Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Beowulf And Grendel - College Essays

Beowulf And Grendel

John Gardner's Grendel gives the character Grendel a personality beyond what is described in the epic Beowulf. The descriptions in this reading outline the emotional characteristics of this creature. The work Grendel fulfills its goal of making Grendel seem more human; however, it falls short of one accomplishment. Regardless of the positive description in the text, Grendel's actions against society, which he committed in the work Beowulf, are certainly not justified.
Grendel is decisively evil in the work Beowulf. He is solely described as a bloodthirsty murderer. "He slipped through the door and there in the silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them unknowingly in their beds and ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

the sight, intended to tear the life from those bodies" (Beowulf 23). Grendel does nothing but cause death and destruction. He is pure evil.
Gardner's Grendel clearly does not justify these ferocious killings. In fact, this novel mentions that Grendel finds his barbarous war against humanity pointless and foolish. "…the season is upon us. And so begins the twelfth year of my idiotic war. The pain of it! The Stupidity!" (Gardner 5). Grendel has no desire to kill the people. He does not seem to have a reason for killing them either. Sometimes, people will act on an impulse and do things they do not really want to do. However, they always have some sort of reason to defend themselves. "Pointless, ridiculous monster crouched in the shadows, stinking of dead men, murdered children, martyred cows. (I am neither proud nor ashamed, understand. One more dull victim, leering at seasons that never were meant to be observed)" (Gardner 6). Grendel does not even feel a sense ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.

Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE:

APA
MLA
Chicago
Turabian

Beowulf And Grendel. (2007, April 18). Retrieved January 8, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Beowulf-And-Grendel/63525

"Beowulf And Grendel." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 18 Apr. 2007. Web. 8 Jan. 2026. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Beowulf-And-Grendel/63525>

"Beowulf And Grendel." Essayworld.com. April 18, 2007. Accessed January 8, 2026. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Beowulf-And-Grendel/63525.

JOIN NOW

Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays

PAPER DETAILS

Added: 4/18/2007 07:19:53 AM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 523
Pages: 2

Save |

Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS

Save and find your favorite essays easier