The Nature of Grendel: Is Grendel Really Evil?
Every story has more than one point of view. Hearing only one of these viewpoints would be like listening only to the republican side of a presidential debate. Another point of view, although just as biased, often gives insight to discrepancies, falsehoods, and biases of the original narrator. As I read the poem Beowulf, the unnamed narrator, the author, weaves a glorious tale of “Danish Heroes, mighty kings and the glory they cut for themselves, swinging mighty swords.” (Beowulf 23) In it is a monster of pure evil; one that has antagonized men for the entirety of his life, Grendel. We are made to hate Grendel, to wish for his death and to fear for our lives as much as those “as far from Herot as they could find” (Beowulf 27), Hrothgar’s mead hall. We don’t see the whole story though. Through seeing the world from Grendel’s human-like eyes, I saw the cause and effect of his many brutish and contemplative actions. I came......
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Approximate Word Count: 1724
Approximate Pages: 7 (260 words per double-spaced page) |