Comparing Beowulf And Grendel

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In the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, Grendel, a monstrous being, is portrayed as descendants of the Biblical Cain, the first monster, as opposed to Beowulf, a hero. In a spin-off novel Grendel, by John Gardner, the novel is written in the point of view of Grendel rather than Beowulf, the antagonist in this story. Unlike the epic poem that was written in 1000 A.D, John Gardner displays Grendel with many humanly traits. This novel was written in 1971, which was during the years of the Vietnam War. Throughout this poem, Gardner reflected Grendel’s experience to the the soldiers of Vietnam War. Grendel is depicted as more human than the other humans to show how man, especially those who have the power to start wars, are the true monster. He also portrays Grendel as a sacrifice for humans and compares him to how the soldiers of Vietnam were also sacrifices.
Throughout the poem, Grendel is portrayed in many …show more content…
Grendel dies by the hand of Beowulf in a cruel way. Beowulf is portrayed as a psychopath by ripping Grendel’s arm off and then proceeding to smash his head to the ground than killing Grendel less cruelly. An example of how Grendel is a sacrifice is to compare him to Martin Luther King Jr and the soldiers of Vietnam. Some may think that in order for a sacrifice to be a sacrifice, the person will offer themselves or will know that they will die, but that may not be the case. Martin Luther King did not know he was going to die, yet he is considered a sacrifice. Grendel, in this case is like Martin Luther King. He was killed as a sacrifice for humans. Grendel’s death was also necessary in order for humans to benefit because Grendel killed too many humans. Unlike King, who fought to save lives. Just like the soldiers that were in Vietnam during the time of the publication of Grendel, no one wanted to die during the war, but they had to better the lives of others and the

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