Question

Which passage from Grendel best illustrates the theme "life is meaningless"? A. Be so kind as to give / us some advice, old man. We've come on a fairly important errand. (154) B. I kiss the ice on the frozen creeks, I press my ear to it, honoring the water that rattles below, for by water they came. (151) C. Except in the life of a hero, the whole world's meaningless. The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. (89) D. And yet I address him, whispering, whimpering, whining. "If you win, it's by mindless chance. Make no mistake." (171)

Answer 1

The answer is D because he let him defeat him because his life was so miserable and he was very lonely  <span />

Answer 2

The correct answer is D.

This passage from "Grendel" reflects the theme "life is meaningless" because through it, we can understand that the speaker is allowing his oponent to win. That him wining would not be because of his streng and ability, but because of the speaker's loss of his will to live.