Blog #12

This may be an unpopular opinion regarding the main character of the book Grendel, but I sympathize with Grendel. I feel pity for him and his hardship. When I first began this book, I had the opinion that Grendel was a gargantuan and grotesque monster that only wanted to destroy humans. The story of Beowulf created this image of Grendel that was a monster to be reckoned with. However, as I started this book and became immersed into the history of Grendel I began to feel not disgusted by him but rather sorry for him. Grendel was not brought into this world for the purpose of destroying Hrothgar and his men; rather he was born in to this world from a loving mother just like the majority of human beings and animals on earth today. Grendel was not even allowed out of his cave and from the watchful eye of his mother until he was a grown being. When he was allowed to leave, and discovered the world in which the human’s inhabited, he merely explored his surroundings. He didn’t leave his cave with the intention of killing men, rather he was just succumbing to his curiosity. When Grendel first encountered men, he regarded them as menial figures who were below his intellect level. The only similarity they had was their language, and even that was small. Grendel at first couldn’t understand the language the men were speaking; however upon concentration Grendel found that their language was the same as his just with a different tone and dialect. Due to this partial language barrier and the inexperience of both parties, the encounter between them was not exactly civil. The men thought that Grendel was a fungus attached to the tree, and Grendel thought the men were rat-like figures with primal nature. These differences accumulated into a substantial barrier between Grendel and the men. This barrier further separates Grendel from the contact and enjoyable company of any organism that did not include his mother. I find this complete isolation to be heartbreaking, I can only imagine what it would feel like to be completely and utterly alone in the entire world, having no single person to share a conversation with. Grendel finally reaches his breaking point when he attempts to make contact with the entire camp of Hrothgar. Grendel rushes towards the men yelling “Mercy! Friend!” however, in response the men begin to attack Grendel. The men jab him with razor-sharp swords and axes laced with poison while Grendel is merely trying to communicate and form positive relations with the men. While I can partially understand the reaction of the men based on the fact that Grendel is described as a physically gruesome creature, however I still believe it was wrong of them to blindly attack a creature who obviously meant no harm. Overall Grendel is what I believe to be a vastly misunderstood character, and while he is commonly portrayed as the antagonist in this novel, I sympathize with him and rather relate him to the protagonist role.