It wasn’t because he threw that battle-ax that I turned on Hrothgar. That was mere midnight foolishness. I dismissed it,thought of it afterward only as you remember a tree that fell on you or an adder you stepped on by accident, except of course that Hrothgar was more to be feared than a tree or snake. It wasn’t until later, when I was full-grown and Hrothgar was an old, old man, that I settled my soul on destroying him—slowly and cruelly.
What the author is using in this excerpt to develop Grendel's character is Grendel's thoughts. He isn't really saying all of these things.
It gives the passage a breathless, suspenseful feel.
A movement that reinforces a verbal message is a gesture.
What passage are you referring to?
