Monday, September 13, 2010

Grendel’s Philosophical Journey (Journal 6)

     Grendel, a parody of Beowulf, is written by John Gardner. Within this novel, there is a beast named Grendel who is struggling to discover who he is and why he is living. This monster, this evil demon, Grendel, is lonely and doesn’t fit into Anglo-Saxon society. However, while traveling around Herot and its surrounding kingdoms, he begins to create his philosophy on life and the world. Beginning in chapter one and ending in chapter twelve, Grendel matures through a philosophical journey, through which he discovers the harsh realities of life and the cruelty of prejudices.

     In chapter one of Grendel, “Aries the Ram,” Grendel is developing a world-view. This chapter includes Grendel’s last days before he flashes back to his childhood and his inevitable death. He comes across a ram that threatens to jump off a cliff and does not acknowledge his presence. Grendel is disgusted by the ram’s animalistic, mindless sexual urges. However, he relents that he is no nobler than the animal, for he is a pointless monster of death. Therefore, Grendel is developing his personal view of the way the world works and how pointless it all is.

     In chapter two, “Taurus the Bull,” Grendel adopts the philosophy of the Solipsist. This is the philosophical idea that one’s own mind is all that exists. Grendel even goes as far as to say “I exist; nothing more” (ch. 2). When he encounters the bull that attacks him in the same fashion repeatedly, he discovers that the world is chaos and nothing and that “I alone exist” (ch. 2). From this moment on, Grendel describes his death and the fatal wound that he claims is an accident and a mere convenience of chance.

     In chapter three, “Gemini the Twins,” Grendel hears the Shaper’s poetry and believes everything that he hears. The Shaper’s words have the power to manipulate what is believed. He can even control history, which allows the Shaper to manipulate what the heroes believe. Grendel is heavily influenced by the Shaper and what he says existence is.

     In chapter four, “Cancer the Crab,” Grendel discovers from the Shaper that he is descended from Cain, a brother-murderer and the father of demons, and is brought into Old Testament theology and references. The Biblical story begins when Cain is angered by God’s rejection of his gift. After hearing god tell him that “sin is a demon crouching at the door. It shall be eager for you, and you will be mastered by it,” Cain kills his brother, Abel, and is cursed for eternity. Grendel is willing to go along with the Old Testament story of his being a demon and an evil monster, so long that he can be a part of the Anglo-Saxon society. He is a child of darkness amongst children of light and wants to be accepted into human life.

     In chapter five, “Leo the Lion,” Grendel’s philosophy shifts towards that of Alfred Whitehead, the fundamental connection of all things, while speaking to the Dragon. Whitehead’s philosophy focuses on the “concepts of life, organism, function, instantaneous reality, interaction, and order or nature” He is a processist that focuses on change of every sort, and while the Dragon is a nihilist and thinks that all events are nothing more than random accident, they both agree that there is a fundamental connection between all things and processes.

     In chapter six, “Virgo the Virgin,” skepticism is the philosophy that Grendel adopts. Basically, he becomes distrustful of the world. After meeting the Dragon, he believes the world is meaningless and that the Shaper is ignorant about life. Grendel stumbles over a dead man’s body, shocked that humans would murder each other in hatred. Also, while he accepts that other beings besides him exist, he has concluded that he cannot fit in with their society and that they are all his enemies. Up until now, Grendel has been trying to befriend the humans at Herot. However, after meeting the dragon and losing hope in the Shaper, he gives up hope on the humans and becomes a skeptic.

     In chapter seven, “Libra the Balance,” Wealtheow’s Christianity influences Grendel’s philosophy. She exposes Grendel to Christian values, such as fellowship and communion. He is influenced by the fact that Wealtheow tries to bring harmony to a place, Herot, that needs peacekeeping. She is a symbol of hope and unity, as well as a peacemaker amongst all humans. However, Grendel is not used to such kindness, and after seeing the war between mankind, he finds himself attracted to her and her innocence. This tears at Grendel, who ultimately decides to kill Wealtheow, but at the last minute changes his mind and lets her live.

     In chapter eight, “Scorpio the Scorpion,” Hrothulf’s Machiavellian philosophy comes into play. He is the “adopted child” of Hrothgar, as well as his nephew who will cause problems later when it comes to choosing an heir. Hrothulf and his peasant mentor, “Red Horse,” talk about the state’s power and dictatorship. The aristocracy, they confirm, is cruel, manipulative, and overly dictatorial. Grendel, overhearing their many secret conversations, picks up this philosophy of the young plotter, and his view of Hrothgar and kingdoms sours even further.

     In chapter nine, “Sagittarius the Archer,” Ork and his views on religion stun Grendel. After Grendel tricks Ork into thinking that he is the “Great Destroyer,” Ork tries to tell three of his fellow priests that he has met and spoken to the great one. He tells that the King of Gods is the ground for rationality, and that the ultimate evil is that time is perpetual perishing, and being actual involves death. In other words, death is inevitable, and that is the ultimate evil in the world. However, they do not understand what he is saying, and instead poke fun at his sanity. When a fourth priest, younger than the others, hears what Ork says, he somewhat sympathizes with Ork, which further bewilders Grendel, who wonders if he wants to be like they who are blindly following ancient religion.

     At the end of Grendel, John Gardner gives Grendel the pessimism of Nietzsche and the philosophy of his philosophical nemesis, John-Paul Sartre, nihilism. In other words, starting in chapter ten, “Capricorn the Great,” Grendel becomes a nihilist in the descriptive sense that there is no longer any real substance, no traditional, social, political, moral, or religious values left. When it comes to John-Paul Sartre, Grendel thinks that man creates his own values; therefore everyone has different interpretations of values, right, and wrong. In essence, those values have absolutely no meaning outside that individual’s consciousness. All in all, Grendel believes in nothing, since those five things encompass Anglo-Saxon living and his values do not apply to the humans at Herot.

     Grendel, who goes on a long philosophical journey in twelve years, creates his own personal views of the world, which readers experience through his narrative of Grendel. His perception of the world around him explains his reactions to humans’ prejudice as well as the cruelty of the world. Through his excursion, Grendel goes through several different philosophies, which eventually combine to form his last philosophy before his death, nihilism. Since others cannot understand him, and he cannot understand others, Grendel believes that nothing exists but himself, for only he understands his innermost thoughts. At the time of his death, Grendel welcomes the relief of the loneliness that he had to suffer through for years, ending his cycle of philosophies.

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