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Post by austinellerbruch on Sept 1, 2013 0:15:43 GMT
There are certain sections of Grendel where Gardner plays with or totally changes the literary style of the story. For instance, in chapter 8 there are several titled passages (ex. "SCENE: Hrothulf in the Woods"(Gardner 114)) and they are are written in a sort of poetic dialogue spoken by one character (in this case, Hrothulf). Similarly, at the beginning of chapter nine, Grendel's thoughts are expressed in a poem: "December, approaching the years's darkest night, and the only way out of the dream is down and through it." (Gardner 125) and so on. Lastly, starting on page 133 (in my copy) the dialogue between the blind priest, Ork, and three other priests is written in the style of a theatrical script. Why does Gardner change the literary style at certain points? How does this reflect the story and Grendel's mindset during these sequences?
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Post by elizabethmeyer on Sept 1, 2013 23:20:52 GMT
This is something that I wondered about too. For me, the changes in literary style just helped support Grendel's apparent insanity. The way that the narration switches from first person to third person to script to poem and back again makes Grendel's mind seem just that much more addled. It really begins in chapter 7. Gardner begins with normal narration, then begins to insert parenthetical asides. Soon Grendel starts dancing and singing complete nonsense. Then follows a section that could be categorized as stage directions. After that, Grendel makes a list in which all the subjects are #1. Then comes the bit about the torus (again, how does Grendel even know something like that???). Then Gardner decides to move in a different direction "Time-Space cross-section: Wealtheow. Cut A: ... " (Gardner, 94). All the while, the narration has switched from first person to third person seamlessly. All this happens in less than four pages. I believe this is the part of the book in which Grendel's mental state really starts to deteriorate. He's discovered his own strength, he knows how to terrify the villagers, and he's had his talk with the dragon. All of this comes crashing together to addle his brains. When Grendel's mindset is more organized and less brachiating, the narration and literary style makes more sense and flows better. When Grendel is particularly violent and confused, however, the literary style gets more random and frantic, therefore conveying to the reader a more accurate sense of Grendel's true mindset.
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