Grendel is a novel written by John Gardner. Grendel tells the story of two men: Grendel and his father. Grendel is an outcast, considered evil and ugly by those around him; Grendel’s father is a powerful and respected man who struggles to find favor with his king and among his peers. Grendel and Grendel’s father are both monsters, Grendel more so than his father, but Grendel’s father tries to teach Grendel values and morals. Grendel follows in his father’s footsteps and leaves the family cave after an argument with Grendel’s mother.
Grendel wanders until he comes upon a mead hall, where he witnesses and is fascinated by the beauty of celebration through song and feast. Gardner uses Grendel as a metaphor for intellectualism throughout the novel. The protagonist of the story is not Grendel himself, but rather Grendel’s reflection on life in all its myriad forms. Grendels’ view of humanity is one obscured by his own bitterness and hatred, yet Grendel still manages to recognize that Grendel’s father is an intelligent man living in a world where intellect has no place.
Grendel struggles with this same feeling of inadequacy; Grendel sees himself as ugly and useless, while also understanding the power he wields over the mead hall full of humans. The relationship between Grendel and Grendel’s father is one of interesting juxtaposition. Grendel sees Grendel’s father as both a monster and a role model. Grendel hates his own ugliness but finds solace in his father’s embrace, knowing that Grendel will always be accepted by Grendel’s father. Through Grendels’ eyes, Grendel’s father is a monster when he hunts Grendel and Grendel hates Grendel’s father when Grendel sees Grendels’ father as Grendel’s mother’s lover.
This subconscious hatred forces Grendel to leave the family cave in order to make his own way in the world. Gardner uses this relationship between Grendel and Grendels’ father to illustrate that we often cannot see our parents for who they truly are; we only know them as our mothers and fathers, not as unique individuals with their own feelings and emotions. Gardner uses this same idea to equate religion with culture: both perpetuate an understanding of human life which seems natural but has been created by humans themselves. Grendel is not Grendels’ father, yet Grendel loves his son.
Grendel’s own hatred of Grendel’s ugliness and Grendels’ love for Grendel serve as a way to destroy this relationship between Grendel and Grendels’ father. Gardner uses Grendel as a metaphor for the alienation that people feel as they reject their cultural programming and opt instead to create their own definition of what it means to be human. He shows both the ugliness and beauty in defying cultural identity through Grendels’ story: he is monstrous because he cannot fit into the category society has created for him, but this monster also feels pain and sadness over his rejection.
Grendel is Grendels’ father, yet Grendel hates Grendel’s father because Grendel associates Grendels’ father with Grendel’s mother. Gardner shows that humans are more than the cultures they live in through Grendels’ story: Grendel cannot fit into society because he is not like others, but this deviation from cultural norms only makes him hate himself more. Gardner uses these observations of human nature to comment on our own culture. He shows that humanity is best understood as individuals rather than as adherents to some monolithic structure of thinking and acting.
By making Grendel a symbol of intellectualism, Gardner invites his readers to contemplate the value the individual over the group; he shows Grendels’ struggle with alienation as Grendel tries to understand humanity through Grendels’ own experiences rather than Grendels’ inherited cultural categories. Grendels’ story is a warning about the dangers of living in an echo chamber; Gardner implores his audience to be aware of their own biases and to listen carefully for voices that may challenge those biases.
Grendel is not actually of the monstrous persuasion; he is simply misunderstood. Grendel’s lack of identity beyond his name derives from his birthright and upbringing. Grendel lives with his mother in a cave overlooking Heorot which means ‘Hall of Fame’. Grendel derives comfort from this place because it reminds him that he will never be forgotten. An interesting tactic to get readers on Grendal’s side falls into Gardner’s use of alliteration throughout the novel. For example, when Grendal describes his home: “Black cliffs looming up out of fog … jagged fangs of rock, like Grendel’s own teeth …” (1).
Grendel is different because he has no other Grendels to compare himself to. His mother is not Grendal; she is Grendel’s Mother. Grendel does not have friends who are Grendels; they would be Grendel’s Friends. This leads him to having a one-sided relationship with the humans because he feels isolated and lonely without anyone to even call his own kind.
Gardner uses Grendal’s lack of identity by showing rather than telling readers how alone he feels. “He did possess an imagination but it was wretchedly bad at conceiving of what could or could not be done.” (2). Readers can see Grendel’s loneliness through his lack of imagination. He never thought about what could or could not be done so he is often caught off guard when something goes wrong. Grendel’s imagination also becomes an asset because it allows him to come up with new, creative ways of doing things.
Grendal ingeniously rewires the lights in Heorot by tricking one of the denizens into helping him splice the wires together which creates a disco ball that scares everyone away. Grendel uses his mind for more than just creating illogical plans though; he also uses it to think critically about his situation and others around him. “Grief was Grendel’s chief emotion-to outlive your children, thus condemning their children and their children’s children to Grendel-hood: to wander the swamp, a child less and then another child less, until Grendel-ness was merely a twitch in some lonely corner of the brain” (3).
Grendel wants something more for himself but he does not know what. He feels like he needs to leave his mother because she will never understand him or let him go. Grendel really loves his mother though; her presence is all he has ever known so he stays with her. Grendal wants more than anything else to be able to go out and explore the world without causing pain and suffering as much as he knows he will.
Gardner uses Grendal’s imagination and critical thinking not only to develop Grendal as a character but also to show Grendal’s longing for more. Grendel never gets his wish because he always meets a fatal end before he can achieve what he desires the most.
Grendel is an outcast and this will probably be that way forever unless Grendel does something about it on his own. Grendel’s drive comes from his mother, “She taught me all she could… But some things have come of themselves” (4). Grendels’ mother had no real plan for him so Grendal has been mostly improvising as he goes along.
