in John Gardner’s Grendel serves as a mentor for the main character‚ Grendel. Grendel visits the Dragon in his underground lair in hopes of finding purpose and meaning to his life of killing humans. However‚ Grendel quickly discovers that the Dragon has a unique viewpoint on life. The Dragon tells Grendel that he has the ability to see into the future‚ and‚ as a result of this vast knowledge‚ life has no real purpose. The river of time can not be slowed or altered. He tells Grendel that his place in
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In the novel‚ Grendel by John Gardener‚ Grendel is a human-like creature capable of rational thought as well as feeling emotions. Early on in the story Gardener depicts Grendel as being very observant‚ critical and somewhat spiteful of the world around him. He describes himself as a murderous monster who smells of death and crouches in the shadows. Grendel watches the humans from the shadows of the trees and at first it seems as though they are the real monsters‚ slaughtering and pillaging all for
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his freedom.” This is the illusion breaker. This helps us lean toward the fact that Grendel is‚ in fact‚ a human. Grendel is fighting for his life‚ out of fear. If he were truly a monster‚ he would not feel the need to run from Beowulf. Secondly‚ the poet’s use of emotive words help us feel the murderous and twisted feelings of Grendel. The following quote is from line 394‚ “Grendel came‚ hoping to kill.” Grendel showed up to Herot with the intention to kill as many people as possible. He has to
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Greed is a monster in today’s society. It can be compared in many ways to the monster in Beowulf‚ Grendel. Greed is selfishness and jealousy‚ which is what Grendel is full of. Grendel is lonely and it makes him jealous. The point is seeing all the people happy in the mead hall makes Grendel realize how lonely he is and all of his feelings build up and he becomes violent. Greed is the same way in humans. Someone that always puts themselves before others is selfish. They have the desire to want
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Hrothgar and his followers leave Herot‚ and Beowulf and his warriors remain to spend the night. Beowulf reiterates his intent to fight Grendel without a sword and‚ while his followers sleep‚ lies waiting‚ eager for Grendel to appear. THE BATTLE WITH GRENDEL 235 Out from the marsh‚ from the foot of misty Hills and bogs‚ bearing God’s hatred‚ Grendel came‚ hoping to kill Anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot. He moved quickly through the cloudy night‚ Up from his swampland
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Authors often have to choose between concentrating on either plot or social commentary when writing their novels; in John Gardener’s Grendel‚ any notion of a plot is forgone in order for him to share his thoughts about late sixties-early seventies America and the world’s institutions as a whole. While Grendel’s exploits are nearly indecipherable and yawn inducing‚ they do provide the reader with the strong opinions the author carries. This existentialistic novel can be seen clearly as a narrative
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Meaning in a Meaningless Place In Grendel‚ by John Gardner‚ the character Grendel considers the world to be cyclical and ponders the meaning of existence. Throughout the novel‚ the Shaper sings songs which persuade listeners to think life and the universe is greater than it actually is. The Shaper represents the power of illusions to create meaning in a meaningless place. The affects he has on the characters‚ builds the themes and conflicts in the novel. The power to create illusions is based
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Selfishness Selfishness is something that humans have been accused of since the beginning of time. Selfishness as a definition is the quality or the condition of being selfish‚ or in a more complex meaning can be known as being devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one’s interests. Being selfish is not something that all humans try to be‚ but is something that every single one of us are. Every individual in the world has had a goal that they want to achieve or a milestone
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setting and a supernatural being or god-like image. Grendel‚ has similar characteristics with Cain in genesis 4:1-6. The familiar story explains how Cain was jealous and showed hatred towards his brother Abel. This was the same way with Grendel‚ how he hated the people in Heorot and the Danes. “Conceived by a pair of those born Of Cain‚ murderous creatures banished By God‚ punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death.” (Beowulf 105-107). Grendel on the other hand‚ had a cursed life which made him
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Out from the marsh‚ from the foot of misty Hills and bogs‚ bearing God’s hatred‚ Grendel came‚ hoping to kill 395 Anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot. He moved quickly through the cloudy night‚ Up from his swampland‚ sliding silently Toward that gold-shining hall. He had visited Hrothgar’s Home before‚ knew the way— 400 But never‚ before nor after that night‚ Found Herot defended so firmly
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