Why I blame the dragon! With special guest Slaughterhouse 5!

From what I have read of previous threads, there has been a decent amount of discussion surrounding the dragon. Seeing as I am showing up a little bit late to the party, I thought I would go in a bit of a different direction. As I was reading Grendel I personally drew a connection in my mind between the dragon and the Tralfamadorians in Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5. (If you haven't read Slaughterhouse 5 before, I apologize as you will be relatively lost in this post, but I'm not that sorry as Slaughterhouse 5 is too good a book for you to not have read it yet!) I personally feel that the dragon holds a considerable responsibility for leading Grendel towards his doom, and I believe the doctrine the dragon believes in is the core of a slight change in Grendel's mindset. Similarly to the Tralfamadorians denying purpose in life, saying "There is no why," the dragon replies to Grendel, "Why? Why? Ridiculous question! Why anything?" as Grendel was asking about one "improving one's character" (72). Both the dragon and the aliens cite a broader view of time as the source of this bleak opinion. And just as the Tralfamadorians lead Billy to somewhat accept suffering rather than trying to change it, I think the dragon's ideas directly cause Grendel to fall into his allegedly concrete role of mankind's "brute existent" (73) and accept his ultimate demise before it happens. Ultimately, both the Tralfamadorians and the dragon remove (psychologically, at least) the choices of Billy and Grendel, respectively. The dragon very directly denies Grendel's ideas of improving one's behavior, ultimately sealing his fate as man's bane. In one last connection, just as the Tralfamadorians' lives are ultimately more restricted by their beliefs than the humans they pity, the dragon is help captive by his own cynical views: stuck sitting on his gold.

As I thought about this connection, I found it very helpful in explaining my reasoning for blaming the dragon for a significant portion of Grendel's demise. What do you guys think? Do you agree with my logic regarding the impact of the dragon's doctrine on Grendel?