Question

Describe the personal characteristics that makes Grendel an antagonist in Beowulf

Answer 1

Answer: I actually just ready Beowulf for my Brit Lit class :)

Explanation:

Grendel displays nothing but the most primitive human qualities in the original Beowulf epic. However, he is an intelligent and temperamental monster in Grendel, capable of logical thinking as well as unreasonable emotional outbursts. The monster Grendel also appears as human in the novel as the people he observes. This vague characterisation is reinforced by Grendel 's history. Grendel is pursued by the novel through three phases of his life. The first stage is his childhood, which he spends innocently, untroubled by the outside environment or existential concerns, exploring his confined world. His first exposure to the wider world is Grendel's exploration of the lake of firesnakes and the realm beyond it, one full of risk and possibility. As such, when Grendel moves into adulthood, crossing the lake is a critical step for him. When the bull hits him, the second step, which decisively makes Grendel an adult, happens, causing him to understand that the universe is basically unpredictable, follows no pattern and is ruled by no discernible cause. This realization, in turn, prompts the query that forms the adult quest of Grendel, perhaps the twentieth century's greatest philosophical query: given a world without inherent meaning, how should one live his or her life? Grendel attempts to address this question in the second, adult stage of his life by studying the human race, which fascinates him because of its capacity to create patterns and then enforce those patterns on the environment, generating a perception that a consistent, orderly structure is pursued by the environment. His deadly struggle with Beowulf and the weeks leading up to that war encompass the third and final stage of Grendel 's life. Ultimately, the experience gives a violent conclusion to Grendel 's quest.