Now Where Have I Seen Him Before (#7)

So having finished both Beowulf and Grendel, I have come to enjoy both of them immensely. Overall, I think I would agree with Foster with his idea that there is only one story with these particular books as Grendel was more of a prequel rather than a retelling. However, I did find it unique the way John Gardner was able to set up a timeline before Beowulf and was able to incorporate unique settings and characters. I also liked how Grendel learned about the nature of the world from a dragon, which I'm almost certain is the same dragon Beowulf would eventually fight.

I will say though that reading Grendel gave me a whole new perspective on Grendel that I had never thought of before. I still think he is an evil monster who only wants to cause harm on the Danes. There are times where his interactions with certain places and people (i.e. his first encounter with humans, his talk with the dragon) that might have caused him to look upon the world in a harsher light, but he still goes around devouring men and destroying the mead hall for twelve years. While he may have had other influences, it doesn't really redeem his character in my mind. Even with his fight against Beowulf in which it almost makes you see Beowulf as a villain, I wasn't convinced that Grendel was innocent in this situation. All I saw was the a man freeing the Danes from the wrath of Grendel.

I think that out of the two, I appreciate Grendel a little more than Beowulf. Sure Beowulf had a lot of action and is a classic, but it was a little dense at times (being written 1000 years ago will do that) and the summary on the back basically told me everything that would happen. Grendel took on a more psychological stand, showing Grendel learning about the world and basically debating right and wrong. It also showed his innocence, being hypnotized by a minstrel's tale and at times believing that he was a dangerous evil monster. I will say this though, reading Grendel did make me elicit some sympathy for Grendel. It showed how he didn't learn anything about the world because no one would take the time to interact with him. No one would acknowledge him and his mother couldn't speak so it was like he was living in isolation.

Overall, both of the these novels were very interesting. I agree with my sister's statement that Beowulf is basically Chuck Norris. He fights three powerful and dangerous monsters and establishes himself as one of the greatest heroes ever. Grendel was also enjoyable, giving Grendel more of a character rather than just have him be a vicious monster who kills. I also enjoyed how it showed what was happening inside the mind of Grendel and showed how he felt about things. I really enjoyed reading both of these novels and I hope that the novels in AP Lit will be as entertaining as these.