Grendel Vs. Beowulf Essay - 928 Words

Grendel nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;One of the most compelling and highly developed characters in the novel Grendel, written by John Gardner, and the poem Beowulf, written by an anonymous poet, is the monster, Grendel. Even though these pieces show two different sides to Grendel they are similar in many ways. Grendel evokes sympathy toward the hideous monster by making him seem like the victim, while Beowulf portrays him as being the most loathsome of enemies. The reasons behind Grendelamp;#8217;s being, his killing, and finally his death make him one of the most controversial and infamous monsters in literature. Grendel is the man-killing monster that Beowulf portrayed him as being, yet he is also the lonely victim of a judgmental†¦show more content†¦The poet in Beowulf also mentions that despite his strength and magnitude, Grendel is not comparable to the devil despite his truly evil ideals. It is made clear that he has no other choice but to be this way, and there must be an evil f orce in all societies to distinguish the heroes from the cowardly thanes. This is made evident in Grendel when during the dragonamp;#8217;s speech to Grendel he says, amp;#8220;You are mankind, or manamp;#8217;s condition: inseparable as the mountain-climber and the mountain. If you withdraw, youamp;#8217;ll instantly be replaced. Brute existence, you know, are a dime a dozen.; The dragon is saying that even if Grendel decides to change his course in life and never kill another man, nothing will change. Man will be forced to find a new monster to wage war against, for good can not exists without some evil. Beowulf also hints at this by referring to Beowulfamp;#8217;s first battle with the nicors in his childhood swimming race against Brecca. Without his defeat of the nicors, Beowulf would not have become thought of as a hero and therefore would never have been sent to protect Hrothgaramp;#8217;s men from Grendel. Beowulf tells of Grendelamp;#8217;s spontaneous attacks on the meadhall where he would kill and devour sleeping thanes until his thirst for blood was quenched. This description of Grendel shows his nature as an animal simply responding to his jealousyShow MoreRelatedBeowulf vs Grendel Essay713 Words   |  3 Pages The roles that Beowulf and Grendel played in the story were very easily deciphered. Beowulf being pure good, and Grendel being pure evil. One of the reasons of why the book â€Å"Beowulf† is so well known is because of the fact that it is one of the first stories of good vs. evil, or light vs. dark. In modern good and evil stories, there are super heroes with super powers. They use these powers for the good of the world and to help innocent people. 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