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.