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Post by carolinedorman on Aug 14, 2013 23:36:53 GMT
I didn’t have the biggest pride for humanity after reading Grendel’s depiction of the humans’ brute savagery towards each other. It reminded me of how humans fight and kill each other in war (sometimes pointlessly) to settle an argument or gain more land. As I was searching for more redeemable qualities in humanity, however, I thought of art and music. Humans also have redeemable qualities and are capable of creating beauty in the world. When Grendel experiences the Shaper and Wealtheow for the first time, he experiences wonder and shock. He even slightly believes the shaper is capable of transforming the truth. The dragon, however, crushes Grendel’s perspective of humans after he asserts that the shaper is merely creating an illusion to help humans believe what they want to believe. Do you agree with the dragon’s perspective that music is a façade covering up the ills of human society?
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Post by clairem on Aug 15, 2013 0:12:47 GMT
It is so true that humanity was oft portrayed in a harsh light throughout the novel and music, art, and poetry were definitely the most ‘redeemable qualities’ that humans possess. I found that I agreed with what the Dragon said although with a positive spin. He discussed poetry, music, art, and the Shaper as aids to the foolishness of man and how humans use these art forms to define themselves but they are alive for so little time it is unnecessary. I agree with the Dragon that the Shaper, “puts together all their facts with a fluey whine of connectedness” (Gardner 55) but I believe this is an important job that the Shaper does. The point of art and music in my eyes is to create a universal message that humans can connect to emotionally, connectivity is what motivates humans to create art and music because, as the Dragon earlier comments, “connectedness is the essence of everything” (Gardner 55). I also agree with the Dragon when he discusses on page 62 the fact that poetry, science, and religion are used by humans to define themselves. Unlike the Dragon who believes these are only used to help us cope with our mortality and are not useful for sentimentality, I would argue that the point of these ideas are to help us understand our lives while we are living and help us connect with others that share common interests to make our short time on earth last longer in the company of others.
Also I disagree with Unferth later in the novel when he states that, “Poetry’s trash, mere clouds of words, comfort to the hopeless” (Gardner 76). He shares a commonality with the Dragon in terms of believing that art and poetry and music are only a way to cope with death, but I believe they are a way of ‘coping’ with life. They possess major power in their ability to connect us to other humans and sympathize and gain understanding for those around us who are going through similar or different experiences. Music does not cover up the ills of humans but rather exposes them and allows others with the same problems to discuss them and empathize with one another.
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Post by coreybrown on Sept 2, 2013 4:41:20 GMT
I definitely agree that the music of the Shaper in this novel is an art used to distract the populous from the ills of society, but it’s still a beautiful art. I agree with Claire in that poetry and music do not strictly distract, they also offer a way to connect with people and offer some enjoyment to life. I disagree, however, with the idea that they expose the faults and ills of society as portrayed in this book. In contemporary culture, I would definitely agree that poetry and music offer society a way to see the problems of the modern world. They give artists an opportunity to express something about what they believe and expose a truth to the world. The Shaper’s music and poetry in Grendel, however, is used to distract and distort the truth.
At the very end of the novel, an unexpected character gets to try his hand at the Shaper’s art. During his final battle with Beowulf, Beowulf forces Grendel to sing.
Now sing of walls! Sing!
“…I sing of walls,” I howl. “Hooray for the hardness of walls!”
Terrible, he whispers. Terrible…
“You’re crazy,” I say. “If you think I created that wall that cracked my head, you’re a fucking lunatic.”
Sing walls, he hisses…
“The wall will fall to the wind as the windy hill will fall and all things thought in former times: Nothing made remains, nor man remembers. All these towns shall be called the shining towns!”
(171 – 172)
Besides the irony that Grendel did in fact cause, by way of his tormenting of the people of Hrothgar’s hall, the wall on which Beowulf cracked his head to be built, what else does this song express? We’ve talked about the Shaper’s music and what its ‘purpose’ is, but what is this song’s ‘purpose’ so to speak? We know of Grendel’s fascination with the Shaper and his enchanting songs, but what of Grendel’s song?
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