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Post by stever on Aug 8, 2013 0:50:10 GMT
The Dragon and the Shaper present a stark contrast to each other in Grendel. The Dragon mocks humans’ myopia – their preoccupation on their purpose and individuality despite their insignificance in the vast universe. He derides the Shaper, who gives people a sense of significance and order. While Grendel seems to partially agree with the Dragon’s ideas, he still seems drawn to the Shaper, even though he believes, like the dragon, that the Shaper is merely practicing illusion and trickery.
How do these competing forces influence Grendel? Is he drawn more to one side of the Dragon-Shaper spectrum, or does he lie somewhere in the middle? How do these competing influences create conflict for Grendel and those around him? Is there value in both of these forces and in the conflict between them, or is one more significant than the other?
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Post by robertxu on Aug 11, 2013 2:58:34 GMT
I am a fan of The Shaper. While the Dragon contributes nothing to society besides striking fear and terror into the hearts of humans, The Shaper comforts individuals. With that being said, the Dragon's ideology of nihilism is more applicable to the world of Grendel because of the amount of senseless slaughter that goes on. War, the Dragon, and Grendel all lead to the normalization of death. I'm sure after about the tenth time Grendel stormed Hrothgar's hall, people would have completely stopped caring about life if it weren't for individuals like The Shaper and Wealhtheow.
The Dragon's view of the world is more grounded in reality and therefore he has more of an effect on Grendel. There are a few exceptions such as when Gardner writes about Grendel's first time listening to The Shaper, "I was so filled with sorrow and tenderness I could have hardly have found it in my heart to snatch a pig!" (Gardner 44). Nonetheless, The Shaper can only influence Grendel's thinking for so long. Reality sets in and the humans attack Grendel despite Grendel's new turn of heart.
Grendel says to his mother, "It was a cold-blooded lie that a god had lovingly made the world...the Old Shaper, might make it true, by the sweetness of his harp, his cunning trickery" (Gardner 55).
Clearly Grendel wants to believe The Shaper's lies, but its hard to love one's human neighbor when he/she is trying to hack you to pieces. Personally I believe that there is more value to The Shaper than The Dragon. The Shaper positively influences others' behaviors (maintains relative peace at least among Hrothgar's hall) while the Dragon is manipulative and has only been a negative influence to Grendel by teaching him that there is no right or wrong.
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