Topic > The Meaning of Life in the Story of Grendel

In the Old English epic, Beowulf, Grendel is described as an inhuman and evil monster who is said to carry a curse because he is a descendant of Cain. He attacks the Danes during the night as a reaction to the joy he cannot empathize with. It turns out that his home exists beneath a body of water littered with sea monsters and dragons, murky with blood. Yet his final death is avenged by the one with whom the bond is strongest that has ever existed: his mother, raising the question of whether Grendel was truly a "monster" or not. John Gardner, in his story told from the monster's point of view, called Grendel, humanizes the life of the legendary monster by taking readers through Grendel's spiritual journey, answering the questions behind his alienation and the outbursts of anger that they label him a "monster." By giving Grendel a voice that has not been heard of for centuries, Gardner demonstrates to readers that Grendel's spiritual struggles and journeys are no different than those experienced by humans, blurring the lines that differentiate human from monster. Grendel's reflection on his existential view of life in some parts of the story resonates with my understanding of what life means to me, opening doors to many possibilities that exist beyond my reach of imagination: that life is simply that what do I do with it. For Grendel it was inevitable death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Existentialism, as described by William Barrett in his novel Irrational Man, began after World War II, where disillusionment was rampant and included the postwar emotions pessimism and despair (Barrett). The term was first introduced by the French writer Jean-Paul Sartre, becoming a “cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s”. Existentialism is a philosophical inquiry that states that human beings cannot be described or understood simply through “categories found in the conceptual repertoire of ancient or modern thought” (Crowell). The fundamental scientific concepts that appear to be understood by humans are therefore insufficient to describe the depth of human existence; these tools can only achieve a limited understanding of physical processes, but not emotional ones. Existentialism concludes that current methods of rationalizing and giving meaning to human life and existence are insufficient to grasp full understanding (Crowell). Existentialism was created with the underlying question of what it means to live. He recognizes the difference between human existence and existence in general, because generalities can be understood with knowledge, while human beings cannot (Burnham). When you adopt existentialism as a lifestyle, you succumb to one of the following beliefs: “Nature as a whole has no design, no reason to exist.” The sciences that seem to define nature do not actually explain why things happen in a certain way, but are simply descriptions of what is observed. the latter my freedom will appear even absurd”. Every aspect of the choice will have moments of absurdity, even when it seems that the path taken to reach a certain conclusion does not appear absurd in itself. “Human existence as an action is always destined to destroy itself.” Actions are always linked to the world around them and no action can occur independently of other factors. A “free” action, once performed, is no longer free (Burnham). With these, existentialists come to the conclusion that human existence iswhat it is not. Existence is therefore separate from human beings themselves and, to be "free", one cannot be tied to the world of cycles. In short, existentialism is a representation of the choice one makes to live one's life, regardless of whether it is true or not. You can establish your own worth and live to realize it. Such is the vagueness of philosophy. At the entrance to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi the phrase “Know thyself!” is engraved, a saying attributed to Socrates regarding the beginning of a philosophical journey: knowing oneself first (Barrett). Grendel's philosophical journey in trying to understand the true meaning of life revolved around understanding the world around him; he already knew what it was. The beginning of Grendel's journey begins as an allusion to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, in which a group of men sat, chained, inside a cave, staring at shadows on the wall in which they perceive reality. Only when a man breaks the chains and ventures into the outside world does he realize that the world is more than just a perception of what people think of it, although perception and truth may overlap. Grendel, in his journey, parallels this journey as he ventures out of his lair and breaks the physical barrier that exists between his world and the outside world, which was the body of water filled with sea dragons. During his first encounter with humans, Grendel realizes that he is very similar to them, with the only differences being his appearance and the way he grew up in isolation. It can be argued that the reason for Grendel's anger and actions in the rest of the book may be rooted in the isolation and alienation he felt when humans excluded him while he tried to communicate, as they both spoke the same language. Humans' instinctive expressions of hatred towards different creatures may be the turning point that catalyzed Grendel's need to discover the meaning of his existence, as if it were different from that of everyone else. Hence Grendel's need to discover his true place. Grendel's isolation allowed him to observe the world as a third person, as if his being were independent of the mechanics of the world. Several times in the novel, Grendel criticizes the cyclical nature of the universe, shown through his frustration with the ram that kept attacking him, the mountain goat who was determined to climb the mountain despite the impossibility, and the humans who killed without reason. . Grendel, preventing himself from succumbing to this cyclical nature, ventured to find a meaning to his existence that had nothing to do with the stupidity, as he thought, of the world. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was alone. He says: “I understood that the world was nothing; a mechanical chaos of casual and brutal enmity upon which we foolishly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist” (Gardner, 22). This idea of ​​existential absurdity allows Grendel to define the values ​​of his life that separate him from the rest of the world and its mechanisms to which others succumb (Burnham). The only thing that matters to him is his very existence, as he is the only one who can shape and give meaning to his life. Perhaps the meaning Grendel gave to his own life was a determination to understand why he existed. Although Grendel felt confused at multiple points in the novel, the reason he continued to live the way he did was because his goal was to understand the meaning of his existence. Unlike the dragon, who retreated from a normal life to “sit on gold” (Grendel, chapter 5), Grendel continued to observe the world to find the answers to his life. Unlike nihilists, he had a reason to live and reasoning behind it.