Grendel's Philosophical Journey

"Nihilo ex nihilo,"

Throughout the novel Grendel by novelist John Gardner, it is evident that the main character Grendel undergoes a multitude of changes in his philosophical mindsets and dogmas. Grendel starts off as a young and naive monster that has very little, if any, true knowledge in regards to the outside world beyond the mere in which he resides.  During the novel, Grendel becomes exposed to a series of different people and environments in which he acquires a great deal of wisdom and knowledge. This newly acquired ultimately leads to Grendel’s adoption of nihilism as his philosophical worldview.

            The story begins with Grendel being sheltered and confined by his mother. During this time period he has not attained any familiarity with the elements that besiege him. At this point in the story, Grendel’s worldview can best be compared to that of a solipsist. He believed that his mind was the only mind in existence. As the novel continues, Grendel does eventually venture off beyond the parameters of his mere and into his surrounding milieu. In the process of doing so he comes across the humans including Hrothgar and the shapers. Due to the fact that the shapers possess the ability to cozen individuals into believing their words, Grendel becomes perplexed and does not know what to believe. One side of him wants to be in agreement with the shaper’s words because he profoundly desires to be accepted by the humans. However, he also becomes angry with the shaper because he realizes that the shaper bears false witness. Grendel continues to maintain a solipsist state of mind and begins to yearn for knowledge in regards to his purpose for subsistence. Along this mental journey of his, he learns to cope with the existence of other creatures besides himself. As he learns to accept others, he develops the notions that everyone is his enemy and he is the only creature who understands who he is. The humans constantly treated Grendel as opposition in every encounter they had. Grendel responded to the humans treatment of him in a very malicious manner by raiding their village during the night and killing masses of people at once. As a result of the rather malevolent relationship that existed amongst the humans and Grendel, the values that Grendel had once embodied started to slowly evaporate and dwindle away.

            Towards the end of the book, Grendel begins to adopt nihilism as his ultimate philosophical worldview. The adoption of this worldview was more than likely a corollary of the human’s maltreatment of Grendel. In the end, Grendel’s philosophical journey can be related to that of any human being. What may have initially been optimism was essentially converted to pessimism due to feelings of isolation and rejection.

Grendel's Malevolence

"Enough of that! A night for tearing heads off, bathing in blood!"

The monstrous character from Beowulf, Grendel, is a very ruthless, powerful, and uncompassionate creature. The epic opens with the archetypal hero Beowulf making reference to the fact that Grendel is a powerful monster. Grendel is the offspring of one of the descendants of Cain. Cain was an evil and jealous individual. It is evident that these traits have been handed down to Grendel. In part one, section two of Beowulf; Grendel took a visit to the prince of Herot’s hall to observe the actions of his warriors. Once Grendel noticed that the warriors were asleep, he caught them off-guard and slaughtered thirty men. He felt no remorse or compassion for the evil deed he had partaken in.

            Grendel had warriors on pins and needles awaiting his next attack. Grendel was relentless. He was never satisfied with the amount of blood and carnage he produced. He regularly visited Herot to murder and annihilate. The only effective safety measure for the warriors was to stay away from their beds and keep their distance from Herot at night. Some men went as far as to make a valiant effort to bargain with the monster. Despite their efforts, all attempts would prove futile. There was no gift or peace offering that would be successful in deterring Grendel from his goals of wreaking havoc and decimating warriors. The humans were frightened by Grendel, and they felt very insecure about their safety as a result.

            Typically, when creatures have such an innate passion for carnage and exhibiting destructive behavior, there is some motive or rationale behind it. I believe Grendel conveys this malicious behavior because he is a descendant of the evil Cain. I feel that the evil and aggressive nature of Grendel has been handed down to him through many previous generations of evil within his family. Cain was jealous of his brother Abel and exerted his wrath upon his brother by killing him. Due to his ancestors, it is the fundamental nature of Grendel to wreak havoc and exert the wrath of Cain on any and every person he can.

            It is blatantly evident that Grendel is a ruthless being. He does not attempt to conceal his malevolence in any way. However, Grendel’s place of residence expresses connotations of evil as well. Within the first two lines of the text, Beowulf describes Grendel as “living in the darkness.”  Darkness is frequently known to be associated with evil. Also, in part one, section eight, Beowulf states that Grendel comes from a marsh as well as the foot of misty hills and bogs. This implies that Grendel is not a benevolent and benign character.

Beowulf: The Ideal Anglo-Saxon

"Yet the prince of the rings was too proud

to ... line up with a large army
against the sky-plague. He had scant regard
for the dragon as a threat, no dread at all
of its courage or strength, for he had kept going
often in the past, through perils and ordeals
of every sort, after he had purged
Hrothgar's hall, triumphed in Heorot
and beaten Grendel."

