It is reasonable to conclude that Grendel is defined as a monster. Throughout the novel Grendel, Grendel sees how people behave and he keeps a record of the behaviours.
But they stopped to speak their language, which then makes Grendel incapable of speaking. Rather than becoming close to humans, Grendel has become more and more distant from humans: humans do not consider Grendel as a human. Grendel, on the other hand, tries to interact with people, but he fails every single time. The Shaper told Grendel that his ancestors split the world between darkness and light and Grendel belongs to the dark side, which is a terrible race that God cursed.
Therefore we could find a reason why Grendel is doomed to be lonely: he had a wicked ancestor. Gardner writes that Grendel is able to think, feel, and reason. Since the Shaper has told Grendel that he is doomed to be a villain, Grendel feels he has to be bad. This explains the reasons for all the destructions Grendel has done in Beowulf. Grendel may eat people, but he is also a victim of the human. He constantly suffers loneliness and the burden of being hated. And the way he reacts to these is being violent and destructive.
If we take a closer look at the great hero Beowulf, we might find some disturbing facts about him that makes him indifferent than Grendel. Beowulf, just like Grendel, is somewhat isolated. He arrives Denmark as a foreigner without permission. He is raised by his uncle when his father is banished for feuding with others.
Just like Grendel, Beowulf likes to fight barehanded, even though the monsters he is facing seems much stronger than him. When Beowulf is speaking to King Hrothgar, he says: It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning.
And even when Beowulf is about to die in the fight with the Dragon, he still thinks about the treasures he has gained from the fight instead of doing something else memorable. Certainly, if we only look at Beowulf alone, Grendel is definitely a monster.
What is Grendel's weakness? This weakness, an attempt to explain Grendel's ability to hear the singing in the original poem despite his cave being many miles from the hall, is exploited by Beowulf in his battle with the monster. When frightened or weakened, Grendel is shown to shrink in size.
What nationality is Beowulf? Who is Cain in Beowulf? Breca - Beowulf's childhood friend who competed with him in a swimming match. Cain - biblical character described as an ancestor of Grendel who is infamous for killing his brother Abel, the first murder.
Killing your kin was the greatest sin in Anglo-Saxon culture. Did Beowulf sleep with Grendel's mother? Beowulf and his men celebrate in Heorot to lure Grendel out. She travels to Heorot and slaughters Beowulf's men while they are sleeping. Hrothgar tells both Beowulf and Wiglaf, who had been sleeping outside the hall during the attack, that it was the work of Grendel's mother. Is Grendel's mother evil? How was Grendel created?
Grendel, being cursed as the descendant of the Biblical Cain, is "harrowed" by the sounds of singing that come every night from the mead-hall of Heorot built by King Hrothgar.
He is unable to bear it anymore and attacks Heorot. The first warrior Grendel finds is still asleep, so he seizes the man and devours him. What is the transfer of heat from one object to another? In a study by Dr. Harry Harlow entitled "Attachment in Infant Monkeys", he determined that monkeys often associate behavioral issues with abandonment from their mothers. The question is, is Grendel truly a monster? Grendel is not a monster, due to the fact that he did all the killing and eating unknowingly.
Grendel cannot be held responsible for his actions. This is mainly because he has been rejected by his mother for years and in turn, it has taken a hefty toll on him.
The countless murders he has committed do not even have a justifiable reason any more. For instance, the line "I let out a howl so unspeakable that the water at my feet turn sudden ice and even I myself am left uneasy" Gardner pg. So when Grendel tried to interact with the humans, he didn't understand what to do, so the confusion caused him to lash out and became violent and delinquent.
According to Dr. Harlow, children that do not get shown affection tend to grow up to have violent tendencies. With a lack of affection the baby's behavior would drastically change. For instance, in Dr.
Harlow's study he concluded that "The behavior of these infants was quite different when the mother was absent from the room" paragraph 8. This shows that without love and affection from their mothers the babies attitudes completely changed.
In comparison to Grendel, Grendel has been raised his whole life with virtually no interaction from his mother. Keith Rice stated in his research on Dr. Harlow's experiment that "deprivation of emotional bonds to live mother monkeys as infant monkeys these now adult monkeys were unable to create a secure attachment with their own offspring" paragraph 9.
Grendel follows the philosophical evolution, from solipsism to nihilism, of a socially isolated creature, a monster.
In investigating his own nature, the monster in the story destroys himself. Grendel is dead long before his body fails him.
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