Grendel's Philosophy (Journal 6)

           Grendel is a narrative told from the first person view of the infamous villain in Beowulf of the same name. Due to the nature of a narrative, Grendel’s thoughts and philosophical views are openly presented and therefore easy to analyze. Grendel is supposed to embody the philosophy of existentialism. Gardner chooses to form Grendel this way because he hated existential views, and painting a villain around them was a way to portray his hatred. Grendel tells his story through a series of flashbacks that begin in his childhood and lead up to his death at the hands of Beowulf. Through the story, we learn about Grendel’s various takes on life and philosophical views as he grows older.

                One of the defining statements of Grendel’s philosophy as a child is made when he has his foot stuck in a tree. Grendel states, “I understood then that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly-as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the whole universe, blink by blink.-An ugly god pitifully dying in a tree!” At this point in Grendel’s life, he views himself as the only real object in existence. This is a solipsist view on life.

                Grendel changes his views a few times after his experience in the tree with the bull. When Grendel observes the Shaper and finds a human killed by his own kind, he loses his feeling of loneliness, temporarily. He begins to feel connected to the humans for a short time, until they attack him. This attack sets him apart from the humans again. Grendel keeps the perspective of God until he meets the dragon. An encounter with a mightier and age-old creature ripped that viewpoint from him. With Grendel’s sense of omnipotence gone, he sees that the humans are real. His belief in his own superiority, however, remains.

                Thanks to the dragon, Grendel is able to embrace the idea that the humans exist alongside him. He does not see them as fellows, though, just enemies and toys. Grendel still struggles with his place in the world, but the dragon’s words stay with him. The dragon offered this as a reason for Grendel’s existence, “You improve them, my boy! Can’t you see that yourself? You stimulate them! You make them think and scheme. You drive them to poetry, science, religion, all that makes them what they are for as long as they last. You are, so to speak, the brute existent by which they learn to define themselves.” This idea, the paint that the humans used to paint themselves, was gradually accepted by Grendel.

                After Grendel has his arm ripped off, Grendel’s final views of the world somewhat revert back to what they were in the second chapter of the novel. At first he views the world as a cold, logical, machine. These are the final thoughts he returns to. Grendel’s speech starts going a little bit toward the end of the book, but he does still manage to speak. He states at the end of the book, “’It was an accident,’ I bellow back. I will cling to what is true. ‘Blind, mindless, mechanical. Mere logic of chance.'"