Summary:
No two people who witness an event will have exactly the same story, but will add misconceptions and views of their own. This is the case when comparing the literary works Grendel, by John Gardner, and Beowulf, the earliest example of Anglo-Saxon literature. The view that differentiates the most between the two accounts is the idea of who exhibits the characteristics of a monster.
Sometimes, when different views on subjects are presented, it is difficult to decide on whom to believe. No two people who witness an event will have exactly the same story, but will add misconceptions and views of their own. This is the case when comparing the literary works Grendel, by John Gardner, and Beowulf, the earliest example of Anglo-Saxon literature. The view that differentiates the most between the two accounts is the idea of who exhibits the characteristics of a monster. Grendel is the obvious choice because he has sharp teeth and is covered in fur, but humans show many of the qualities that they speak ill of found in the character Grendel. In Beowulf, Grendel is described as a mindless murderer, pure evil out to destroy mankind. In the novel Grendel, however, humans are the monsters because they kill each other in cold blood, make war without reason, and demonstrate great cruelty.
One of the main characters of the novel Grendel, Unferth, seems like the classic example of a hero at first glance, since a hero "Is not afraid to face cruel truth" (Gardner 88). Later on in the story, however, Beowulf paints a more revealing picture of Unferth when he states: "I don't boast much of that. Nevertheless, I don't recall hearing any glorious deeds of yours, except that you murdered your brothers" (Gardner 162). There, Beowulf shows Unferth's true character by telling everybody that Unferth killed his brothers, presumably out of jealousy. Even though Grendel kills many men during the book, he would never even think of hurting his mother, let alone killing her. There, Unferth is depicted as the real monster out of the two because he killed his own brothers in cold blood and for selfish reasons.
Another reason why humans are the monstrous characters in Grendel is that the tribal leaders wage war unnecessarily on neighboring towns and villages. They waged wars on each other for the simplest of reasons, such as a missing cow or idle boasts getting out of control. Grendel speaks of their stupidity getting out of hand when he states: "I watched it, season after season. . . I could look out and see all the meadhalls burning on the various hills across the countryside. . . as many as three in one night" (Gardner 37). It does not make sense to kill and burn down a neighboring village just because of too much alcohol or other petty reasons. Grendel, whom they consider a monster, finds their killing to be strange: "It was confusing and frightening, not in a way that I could untangle. . . I was sickened, if only at the waste of it. All they killed --cows, horses, men-- they left to rot or burn" (Gardner 36). This differentiates from the killing Grendel or other animals do because it is usually so that they can eat. When the humans kill, however, they do so for money or status, which are not necessary to life, as food is. Therefore, there is no real reason for men to go around killing other men, making them true monsters.
Besides killing their own species, humans also show great cruelty in their dealings with each other, animals, and, especially, Gardner's character Grendel. While Beowulf is torturing Grendel, he decides to have a little fun with the situation, as his cruelty shows. "'Feel the wall, is it not hard"' He smashes me against it, breaks open my forehead. 'Hard, yes! Observe the hardness, write it down in careful runes. Now sing of walls! Sing!'" (Gardner 171). There is no reason for Beowulf to break Grendel's face or to force him to sing about being beaten against a wall, but instead he does it for the sole purpose of being cruel. Grendel cries for mercy throughout, but Beowulf just laughs and continues to torture Grendel. After all of this pain and embarrassment for Grendel, Beowulf tears his entire arm off. If Beowulf is big enough to subdue Grendel, a large monster, and tear his arm off, one can presume that Beowulf may have easily strangled Grendel or broken his neck, two ways of killing Grendel that would not have tortured him until he died. But instead, Beowulf chooses to kill Grendel in one of the cruelest ways possible for his own pleasure. These actions truly make Beowulf a sadistic monster.
There are many views regarding who the monster is in the novel Grendel. Some say that Grendel is the monster because he kills the men and eats them when they are sleeping. Other people would say that the monster is man because they kill and torture for fun. When you state all of the facts for both sides, men are the real monsters because they kill in cold blood, start unnecessary wars with each other, and demonstrate immense cruelty to Grendel
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