In the story Grendel I was able to understand a lot more than I was able to in Beowulf. Grendel was a story that has so much background and meaning when you look more into it, and you are able to understand the way Grendel is and the actions he makes because of the way the story explains it. When I thought of Beowulf I of course thought of a monster, but for some reason he reminded me of the Beast in the movie “Beauty and the Beast” Beowulf was able to relate to the Beast in that movie because people did not understand him, and I feel that Beowulf was misunderstood at times throughout the story. Grendel was the person everyone looked at badly, but I really felt bad for him because I felt like he was super lonely and he just wanted someone to talk to. His mom was the person that was always there with him, but she could not talk and it can be sad because she loved him and a lot of times he would talk bad about her, but of course she would never know.
As the story continues on I was able to realize how alone Grendel was and what fascinated me the most was that Grendel was really amazed by the world of men. Grendel was impressed by the world of men and he observed the way the men would live their lives, and the way they took control in many things. During the story of Grendel it was during a time of war and I was able to see the different connections that were made in the story, and Grendel was written in the last year of the war. Throughout the story towards the beginning Grendel mentioned “Except men of course. I am not in a mood, just yet, to talk to men.” (pg. 4) in this quote I was able to recognize how closely he observed the men in the story. When Grendel reached the human world he found himself in a tree, and when I came across this point of the chapter I was able to understand how he wanted to stay away from the world because he did not understand humans. When he was stuck in the trees there were humans trying to attack him, but his mother came to help and rescue Grendel.
Grendel was someone who I judged at the beginning as the story started, but as the story went on I was able to understand and get where he was coming from. He really felt lonely and all these years he didn’t have anyone to talk to or go to and tell someone how he feels. When the Shaper came into the story I was happy because Grendel was able to finally talk to someone, and go to Grendel was inspired by the Shapers words and just made them realize. The story overall was really good, and I liked it way more than Beowulf, and personally I think it is because astrology made it a lot more interesting, and easier to read. (517)
Works Cited
Lonely People , 2019, sites.google.com/site/though2deeply/absolutely-heartbreaking-quotes-about-loneliness.
Gardner, John Champlin. Grendel: Vintage Books, 1989.
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