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Grendel Chapter 5

Characterization. Dragon is humanized through rhetorical devices ??a voice that might have come from an old, old man?" (58)??like a miser counting his money" (58)??like an elderly mead-drinker's" (58)??like an old drunk preparing a solemn face for court" (59)Serves as an advisor to Grendel Old

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Grendel Chapter 5

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    1. Grendel Chapter 5 “Grendel Meets the Dragon”

    2. Characterization Dragon is humanized through rhetorical devices “…a voice that might have come from an old, old man…” (58) “…like a miser counting his money” (58) “…like an elderly mead-drinker’s” (58) “…like an old drunk preparing a solemn face for court” (59) Serves as an advisor to Grendel Old and wise

    3. Characterization Scares Grendel Contrast to Grendel “I had my hands out in front of me like a rabbit sitting up…” (Gardner 60). Simile Comparing Grendel to rabbit intensifies the immensity of the dragon and how frightening he is Diction Beast Wrinkled paw, man-length talons Horrible, debauched, mouth limp and cracked… Obscene Characterizes Dragon as huge and evil, intimidating to Grendel

    4. Defines Grendel “ ‘Now you know how they feel when they see you.’ He had a point. From now on I’d stay clear of them. It was one thing to eat one from time to time- that was only natural: kept them from overpopulating, maybe starving to death, come winter- but it was another thing to scare them, give them heart attacks, fill their nights with nightmares, just for sport” (Gardner 60-61). Irony Realizes that he appears as a monster to the humans as the dragon appears to him First thought is to avoid them Ironic since killing them will be the only way he will be defined

    5. Defines Grendel This is the beginning of the end for Grendel. “I felt as if I was tumbling down into it- dropping endlessly down through a soundless void. He let me fall, down and down toward a black sun and spiders, though he knew I was beginning to die. Nothing could have been more disinterested: serpent to the core” (61). The effect of the Dragon on Grendel Does his life have a point, does he have a role Is he just an observer? Dragon knows what Grendel will become

    6. Dragon “ ‘Illusion…I know everything…The beginning, the present, the end. Everything. You now, you see the past and the present, like other low creatures: no higher faculties than memory and perception’” (63). “ ‘We see from the mountaintop: all time, all space. We see in one instant the passionate vision and the blowout. Not that we cause things to fail, you understand’” (64). Higher thinking creatures but unimportant in the universe as well The dragon knows what is going to happen in the future He will dies, meaningless life s

    7. Dragon Knowledge does not cause the future “ ‘My knowledge of the future does not cause the future. It merely sees it, exactly as creatures at your low level recall things past…even then – I do not change the future, I merely do what I saw from the beginning’” (Gardner 63). He cannot change what he knows - ironic since Beowulf will kill him

    8. Dragon Men “’They only think they think. No total vision, total system, merely schemes with a vague family resemblance, no more identity than bridges and, say, spiderwebs’” (64). Men only think they do good things They know a bunch of facts but don’t understand the entire picture “Connectedness is the essence of everything” (64) The shaper gives them this understanding but it is a fake feeling, makes life look better

    9. Shaper “ ‘That’s where the Shaper saves them. Provides an illusion of reality- puts together all their facts with a gluey whine of connectedness’” (65) “ ‘But he spins it all together with harp runs and hoots, and they think what they think is alive, think Heaven loves them. It keeps them going- for what that’s worth’” (65). Shaper gives the humans an illusion of reality Makes them think there is meaning to life and Heaven loves them Keeps them “going”

    10. Dragon Refers to low thinking creatures They think if it is true for them it is for all Only have certain ways for naming or ordering things “As lower minds function, study, or ‘science,’ is concerned with a limited set of various types of things” (66).

    11. Dragon’s Views on Man Living things exist individually because they can express themselves Jugs are generalized because they cannot Vegetables are generalized because none of their “parts” are essential to live Cut off top of carrot it still is a carrot (71)

    12. Mankind’s Importance in the Universe “‘Things come and go…That’s the gist of it. In a billion billion billion years, everything will have come and gone several times, in various forms’” (70). “‘man’s cunning mind is merely a new complexity, a new event…’” (71) Even though man is interesting because of his mind, he is no different than any other creature Man will come and go; he is just a small wrinkle in the long line of Time

    13. Mankind’s Importance in the Universe “’Not a real ending of course, nor even a beginning. Mere ripple in Time’s stream.’ I squinted. ‘That could happen?’ ‘It has happened,’ he said- and smiled as if it pleased him- ‘in the future. I am the witness’” (71). Paradox apparent contradiction with some logic/ truth Effect of omnipotence of Dragon Supports Nihilistic viewpoint Grendel’s fascination with man is misplaced because man is not that important Dragon explains the insignificance of man’s life & the end of the world that he has seen: apocalypse

    14. Grendel’s Role “ ‘You improve them, my boy!...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. The exile, captivity, death they shrink from- the blunt facts of their mortality, their abandonment” (Gardner 73). He forces man to write and sing poetry They define themselves based on him (plan ways to kill him) Repetition of “You” for emphasis of Grendel’s role

    15. Grendel’s Role “ ‘If you withdraw, you’ll instantly be replaced. Brute existents, you know, are a dime a dozen. No sentimental trash, then. If man’s the irrelevance that interests you, stick with him! Scare him to glory! It’s all the same in the end, matter and motion, simple or complex. No difference, finally. Death, transfiguration. Ashes to ashes and slime to slime, amen’” (Gardner 73). Insignificance of life Why not scare them Allusion “ashes to ashes dust to dust” We all will die, life is meaningless, nihilism

    16. Grendel’s Role Why should Grendel stop scaring them?? Grendel defines and improves man If everything means nothing (nihilism) and Grendel is interested in them, scare them (Grendel’s role).

    17. The Downfall of Grendel Grendel tries to deny the cruel picture of the world the Dragon has painted, but he can’t due to his experiences Before this encounter: lonely creature After: disappointment & isolation will cause him to become violent & self- righteous If he can’t join their race, he will destroy it.

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