Klara Sulce

Mr. Perez

English AP

26 September 2011

            A theme explored in literature throughout the twentieth century was representing teenagers as mistaken tragic heroes. In the extraordinary novel, “Grendel” it became quite evident who the antagonist was as the novel came to an end. Although the reader’s first instinct was to blame all of the murders that took place in the mead-hall on the “beast” Grendel, one might argue that this assumption is a misconception. The cliché saying, “There are always two sides to every story” proved to be accurate after reading both Anglo-Saxon pieces of literature, Beowulf and Grendel. It became extremely apparent that the blame should not have been thrust merely upon Grendel, but rather on society as a whole.

       The audience acquired a new sense of knowledge as to why Grendel set out to kill as many innocent people as he did as the novel progressed. His intentions were pure as the novel opened and he did not want to cause anyone any harm. However, the constant celebrations the Danes would take part in at Heorot drove him mad with rage and envy. He spent his nights in a dark, isolated cave with his useless companion of a mother. His main reason for attacking the mead hall was to cope with his human emotions of sadness, isolation and jealousy.

Grendel was indeed a sympathetic character and a lonely monster that attempted to understand the insignificant world around him. He was extremely troubled by the outside universe and strained to come up with an answer to his philosophical questions. Grendel never had a chance to make the best of his life because he became engrossed in contemplating the reason for his existence. The resolution of the novel, Grendel, left the reader feeling sorrow towards the misguided beast. Grendel did not accept defeat and stated that if he had not slipped on his own blood, he would have won the battle against Beowulf. Grendel did not die a happy or well-deserved death and therefore the resolution of the novel can be characterized as incomplete. The uncivilized humans continued to go on with their lives following the death of Grendel and failed to comprehend the reason for Grendel’s doings.

There was a great significance to Grendel’s failure to prosper in his endeavors in the novel. The goal he attempted to fulfill throughout the entire novel was to destroy the Danes and distinguish what the meaning of life was. In chapter seven, Grendel’s tone and sense seemed more mature and he transformed into an all-existential individual. His law was to destroy the thing that defined him. By accomplishing his goal of destroying the Danes, he no longer had a purpose in life. This in turn destroyed him and ultimately led to his paradoxical death.