Nihilism In Grendel

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In the novel, Grendel, by John Gardner, the main character, Grendel undergoes very important philosophical changes. Even though humans see Grendel as nothing more than a mindless beast, his philosophical development throughout the book shines a light on his true intelligence. Grendel’s starting philosophy is existentialism but it changes to nihilism after he meets the dragon.
At the beginning of the story, Grendel feels isolated because he realizes that he is unique; there is no one like him. Another reason for his isolation is his inability to communicate with anyone or anything. His mother, like the animals around him are too dumb to speak, and the humans whose language is similar to his attack him before he can talk to them. Similarly, Grendel tries to speak to the sky, but obviously never gets a response from the …show more content…
The dragon’s words have a profound impact on Grendel’s philosophy. When discussing existence in Chapter 5, the dragon says that it is nothing but “A swirl in the stream of time. A temporary gathering of bits, a few random dust specks,” “A brief pulsation in the black hole of eternity,” and that, “In a billion billion billion years, everything will have come and gone several times, in various forms.” The sine qua non of the dragon’s analysis of the universe is that everything meaningless because in the grand scheme of things humans and monsters alike are insignificant bits that are destroyed in the black hole that is time. Nihilism is the main reason for why Grendel doesn’t kill Wealtheow; he thinks “It would be meaningless, killing her. As meaningless as letting her live.” Additionally, the dragon affects Grendel physically by giving him a charm that makes him invulnerable to weapons. This immunity further isolates Grendel because he no longer shares men’s mortality when he fights them and it takes away any need for

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