Grendel And Beowulf Comparison

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In Beowulf, Grendel is a very steady character throughout the story. He is described as a descendent of Cain who killed his own brother thus becoming the first murderer. Cain’s motivations for the murder of Abel were jealousy and anger which strongly resemble what Grendel’s emotions throughout Grendel by John Gardner and what is hinted in the epic poem Beowulf. The creature in Frankenstein has similar emotions as well because like Grendel is rejected by society and yet they both earned to part of it. Frankenstein’s monster and Grendel are both neglected by their parents in some form or another and they are rejected by society because of conditions beyond their control. Finally, Grendel and Frankenstein’s creature do what is socially expected …show more content…
She only stared, troubled at my noise. She’d forgotten all language long ago, or maybe had never known any.”-(Gardner 28) John Gardner’s version of Grendel does have language that is similar to the human’s language while his mother does not know how to speak and only grunts. This leaves Grendel alone in his thoughts with no companion to speak to just like the nameless creature in Frankenstein. The creature has a similar situation with his own creator who abandons him and then expresses only disgust and hatred towards him with “But now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.”-(Shelley) Grendel and Frankenstein’s creature have no one to speak to with an sympathic ear. This is how they are similar however Grendel’s mother does have affection for him and this is shown with physical gestures but Grendell often shows disdain towards her with his thoughts “the shiny-smooth span of packed dirt between us, and the shocking separateness from me in my mama's eyes. I would feel, all at once, alone and ugly, almost—as if I'd dirtied myself —obscene”-(Gardner 17). This quote shows how close he is to having someone to talk to but also reveals how far away he is. This is one of the many similarities between the creature and
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