Grendel is an obvious parody of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. The main character of Grendel is the monster Grendel from Beowulf. In Beowulf, Grendel only has the most basic human and monster qualities. Unlike the in original epic Grendel is far more complicated in John Gardner’s Grendel. Grendel is highly intelligent, very unpredictable, easily upset, and quite capable of rational thoughts. Grendel often appears just as human as the people he sees and describes. Not only is the main character in the novel mentioned in the epic but many other characters like Unferth and Hrothgar are mentioned in the epic as well.
In Grendel, Grendel seems to actually be an odd and funny character. In the novel you see a scary monster that kills and eats humans but is also someone that tries to be a poet of some sort. Even when Grendel and Beowulf face off, Grendel tries to come up with some poetry and he actually succeeds. But Beowulf kills him anyway. Grendel and Beowulf have similar themes such as: good and evil, the heroes and the villains, and so on. The difference is that Beowulf was told in a very serious manner and in such a way that shows Grendel only as a monster. In Grendel, Grendel challenges this role and existence as the monster by embracing language and the arts.
No comments:
Post a Comment