Journal 2

Journal 2: In an essay analyze Grendel, focusing on the character’s nature. Begin your character analysis of the monster with a sentence stating your general assessment of Grendel as a character. Then, support your assessment with details from the epic.

In the epic Beowulf, Grendel is the character that is feared and dreaded by all. Grendel represents evil and hatred throughout the world. This is shown as he tries to overcome and destroy everything in his path. It is clearly seen that Grendel does not display any moral values or good intentions as he rips his enemies into shreds and devours their bodies. His twelve year war with the people of Heorot has cast a blanket of sorrow throughout the. Even the King, Hrothgar, is heavily burdened with pain and sorrow for the destruction of his people by the evil monster Grendel. The character of Grendel is portrayed as immoral and evil through the scrutinizing of biblical illusions, Grendel's motives, and Grendel's actions.

Grendel’s origin leads all the way back to the biblical allusions of Cain. Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, was the first murderer by killing his brother, Abel. Grendel is described negatively multiple times throughout the story and is seen as a frightening creature to most, if not all, people. In the poem, He is described as a monster “conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God, punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death” (Raffel 21). Grendel's comparison with Cain's evil action show that he is of evil origin. This quote proves that Grendel has no intention of being well mannered, but rather has the intention to hurt and torment others. Later in the story, it is revealed that Grendel "never dared to touch King Hrothgar's glorious throne, protected by God," (Raffel 23). This biblical allusion represents that the power of good will always triumph over the power of evil. Although Grendel is known as a blood thirty, treacherous monster with no morals, it is seen that he does have some form of boundary that he refuses to cross. Grendel, however, does not obey these boundaries out of respect, but rather out of fear that he will be vanquished.

Grendel’s motives are cruel and barbaric. His first and most obvious motive is that he enjoys feasting on human flesh. It seems as though Grendel enjoys the taste of humans and likes how the warriors are inferior to his mighty strength.  Grendel also enjoys seeing the warriors frustrated and helpless without the power of their weapons to stop him. "They could hack at Grendel from every side, trying to open a path for his evil soul, but their points could not hurt him, the sharpest and hardest iron could not scratch his skin, for that sin-stained devil had bewitched all men's weapons, laid spells that blunted every mortal man's blade," (Raffel 33). Grendel knows that manmade weapons could not slay him. Grendel's possession of this power only intensifies his evil motives. With no one able to stop him, Grendel can regularly walk into Heorot and "satisfy his hunger."          

Throughout the story, Grendel displays actions of both violence and wickedness. While performing his actions, Grendel seems to demonstrate that he has no thought processes and does not display any emotion to what he is doing. The only emotion that Grendel displays is the enjoyment he gets when gorging himself with the flesh of humans. Although the men of Hrothgar and his men are afraid of Grendel, they still had the courage to fight back. As the story progresses, however, Grendel’s routine visits to terrorize Heorot cause Hrothgar’s men to lose faith. "He slipped through the door and there in silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them unknowing in their bed, and ran off with the bodies," (Beowulf 22). The soldiers began to see him as a beast incapable of being stopped. Grendel’s ability to snatch up a hundred men without making a sound frightened even the bravest warriors. As Grendel struck Heorot numerous times more, Hrothgar's courage began to leave him. Eventually, it got to the point where everyone who could run from Grendel took the opportunity.

In Beowulf, The character of Grendel is portrayed as immoral and evil, which is proven through the scrutinizing of biblical illusions, Grendel's motives, and Grendel's actions. Grendel eats whenever he is hungry, and he preys on the humans living in Herot. Grendel resides in a marsh that is dark and foreboding and is portrayed as a monster. Grendel constantly terrorizes and feasts on humans (in the epic they say he ate thirty in one night). Grendel symbolizes a great evil that is put there for a hero to defeat. On top of that, Grendel is in a humanoid form. This symbolizes that Grendel is also part of an old saying that the greatest enemy of man, is man itself. Grendel is the greatest enemy of man; he is a man that seems unstoppable, well at least until Beowulf stops him.