            Amongst the Anglo-Saxon culture, there were a multitude of values and characteristics that were vital to society. The most important traits included honesty, bravery, loyalty, and fame. Within the poem Beowulf, the most prevalent of these characteristics is bravery. Beowulf displayed a great deal of courage in his efforts to duel with the dragon. Beowulf displayed honesty by staying true to his intentions of journeying to Hrothgar’s mead hall. His plan was to eliminate Grendel and he did not deter from his objective. Although Beowulf was not necessarily a personal friend of Hrothgar, Beowulf displayed loyalty in assisting Hrothgar. Hrothgar was an ally of Beowulf’s uncle, and Beowulf was loyal to his uncle by partaking in the daunting task of murdering Grendel. One of Beowulf’s ulterior motives in his quest to kill Grendel was to obtain glory and to establish a more recognized name for himself. He was well-known prior to his journey, but he was also secretly plotting to attain more fame than he initially had. As far as universal themes are concerned, the theme of good versus evil is a very prevailing theme. Beowulf and Grendel are the examples of this theme. Beowulf is representative of the good while Grendel is symbolic of the evil. A second universal theme present in Beowulf is the theme of a warrior’s journey. Beowulf’s journey to Hrothgar’s mead hall was to defeat and put an end to the malevolence of Grendel. The last major universal theme acknowledged in Beowulf is the universal theme of bravery. Despite the speculation Beowulf was subjected to, he was still determined to accomplish his endeavor.  Beowulf had to muster up a significant amount of valor to put forth a valiant fight against his formidable foe Grendel.

Grendel's Love of Language

"The image clings to my mind like a growth. I sense some riddle in it."

            In the novel Grendel written by John Gardner, the anti-hero Grendel establishes an intricate relationship with language. Towards the beginning of the novel, it is apparent that Grendel has developed a fervent passion for language. He displays a knack for writing in a multitude of styles and voices. At certain times, Grendel’s style of writing appears to be analogous to the style of writing found within the epics of the Anglo-Saxons. He reverts to his childhood and narrates a few flashbacks that he has committed to memory.

 Despite Grendel’s ardent infatuation for language in the beginning of the novel, his zeal for it diminishes as a result of his maturation throughout the novel. During his dealings with the humans, he feels as though the humans do not display a sufficient amount of reverence and admiration for language. Grendel’s witnessing of the human’s disregard for apt grammar leads to the devaluation of his prior dedication to language and his rather extensive vocabulary.

The negligence and lack of care for language displayed by Grendel as a result of the human’s actions is no surprise. His reaction to the human’s deficiency of passion can be viewed as a parallel to a real-life reaction of someone who has endured a significant amount of disrespect for something that they are rather passionate about. Witnessing a populace display impassionate behavior towards a subject can result in the exhibition of impassionate behavior by others.

Is Beowulf One of a Kind?

"Often, for undaunted courage,

fate spares the man it has not already marked."

            The epic hero Beowulf significantly resembles story bound action heroes such as the Crimson Chin and Spiderman. Both the Crimson Chin and Spiderman are fictional cartoon characters. All three of these heroes lay their lives on the line in order to protect and save communities in grave peril. These heroes are all characters who coexist and mingle amongst common people. They all share perseverance, determination, and sacrifice as well. These heroes all share a love for justice and righteousness within the community. A couple of real life heroes that Beowulf can be compared to and that are present in current everyday life are the firemen and the policemen. Firemen and policeman also put their lives on the line for their communities. On a daily basis, they consistently have to persevere, sustain a determined mentality, and sacrifice their lives for the benefit of the community. The fireman’s job description does not halt at the dousing of a fire. It is also their duty to put forth their best efforts to ensure the safety of the citizens involved in the fire as well as those citizens who are positioned within any potentially hazardous parameters of the fire. Meanwhile, the policeman must detain the perilous constituents that reside within cities and bring them forth to justice.  Akin to Beowulf, the Crimson Chin, Spiderman, and the fireman constantly risk their lives for humanity.

 "I eat evil FOR BREAKFAST!"

"Whatever it is, somebody has to stop it..."

My Contemporary Hero

" So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness. We have heard of those princes' heroic campaigns."

            My contemporary hero is the current president of the United States, President Barack Hussein Obama II. President Obama is an African-American male who was born on August 4, 1961. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and graduated from Columbia University as well as Harvard Law School. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and served three terms within the Illinois Senate from the year 1997 to the year 2004. As the president of the United States, President Obama has to endure a great deal of criticism on a daily basis. Also, due to his ethnical heritage, the paparazzi and the hoi polloi of the nation badger him on the grounds of his intelligence and his integrity. He must deal with pressure from the paparazzi as well as the pressure of fixing national crises immediately. As president, he has no choice but to live with the criticism and tackle these problems as best he can. President Obama wants to be known as the man who turned the U.S. around during this period of economic hardship. President Obama is a man who embodies humility and patience.  In order to succeed in his profession, those are two of the most vital and mandatory virtues to have.  If President Obama did not embrace these virtues, then he would not be successful in his tenure as president. For these reasons, he is my contemporary hero.