Grendel

Many times in life people look at someone or something by what they want to see.  In Beowulf, the kingdom's people believe that Beowulf is a villain who is out to get them.  In Grendel by John Gardner however, we see the story through Grendel's point of view.  At the beginning of the novel, we find Grendel scavenging in the woods.  He kills animals for food, but leaves no remains.  Everything that Grendel does is in nature's best interest.  He wastes nothing.  When Grendel watches the people in the surrounding villages, he notices that they kill only to kill.  It is a game to them.  This frustrates him.  When he goes to talk to the villagers, they think he is trying to attack them, so they attack. Becuase of their acts towards him, Grendel becomes obsessed with killing and turns into a villain in the end.

In life, many times we don't notice it, but we are always judging others.  Even though we may not take notice, people are affected by things we say and take it to heart.  This can cause people to take a turn for the worse and isolate themselves.  An example of this would be bullying of any kind.  Kids take in what others say, and when they hear things about themselves enough times, they will start to believe it.  This causes a great deal of pain and the kid may become mentally weak.  Like Grendel, they may begin not to think straight and do something that they wouldn't have normally done.  I think that people should try to think about what they say before they say it.  In Grendel, if the villagers would have listened to Grendel in the first place they might have not suffered due to his rebellion.  This also applies in the real world as well.  I believe that the world would be a better place for everyone if people would stop hurting others.  In my opinion there needs to be stricter rules on bullying to try and put a stop to it.

Beowulf

An issue presented in letirature is what are the characteristics of a true hero.  This can be seen in the poem Beowulf .  Grendel is the first monster that Beowulf slays, but before Beowulf's arrival to the Land of Shielding, every man that had attempted to kill him in turn was killed by Grendel.  Everything they did had no effect on him.  No one in the kingdom wanted to face Grendel until Beowulf arrived.  Beowulf came because he heard of the Danes' stories and wanted to help.  The characteristics that Beowulf had had never been seen before by Hrothgar and his followers, and they believed that the characteristics of Beowulf must be those of a noble hero.  These characteristics are loyalty, bravery, and pride.

These same characteristics can sometimes be seen in today's world.  With the tenth anniversary of September 11th earlier this month, we are reminded that there still are modern day heroes.  The firefighters and the police of New York risked and some even sacrificed their lives to save others.  This shows great bravery and their loyalty to our country.  The men and women who survived have great pride in what they did that day, and those who died for their country will always be remembered.  They truely are heroes.