Saturday, July 20, 2019
grendelbeo Epic of Beowulf Essay - The Monstrous Grendel :: Epic Beowulf essays
The Monstrous Grendelà of Beowulfà It is true that Grendel is monstrous. He is not only a deadly enemy to Hrothgar and Herot, but to the Geats in general. Grendel seems to take his only pleasure from assaulting Herot and destroying the warriors inside. He is a bane to all those that live under Hrothgar's rule. They hate him. He is called the ââ¬Å"enemy of mankindâ⬠(29) and rightly so. However, because of Grendelââ¬â¢s actions, they cannot see the other part of Grendel that makes him do the evil he does. Grendel, like the Angels before and the Geats soon after, is symbolic of displaced races/peoples and not simply a mindless monster. When Adam and Eve had children, they had two boys. Their names were Cain and Able. When Cain killed Able, God ââ¬Å"banished him far from mankindâ⬠(29). From Cain came trolls, elves, monsters, and giants. Grendel is a descendant of Cain, so he shares Cainââ¬â¢s banishment. Cain may have been the first displaced person after Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden. G rendel shares his ancestorââ¬â¢s sentence. He is displaced not only from whatever land or wealth he would have if he were ââ¬Å"humanâ⬠but he is also displaced form God. It is this displacement that causes Grendel to destroy. Since he cannot ââ¬Å"approach the throneâ⬠(28) like other people, he chooses to try to destroy the throne, because he has ââ¬Å"no love for him (God)â⬠(28). This is the main reason Grendel is symbolic of displaced peoples. After all, he is a direct descendent of the very first displaced people, Adam and Eve. However, unlike Adam and Eve, Grendel is doomed to an eternity of banishment from Godââ¬â¢s light because of Cainââ¬â¢s sin against his brother. That is why Grendel kills, because he cannot be in the light, because he is at war with God. Grendel is not only banished from Godââ¬â¢s light, but from the light in general. Throughout the text, references are made to Grendel as ââ¬Å"the walker in darknessâ⬠(36), and â⬠Å"the dark-death shadowâ⬠(29). This kind of imagery further shows how displaced Grendel has become. The text refers to him as a ââ¬Å"creature deprived of joyâ⬠(36). The text also refers to Grendelââ¬â¢s dwelling as ââ¬Å"his joyless homeâ⬠(37). It is no wonder Grendel was considered so monstrous. Like other displaced peoples, he has nowhere that is a refuge to him, because he has been removed from his home, or in Grendelââ¬â¢s case, the love of the Lord.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment