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Post by Lacey Doby on Jul 7, 2013 18:40:20 GMT
"Ah, Grendel! You improve them, my boy! Can't you see that for 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. You are, so to speak, the brute existence by which they learn to define themselves. The exile, captivity, death the shrink from--the blunt fact of their mortality, their abandonment--That's what you make them recognize, embrace! You are mankind, or man's condition: inseparable as the mountain-climber and the mountain. If you withdraw, you will instantly be replaced." These are the dragon's words in chapter five.
According to the dragon, Grendel, the thing that people fear most, stimulates mankind to create and expand. Is fear the largest contributor to man's creativity? And, if so, what plays the role of Grendel now, in the modern world? |
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Post by betsyrahe on Jul 13, 2013 23:52:51 GMT
I think a lot of concepts can be drawn from fear. Like the fear of death drives people to religions, but love is another intangible concept that fuels mankind for generations. I don't believe people love out of fear. People create songs, sculptures, paintings, novels, and to seek out truths in life( aka science/religion). I do agree with the Dragon that fear creates, but I don't think it's the largest contributor of creativity. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of examples of love in Grendel. The only true example is when Grendel himself saves his mother. He shows that he cares and wants to protect her, but this is not an action the Shaper or any human would know about.
The modern day Grendel is this vast communication at our fingertips. Too much knowledge can make people paranoid and afraid. The internet can bring us facts that lead to suspicions and fear, but it can also lead to a fear of not enough communication. People are constantly communicating and people can fear they are being left out. People want to know everything that is happening in the world. They want to know what Sally said to Dave, or about that party Tina went to. Grendel is no longer a scary monster. He is the fear of knowing too much or too little. This open knowledge can make people make observations for science, or use social media to write poetry about loneliness. Fear will still cause people to create, but it is not the largest contributor.
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Post by kevinle on Jul 14, 2013 21:59:48 GMT
I think fear could be considered the largest contributor to man's ingenuity, depending on how one thinks about it. The news is often thought about as a means of scaring the public into buying protective equipment such as guns, knives, and security systems (as explained by Die Hard 4). Technology, some may consider, is created out of a fear of work. Cars prevent the pain of physical activity. Luxury prevents discomfort. Texting prevents....... nerve-racking confrontation. Fear will always be an incentive and humans always need incentive--we will always be scared of something.
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Post by natalieskowlund on Jul 25, 2013 4:36:13 GMT
I personally do not believe that fear is the largest inspiration for man's creativity, although I do believe this may have been what Gardner was getting at. In the novel, it seems that Gardner creates a hierarchy of fear, with each "lower level" of beings acting out of fear of the higher level. The highest level would be the dragon, since it is only after Grendel meets the dragon that he begins to kill humans and reject the notion of a meaningful life. Furthermore, below Grendel are human beings, who establish their whole society around the fact that they know Grendel could attack at any minute and take their lives. And even though the dragon could be considered the top of the hierarchy, even he structures his life out of fear of the meaninglessness of life; he simply sits atop a mound of riches, the only thing he believes he can keep safe and under control in the insanity of the world. Surely, Gardner aimed to portray the idea that self-aware beings develop their whole lives around the fear of something out of their control that can destroy them. Really, the whole thing seems to be a metaphor for all self-aware beings' fears of an inconsequential death and inherent desire to resist such a death.
Yet, this is where I would like to combat Gardner's premise: I do not believe that fear is what truly drives the human race to continue creating, developing and improving. How, then, could we explain Buddhist monks voluntarily lighting themselves on fire towards the beginning of the Vietnam War, or citizens choosing to enlist in the army? Surely fear would have driven people away from such actions, not towards them. I think it is more that people empathize for other people; an innate connection exists between all humans that drives us to (sometimes) sacrifice our own well-being for the greater good of the masses. I would argue that while many act upon a deep fear of death and negative occurrences, many more act out of a deep love for life, and a desire to preserve as many other lives as possible, even if doing so brings their own lives to an end.
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Post by racheladele on Jul 29, 2013 18:49:06 GMT
Humans have a tendency to fear what they do not understand. This is most certainly true in Grendel, and as others have pointed out, in religion. And yes, it does drive them to inspiration. I don't believe, however, that it is the largest contributor to creativity. In my opinion, awe is the leading factor and source of creativity. If you complied all of the poems in the world, a hefty portion would be about things such as nature. Now, nature (like the monsters we fear), is out of the control of humanity. So maybe it is this lack of control that is the greatest inspiration. It can manifest itself in many ways, including fear, awe, passion, pain etc. Pain is probably one of the most powerful. It changes and matures people, and whether it is physical or emotional, it is very difficult to ignore. Grendel feels the pain of loneliness, and at the end he feels physical pain at the loss of his arm that drives him to his end. In terms of our modern-day "Grendel," I think the only close comparison is war. War causes a similar variety of emotions, such as anxiety, fear, and pain. Some of the most beautiful, timeless and heart-wrenching poetry and songs come from times of war. (Here's an example: www.midnightangel308.com/things_you_didnt_do.htm) In modern times of war, the dragons words ring true. People pray for their soldiers and their country, technology and production leap, and witty tactics are put into play. It is so incredibly important for people to know what they're fighting for, because of the human fear of what we do not understand. But whether in times of war or not, humanity will always find inspiration and creativity in awe. |
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