“Poor Grendel's had an accident,' I whisper. 'So may you all.”- John Gardner, Grendel. This famous last words of Grendel is just one of the many famous references to philosophies in the book Grendel. The book has a lot of references to philosophy such as Solipsism, Nihilism, and Empiricism. These all play into the different roles and personalities of Grendel as his life goes on. One of the more famous philosophies in the book is Machiavellism. Machiavellism is the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct. There are many points in this book where Machiavellism is mentioned and seen in Grendel’s eyes. It is what many would refer to as Grendel’s dark side. Many would believe that just because Grendel sees it that…show more content… The mindset of a human is unique to each individual and with that each human has a different philosophy about the world they live in. There are multiple philosophies but the biggest ones that stand out in Grendel that also stand out in the world are Solipsism, Nihilism, Empiricism, and Machiavellian Statecraft. Solipsism is the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist. This is seen in everyday life by people believing that they are the only true person to exist and that all others around them do not. Nihilism is the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless. This is seen commonly with people who are on the bridge of taking their own life. The belief goes around the thought that life is meaningless and there is no greater good to be found. Empiricism is the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience. This philosophy is not as dark as the other ones may be but it still shows the true side of an individual. This philosophy talks about how someone has to live through an experience to gain the knowledge of exactly what something is. Although all these philosophies are big in not only Grendel but in the world itself the one that shows itself the most is Machiavellian
