discovered, including that the gods were just men. In the end, John plans to take the people of his tribe to the Place of the Gods after he becomes Chief Priest to rebuild it once again. And so it is learned that personal…
Sisters of Kentucky who had taking on the mission of educating the children of the parish.…
Appearances, whether we enjoy the concept or not, will always be the basis by which humans judge things first. This is not a bad thing however, and can prove quite a useful habit of ours at times… The same way people often have a habit of growing to reflect their names, we create art and building’s to reflect the beliefs of the artists behind them. Whether those beliefs are commissioned or self-motivated, the work produced will always display a view point into one form of life so that people can see upon looking alone what is held dear by the people who created it. It’s why hospitals are clean and hotels are lavish, and why we’re going to expect specific friends houses to look a certain way before we see them. The same way all of this still applies to our life, the Catholic and Protestant Churches of the era surrounding the Reformation were designed by the people in the faith to represent the ideals of their religion, and you can see many of the differences between the two such as the belief in the supremacy of the Pope, the separate means of salvation, and the use of statues and pictures represented by the two simply by paying close attention to the detail in structures.…
During the “Middle Ages”, the period of European history from the downfall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century to the emergence of the Renaissance in the 17th century, very little scientific advancement or experimentation took place. Lacking the existence of a unifying state or form of government, the Catholic Church soon arose as the singularly most powerful and influential establishment throughout Europe. Kings and queens directly associated themselves with the Pope in order to inflate their own supremacy. Education and general philosophical interpretations were also either generated by, or carefully overseen by, the Church and its members. These conclusions about the natural world were conceived from extensive Biblical study and deeply…
Rather than the individuals being independent and in control of their own deeds, the text portrays that God has the upper hand and that their accomplishments are not truly theirs to celebrate. This is expressed through the text as a recurring value of humility: “But now a man with the Lord’s assistance,/ has accomplished something none/ of us could manage before now/ for all our efforts” (l. 938-941.) It is evident that the “but” contradicts an occurrence of the past, implying that before now no other man had the will of God in his actions to defeat Grendel. The stating of “for all our efforts” emphasises the pathos of the speaker and how much he feels he owes to God.…