alice
New Member
Posts: 30
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Post by alice on Jul 19, 2013 21:11:50 GMT
"Dark" is used quite often to describe things in Grendel, as well as many other places (duh), to describe its absence of light or its ability to blend into hiding. This darkness is continued when Grendel tells the Dragon something must come of their meeting and the Dragon responds, "Nothing...A brief pulsation in the black hole of eternity" (pg. 74). The next page over starts with the sentence, "Nothing was changed, everything was changed, by my seeing the dragon" (75). Near this part someone wrote in my copy of the book "nihilism 'nil' nothing". This got me thinkin about how many somethings Grendel actually cared about or noticed. He never really seemed to have an obvious driving purpose (though that's debatable, I know).
Later on, however, this idea of nothingness continues after the Shaper's death and Grendel wakes up and says, "Nihil ex nihilo, I always say" (pg. 150). Since my Latin is a little rusty I looked up the phrase and it means "nothing comes from nothing". Would this mean that if Grendel lives his life in darkness and nothingness, his life is nothing?
So , I guess my question is what up wit dat? Just kidding, what other places in the book do you see this idea of nothingness or nothing coming from more nothing?
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Post by jennyxu on Jul 24, 2013 21:32:07 GMT
The author really does seem to use darkness and nothingness to reflect Grendel's attitude towards life and his purpose. When Grendel describes his dark underground home, he accompanies it with a description of himself: "fists clenched against my lack of will" (9). It is a very literal and concrete image of nothing coming from nothing, as a lost being with no place in society and no will to continue his roles, regarding himself as "nothing", emerges from his empty and hollow dwelling. An interesting part is his reaction to the stars in the sky: "Stars, spattered out through lifeless night from end to end, like jewels scattered in a dead king's grave, tease, torment my wits toward meaningful patterns that do not exist" (11). The dark and empty night sky reflects the nothingness in Grendel's perception of his existence. But glimmers of light are distributed throughout this nothingness, just like hope and optimism must exist in Grendel's life. The quote shows, however, that Grendel refuses to hold on to this hope, imagining instead dark consequences that lead to more nothing - "do not exist" - and committing to his negative view of his purpose.
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Post by Marshall on Aug 27, 2013 19:20:12 GMT
Grendel is an unpredictable character by nature, because he knows his actions don't matter. His resistance to the Shaper's comforting lies, and ability to see how the humans delude themselves seem to all be a product of his worldview. One which is solidified when he believes the Dragon who says everything is arbitrary, so he must create his own purpose. The section about everything being different forms of dust reflects that nothingness. At the very beginning of the book, Grendel climbs to the edge of his cliff and challenges the chasms to "seize me to your fowl black bowels and crush my bones" (Gardner 10). I thought that this outburst was significant because he's staking his life on the belief of nothingness. If he received a response and was killed, it would prove the universe has something more, but he'd also be dead.
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