Point Of View In Grendel And Beowulf
...good and
evil, and the character Grendel. John Gardner's book, Grendel, is written in
first person. The book translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf, is written in third
person. Good and evil is one of the main conflicts in the poem Beowulf. How
is Grendel affected by the concepts of good and evil? Grendel is an alienated
individual who just wants to be a part of something. His desire to fit in causes
him to do evil things. Grendel is fascinated by the Shaper's poetry. He often
returns to the mead hall to listen to it. One night while he is listening, he hears
the story of Cain and Abel, including the Danes explanation of Grendel. His
reaction to this leads to one of his most dramatic emotional reactions: "I
believed him. Such was the power of the Shaper's harp! Stood wriggling my
face, letting tears down my nose, grinding my fists into my elbow the corpse of
the proof that both of us ere cursed, or neither, that the brothers had never
lived, nor the god who judged them. Waaa!' I bawled. Oh what a
conversion'"(Gardner 51)! Grendel then cries for mercy from the Danes. He
wants their forgiveness as well as unification with them, which represents the
good in him. The Danes reject him by confusing his outburst of sorrow as an
attack. After visiting with a dragon who tells Grendel a fictional version of the
Shaper's tale, Grendel continues to believe the Shaper's story. He searches
for the goodness in human beings, which was mentioned in the story. He eats
people only because it provides a place for him in society, even if it is a
negative position (The Two Faces of Grendel, 2). Good and evil is one of the
main conflicts in the poem Beowulf, and ultimately both wipe each other out.
Good, is portrayed by God, and evil seems to be what fate has in store for the
hero. Beowulf occasionally talks to God and asks God to give him strength
before...
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