... Literally. So this year, I'm in British Literature, and one of the things we had to read right off the bat was a epic narrative called Beowulf. It was believed to be one of the first stories written down on paper. Before that, everyone told the stories orally, or without a script and told it by memory. So this was a pretty popular story back in the day, because of the battles and of the monsters vs. hereos in this story. There's also some hidden meanings to it to. Here's a brief summary of the story: So before reading this story, my teacher says that there's another book out that's related to this book called "Grendel" and it's the point of view of the monster. What she told us that Grendel watched as the men would party in the mede halls, and then watched them get drunk, and since people get stupid when they're drunk, he would see them get into fights... and sometimes, he would see the humans kill one another. So in Grendel, he was upset because he couldn't understand why the humans killed each other. So then he started to kill them as a slap in the face to the humans saying, "What the heck are you guys thinking?!" What do you think about this story? Do you believe that Grendel is the true monster, or did he get what was coming? Do you think that Beowulf was really a hero?
Yes, I think Grendel is still the monster because: A) It kills humans B) It isn't human C) Its mother is also a monster It got what it deserved because it killed many man who only wanted to drink and kill other men. People kill people and species kill species all the time, so Grendel had no real right to do that. Beowulf is a hero because his kingdom was terrorized by a dragon until he went and killed it. He died in the process, unfortunately. Personally, the Epic of Beowulf isn't my favorite. Personally, my favorite is Gilgamesh.
I don't consider the story "Grendel" anything more than fanfiction. So I cannot gain sympathy by reading it. Grendel was intended to be a simplistic bloodthirsty monster. Also, part of the summary in your post is wrong. Grendel's mother was far more dangerous than Grendel himself. Beowulf took armor with him when he went to fight her and said something along the lines of her knowing how to fight. I would know, I've done several analysis papers on this Epic. Anyways, Grendel's mother isn't exactly evil. She hadn't been out killing, Grendel had. She merely went out to get revenge for her son's death and what normal mother wouldn't? As for Grendel and Beowulf, this story was written during a time when heroes who fought great battles were held in the highest esteem. Honor meant everything. This story was all about bravery and all the things an old-fashioned hero would hold. Beowulf in this story seems to be the very definition of a hero for those times and Grendel just one of the monsters he had slain proving his valor.
