Grendel is a 1971 novel by John Gardner about the monster Grendel, whom the book follows through his perspective. Grendel is an anti-hero that causes misery wherever he goes until Beowulf arrives to put an end to him. Frankenstein is a novel written in 1818 by Mary Shelly after she heard of the story of Frankenstein, who created a monster that was brought to life. Frankenstein is the name of both the scientist and his creation. Grendel tells the story through Grendel’s perspective, whereas Frankenstein tells the story from multiple perspectives.
Grendel has a clear motive for his actions whereas Frankenstein doesn’t have a true motive other than he ‘wanted to create life’. Grendel has no allies other than humans that fear him, whereas Frankenstein has two companions who aid in creating his creature. Grendel is looking for revenge on those who wronged him as well as everyone else, whereas Victor Frankenstein just wishes to be left alone but builds the monster anyways out of curiosity.
Grendel’s creator dies before Grendel is born, whereas Frankenstein’s creator is the only one to die in his story. Grendel does not find redemption but Frankenstein does after his monster dies and he realizes what he has done. Grendel becomes a hero at the end of his story through dying honorably in battle, whereas Frankenstein redeems himself by using the monster’s brain for good. Grendel’s last thoughts are “Why am I Grendel? Who was Grendel? ” whereas Frankenstein says “I had been arrogant…
It is indeed a fearful thing to have been human”. Grendel lives on through oral tradition, whereas Frankenstein doesn’t live on as anything other than the book people read. Grendel’s final line of dialogue shows that Grendel is Grendel, whereas Frankenstein’s final line of dialogue is a questioning statement asking if his monster is a man or a fiend. Grendel only has the Grendel name following him around because of his father whereas Frankenstein already had the name Frankenstein before he was even created.
Grendel lives in the moment and never swears to do anything aside from killing those who wronged him whereas Frankenstein makes many complex promises that he takes lightly or doesn’t follow through with. Grendel is unpredictable as not even the people around Grendel know what Grendel will do next whereas Victor Frankenstein can predict all of his monster’s actions as it is just a mindless being doing what it told. Grendel sees everything as Grendel sees it whereas Frankenstein has the ability to understand all perspectives.
Grendel lives his life without restraint of morality whereas Frankenstein is moderate between extremes of being humane or being amoral that are later explored in the book. Grendel becomes a hero through physical action of dying honorably whereas Frankenstein becomes a hero through emotional actions of realization and redemption. Grendel tells how Grendel was Grendel throughout the story, whereas Frankenstein never mentions how he even became alive or why unless someone else is telling him about his past.
Grendel does not have any side characters tell stories about Grendel other than Grendel himself, whereas Victor Frankenstein has many speaking roles aside from himself who talk extensively about what happened to Grendel. Grendel is a character who was a monster from Grendel’s perspective whereas Frankenstein is a human being who creates a monster. Grendel has no allies other than his father whereas Frankenstein has two intelligent sidekicks that aid in his work.
Grendel lives on through oral tradition and Grendel the man already had the Grendel name before Grendel was even born, whereas Frankenstein doesn’t live on as anything other than the book people read about him. Grendel only has Grendels following him around due to Grendels actions whereas Victor Frankenstein was already known for being clever so people still knew about him when he created the monster. The biggest difference between these two stories are how Grendel throughout the whole story whereas Frankenstein can be human by his own will.
Grendel is Grendel who tells Grendel’s story of Grendels actions whereas Frankenstein is just a character for most of his story who creates the monster. Grendel doesn’t want to be Grendel but lives on as Grendel through oral tradition whereas Frankenstein wants to be human and then regrets creating the monster which effects him psychologically after he realizes that what he has done was wrong. Grendel neither redeems himself nor dies heroically whereas Frankenstein does both of these things at different times in his story.
Grendels final line shows that Grendels identity remains without restraint of morality, not knowing or caring about good or evil whereas Frankenstein has a moment of realization and redemption which effects him psychologically after Grendel is dead. Grendels lack of any side characters talking about Grendel outside Grendel himself shows Grendel living in the moment with no restraint from anyone, not caring about what happens next whereas Frankenstein lives on through the perspective of others telling Frankenstein’s story.
Grendels first monster appearance makes it so Grendel does not have to wear many hats throughout the story other than Grendel’s identity whereas Frankenstein has multiple roles he plays throughout his story such as creator, husband, brother, son etc. Grendels work remains intact long after Grendel dies whereas Frankenstein’s creation kills everyone that Frankenstein loves making Frankenstein’s work disappear.
Grendel and Frankenstein were two highly influential books in their own way. Grendel was a dark, psychological novel that dealt with the idea of identity and how humans deal with other beings who are different than them. Grendel is a modern version of Beowulf. The book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is the classic tale of playing God and the responsibilities that come along with that sick sense of humor.
Grendel and Frankenstein could be considered spiritual predecessors or parallels to each other, both dealing with similar ideas but from very different angles. Grendel’s major themes consist of isolation, imagination, destruction, human nature, destiny versus free will, reality versus perception, sanity versus insanity and good versus evil. Grendel himself is a dark, brooding character struggling with an inner conflict and Grendel’s quest is essential to figure out what Grendel is: human or monster?
Grendel’s mother also plays a major role in Grendel, representing the nurturing side of Grendel’s personality. With Frankenstein it can be argued that the main theme is hubris; Victor Frankenstein was so prideful of his ability to reanimate dead flesh that he loses himself and everything around him (namely, his new family). There are many other themes such as creation versus destruction, science versus religion, good vs. evil but I feel that these are secondary to the idea of hubris shown by Victor Frankenstein.
The book Grendel has been adapted into a graphic novel, Grendel: Devil by the Deed , Grendel: Behold the Devil, Grendel: God and the Devil and Grendel: Black, White and Red. The movie Grendel is also loosely based on Grendel but has taken many liberties. Frankenstein has been adapted into several movies (see below section), plays and operas. Grendel can be considered a dark fantasy novel while Frankenstein is more of a dark science fiction novel due to their utilization of pseudo-science in relation to reanimation; Grendel contains less science than Frankenstein.
