Post by hannahboe on Sept 4, 2013 4:18:44 GMT
In “Grendel” by John Gardner, humans are quickly established as Grendel’s primary enemy in the story, and as it is told from Grendel’s point of view, humanity or human qualities are often displayed in a negative light. Many of these human traits, however, are also evident in Grendel’s behavior, though narrator bias often renders Grendel ignorant to the parallels between himself and humans.
A certain amount of irony exists where Grendel scorns humans for their flaws – those same flaws which he readily describes in himself, though never recognizing the similarities. One example stands out: man’s brutality and hunger for victory; their desire for power. In his early escapades to the mead halls Grendel marvels at the violence which men seem driven by and the reverence they have for their ability to plunder, conquer, and kill. Grendel is evidently struck by human’s ability – and desire – to dominate or destroy those so close of kin:
In the time before Grendel visits the dragon, his drive to enter the mead hall is not to establish his strength or inspire fear, thus man’s obsession with domination remains a puzzling habit to him. However, the dragon seemed to have considerable sway over Grendel. The dragon’s telling Grendel:
gives Grendel an excuse to terrorize the people of Hrothgar’s realm. (I am not of the opinion that Grendel continued to attack Hrothgar’s people to improve them, rather I think it really was just an excuse.) This justification only brought out Grendel’s inherent animal instinct to establish power and dominate over lesser beings – that same instinct which Grendel scoffs at in the humans he attacks.
A certain amount of irony exists where Grendel scorns humans for their flaws – those same flaws which he readily describes in himself, though never recognizing the similarities. One example stands out: man’s brutality and hunger for victory; their desire for power. In his early escapades to the mead halls Grendel marvels at the violence which men seem driven by and the reverence they have for their ability to plunder, conquer, and kill. Grendel is evidently struck by human’s ability – and desire – to dominate or destroy those so close of kin:
“. . . the men still drinking, getting louder and braver, talking about what they were going to do to the bands on the other hills. . . . All the bands did the same thing. . . . It was slightly ominous because of its strangeness – no wolf was so vicious to other wolves . . .” (32).
In the time before Grendel visits the dragon, his drive to enter the mead hall is not to establish his strength or inspire fear, thus man’s obsession with domination remains a puzzling habit to him. However, the dragon seemed to have considerable sway over Grendel. The dragon’s telling Grendel:
“’You improve them, my boy! Can’t you see that in yourself? You stimulate them! You make them think and scheme. You drive them to poetry, science, religion, all that makes them what they are for as long as they last’” (72-73)
gives Grendel an excuse to terrorize the people of Hrothgar’s realm. (I am not of the opinion that Grendel continued to attack Hrothgar’s people to improve them, rather I think it really was just an excuse.) This justification only brought out Grendel’s inherent animal instinct to establish power and dominate over lesser beings – that same instinct which Grendel scoffs at in the humans he attacks.