Pain of Isolation:
Grendel's relationship with the humans is characterized by the emotional response to the concept of community. Grendel is frustrated with the world he is living in, the animals that surround him are dumb and undignified. Further, that her mother is driven by the emotional instincts. Therefore, Grendel is trapped in his own world where he performs one-way communication by talking to the sky or air with no response.
The human who resembles Grendel in many ways, most painful refusal comes from them as they fret and disgust to share any meaningful conversation with Grendel. Yet Grendel, so close to humankind he is kept at a distance. Grendel's tragic status is underscored by the Shaper's Tale of Cain and Abel ( two sons of Adam and Eve). Therefore, Grendel is a monster whose inner self-resembles with that of humans and his physical appearance prevent him to enjoy the companionship and comfort of the civilization.
Good versus evil:
We figure out through the characteristics of Grendel that he has a problem with the place he is in and with the universe. He had constructed his own theory of life, everything is the product of own perception and that he exists alone until he encountered Beowulf. Grendel portray itself as an evil to make us understand that how we take things for granted like what is our purpose?, who we are? whether we are on the right path? Hence, we tend to perform according to the society about what it feels to be good. Hence, we defy our own recognition and creates a monster within us.
Grendel in the story stays a mystery as the story is told from the third person perspective. What makes him eviler is that we know he descended from Cain. There is less character development of Grendel and have been provided with vague descriptions. It provided he live with his mother in a cave and that he attacks Herot for being noisy. He is illogical in attacking the men and its lineage. Therefore, being completely alien to the human experiences and he does not pop off along the plot, he is considered to be a flat character.
The fight between the Grendel and the Beowulf supports the evidence that it is a symbol of the struggle between the evil and the good due to feud with the almighty God. The symbolism of Beowulf’s gesture in lines 356-359 which reveal a theme resulting from this conflict is when Grendel's arms are hung from the rafter by Beowulf. Through this, it depicts that heaven and goodness have prevailed. Hence, through the nature of actions by Beowulf, the theme of violence is highlighted and that of evil versus goodness.
The power of art to misrepresent reality:
Grendel in the novel remains stranded between what he wishes were true and what he knows to be true. As an intellectual he understands the world to be brute, that follows universal laws and mechanical pattern. The beautiful concept that Shaper sings of is merely a projection on the universe's chaos. Hence when Shaper tells Danes the stories of their heritage, in order to let Dane see themselves with moral context. Hence, Danes are comforted by the world's knowable vision and agree with the idea that warriors are warriors, kings are kings and virgins are virgins.
Whereas, Grendel knows that history version is essentially a lie as he himself has witnessed the barbaric evolution of the Danes.
