A Modern Grendel :: Literature, Beowulf

In the epic poem Beowulf, the monster Grendel is depicted as a villainous wolf with an unquenchable thirst for human trope and blood. Grendel, written by John Gardner, though, offers a to a greater extent nuanced depiction of the beast by describing the events in Beowulf through Grendels narration. Throughout the story, Grendel adopts various amatory characteristics and beliefs including isolation, individualism, and mysticism. These romantic characteristics, though, foster Grendels murderous intentions and in turn gives him an anti-hero persona. Nearing the end of the novel, his romantic antihero trends trans mixed bags his livelihood into a never ending limbo. His only salvation comes in the form of death. Grendels inevitable demise represents inescapable fate.Romanticism places a heavy focalise on separation from society. In Gardners novel, this romantic theme of isolation is echoed when Hrothgars keep companyship rejects Grendel. Grendel, even before he discovers the huma ns, has always been in a smack alone. His mother is too inarticulate to be considered a truly fulfilling companion and the animals around him are too primitive to even communicate. The only cock that Grendel could ever truly bond with was the human race for they both shared the same language, and intellect. The humans, though, never embrace Grendel. The very first time Grendel attempts communication with the humans, when he staggered out into the open and up toward the hall...groaning out, Mercy Peace(51), results with him being some killed with spears, arrows, and swords. Humanity, his closest peer, rejects Grendel and forces the beast to live the rest of his life in isolation. only if unlike in romanticism, in which isolation is viewed positively, Grendels loneliness is shown to be more of a curse than as a boon. Grendel despises his loneliness and it turns him into a malicious creature whose goal is to destroy Hrothgar. This dedication, fed by a nuisance to his lonelines s, results in Grendels transition into an anti-hero. Rather than living peacefully in nature, Grendel chooses to be consumed by the romantic idea that society, specifically Hrothgars society, is evil, corruptive, and destructive. For Grendel, he comes to the self-realization that he is, Grendel, Ruiner of mead halls, Wrecker of Kings(80), and it his duty and fate to kill and eat Hrothgars citizens.closing off is not the only aspect of a romantic hero. Individualism and a persons ability to choose their own actions also play an important part. In Gardners novel, Grendel acts on his own whim and does not follow the advice that others give him.