GRENDEL

Expository essay on Grendel by John Gardner

Expository essay on Grendel by John Gardner

Part 1:

Introduction

In Grendel, Gardner has taken one of the mainstays of Western literature, the Old English epic Beowulf, and has given it a dramatic new vision by telling it from the point of view (and through the words) of the monster. In this way Gardner has presented the story anew but also to make telling comments on his enduring theme, the place and power of art in human life.

Discussion

Beneath this fantasy story lies a serious metaphysical novel. Gardner's chief concerns are the nature of man and the meaning of life itself. The musings of the monster and his interactions with the Scandinavian warriors provide a vehicle for the reader's journey through the maze of philosophical issues confronting twentieth century man as he, too, searches for the rationale of human existence.

Beginning the novel as a brute, barely articulate figure, Grendel is exposed to art and its powers by two competing forces. On one hand, there is the human he calls the Shaper, the blind poet of the mead hall; allied with the Shaper is Wealtheow, the beautiful queen (Gardner, 1989). These two are embodiments of the positive power of art to raise human beings—or even creatures such as Grendel—beyond the pointless round of mere existence. Yet Grendel is profoundly troubled by them and by the power they wield and comes to prefer their opposite number (Gardner, 1989).

Throughout the novel, Grendel has learnt that lesson, which is made most clear to him by the hero who kills him: “You make the world by whispers, second by second,” the hero tells him; “Whether you make it a grave or a garden of roses is not the point.” Life is what each man, or each monster, makes ...