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.

 Almost all novels, short stories, and so forth include a protagonist and an antagonist. In the longest surviving Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, the monstrous beast, Grendel is exemplified as the antagonist. He terrorizes the men that make a massive amount of noise at night and dare to disrupt him. Although not directly stated in the poem, characters like Grendel exist to show the evils of everyday life and the consequences of killing someone. After the killing of Grendel, Beowulf also proceeds to killing his mother. Every person has emotions and even the beast, Grendel had a family of his own who suffered upon his death.  The author of the poem gave Grendel humanlike traits to symbolize the people in the world that take part in bad deeds.  He did it in an indirect way to catch the reader’s attention and show the similarity between Grendel and humans.  After the killing of Grendel, Beowulf also proceeds to killing his mother. There was no need for him to prove his pride once more, his killing of Grendel should have been enough to satisfy him and make him feel empowering and glorious. Beowulf’s actions show the savagery of men and how greedy they can be. Grendel’s mother was a prime example of a mother and her love for her child. In present day society, most mothers would stop at nothing to ensure their children’s safety and mourn if something was to happen to them.  Grendel’s mother wanted revenge upon her son’s murder and a mere reminder of him by taking his annihilated arm.  Evil lurks all over the world, but it is mostly present in uncivilized humans. Grendel went about murdering people in the wrong way; however Beowulf did the same by killing his mother. The actions of both characters united them and made them similar. Grendel and Beowulf thought they were doing right by murdering, but their reason behind the gruesome killings was merely selfish. Beowulf wanted to be seen as a hero, whereas Grendel found it entertaining to see people die. Hence, evil is evident in humans to this very day and Grendel and Beowulf embody the individuals whom commit malicious crimes or partake in other awful deeds.

Imperial Adam paragraph

Women are often refereed to as mystical creatures that elude Earth, but ironically in the poem “Imperial Adam” by A.D. Hope, they are compared to snakes. Eve is described as being sinuous being that she loosened her thighs. The speaker’s tone is extremely sexist as he regards the woman as a mere servant or as Adam’s enjoyment. The poem is indirectly stating that men were created first as a masterpiece, whereas women were thrust upon the Earth for no apparent reason other than to satisfy Adam. In other words, women have no sole purpose on Earth rather than to keep men company. The reason for their forbidden romance is blamed on the seductive woman, but the man is to blame as well. Adam exemplifies most men and their idea of being superior to women, but as soon as a woman was presented to him he jumped at the opportunity to make love to her. This goes to show that some men have no self- control and he could have easily said no to Eve, but he simply continued on with his deeds.