"Often, for undaunted courage, fates spares the man it has not already marked"

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Riddle

I'm frequently found in every end
Once in every double
my order is fifth of many word-makers
I can be seen in my essay-assigner
I am the starting and end in the end of time
But yet in the beginning of eternity
I can constantly be seen in your two peep-holes
Who am I?

My boast

Come to me young one!
For I am Kaylynn of the Tran clan
In the land of Avondale, here in Louisiana
Eldest of two product sellers
One from the descent of the European
And the other from an Asian descent
And sister to the rude remote stealers
I play! I fight! I ROAR!
Embodiment of procrastination, doer of math,
Reader of books, and spiker of volleyballs
Cpatain of the ball-spikers,
I will jump above the string-fence
And spike down my enemy with my five-fingered limb
The subject of number-changing is what I know best
To my foes, these figures form confusion
Unlike my unfortunate enemies
Every number that enters my mwmory-saver
Comes to me in comfort
For I am on the council of Mu Alpha Theta
And member to many magnificant clubs
I enjoy helping others and as time persists,
I will be a nurse of a dentist
Heed this warning, and you all shall see
That I will fulfill my prophecy!!!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Journal 11: What is Grendel's philosophy at the end of his narrative?

In Gardner’s Grendel, the character of Grendel undergoes a philosophical journey. Since each chapter represents an astrological sign (twelve chapters for twelve signs) this journey can be traced by using the cycle of astrology as clues. Grendel goes through this philosophical journey from when he was a child all throughout the twelve years the story takes place. Since the novel “begins with the end,” a reader can see how well written and advanced Grendel’s words and narration are when they begin reading the novel.
During the first chapter (the spring of Grendel’s “twelve year”), the zodiac sign, Aries, is made known; this is concluded from the ram standing still on top of a cliff that Grendel mentions. The zodiac sign of Aries represents the start of a new “cycle.” This, to Grendel, represents the repetition of each year and as he, Grendel, watches the ram, he sees how “last year at this time” (6) would be the same as this year and how it is an endless cycle. An example of an endless cycle is the door that Grendel always breaks when he attacks Hrothgar’s village. Every time Grendel breaks the door, the villagers just replace it; when Grendel breaks it once again, they replace it over and over again. This shows that the world was and is full of endless cycles.
Chapter two represents the zodiac sign Taurus. The reader sees this sign from the bull that keeps on attacking Grendel.  Since the book was about the end of the twelfth year, chapter two starts off when Grendel is a child. A reader can conclude this from the formation and wording of the narration that Grendel provides. This chapter gives insight of when Grendel had first ventured outside. Unluckily, Grendel’s foot gets stuck in a tree when he was returning home one day and he cannot release it. He calls out for his mom for help, but she doesn’t come.  When Grendel accepts that his mother will not come to his aid, he concludes “that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that I alone exist”(16). Later on, when Grendel’s first encounter with humans is over and his mom had rescued him, Grendel once again repeats that “the world is all pointless accident…I exist, nothing else"(22). From these statements, the reader can conclude that Grendel would be a solipsist.
Later on in the story, Grendel’s solipsism is challenged a shaper arrives in Hrothgar’s village. The Shaper essentially “brings life to the village.” He spins stories from nothing; he makes grubby villages seem like magnificent cities, and overall makes the world seem wonderful.  The next chapter of the novel, chapter four, represents the astrological sign of Cancer, “the nourisher.”  During this chapter the growth of the belief of religion is “nourishing” the world that the Shaper has created for the villagers. In the Shaper’s stories, he says that “god created all things in the world” and in that world Grendel is perceived as evil. The Shaper goes on and on with this story; it is so compelling that Grendel even wants a part of it—even if it meant that he was the “outcast.”
The next chapter of the story is Leo, the dramatizer. In this chapter, Grendel is informed of his “role” in the world that the Shaper has created. Also in this chapter, Grendel goes to see a dragon. The dragon tells Grendel many things in order to “help him.” Many of the things that the dragon says are nihilistic and also materialistic. The dragon also tells Grendel of his place in the world. The dragon tells him:
You improve them, my boy! Can't you see that yourself? You stimulate them! You make them think and scheme. You drive them to poetry, science, religion, all that makes them what they are for as long as they last. . . . You are mankind, or man's condition. (62)
Dragon is trying to stop Grendel from accepting the world that the shaper had created and get him to accept the complex order of the world—not the “simplified theological world-view” that the Shaper says.
            In chapter six, Virgo, Grendel becomes an existentialist with the thought that “existence precedes essences.” This means that “people exist as things long before they create themselves as entities…” Before Grendel had become an existentialist, he really did not have a sense of who he really was; he just accepted what other people had thought him to be. In chapter seven, the character of Wealtheow is introduced. Wealtheow is given to Hrothgar by her brother, Hygmod, as a mark of respect to Hrothgar’s power. Libra, the astrological sign for chapter seven, is represented by Wealtheow because Libra is the “sign of conciliators.” Wealtheow is a great representation of this sign because she brings peace to the village. Coinciding with the astrological signs of Libra and Virgo, chapters six and seven are in the center point of the book. As Libra represents balance, Grendel and Wealtheow balance each other out; Grendel would give up nothing, while Wealtheow “would give…her life for those she loved" (88). Also, Grendel is a skeptic at this point of the story, and Wealtheow is the balance to that.
            During the course of the first seven chapters, readers have seen Grendel transform from “a frightening solipsistic” into the Grendel that many know now—“an angry skeptical monster.” In addition to Grendel transforming, Hrothgar’s village has also evolved; it has changed from a small village full of huts into a city-state. By this point of the story, the basic plot has evolved and during the next four chapters, the philosophical ideas that Gardner is interested in is developed. Chapter eight, Scorpio, is mainly an introduction Machiavellian statecraft. The Machiavellian statecraft is when something is claimed as “cruel, manipulative, or overly dictatorial.” This statecraft is brought by Hrothgar’s adopted son, Hrothulf.
            An indication that the village has entered the modern age is seen in chapter nine, Sagittarius. This chapter shows the reader of the hypocrisy of some of the priests. Also, Grendel is confused when Ork, one of the old priests, tells the other priests with his encounter with “the great destroyer” (Grendel) and the other priests just laugh at him. He, Grendel, wonders why the other priests are laughing at their own “belief.” In chapter ten, Capricorn, the pessimism of Nietzsche is introduced. This is further explained in chapter eleven, Aquarius, which is based on the nihilism of Sartre. Nietzsche can be seen as a nihilist because he believed that “there was no longer any real substance to traditional social, political, moral, and religious values.” By this point of the story, Grendel can be categorized as a nihilist. This is because he believes that “nothing is nothing.” This philosophy is also seen at the end of chapter 10 when Grendel says “nihil ex nihilo”—nothing is nothing. Chapter 12, Pisces, is mainly about the death of Grendel. In addition, this chapter’s astrological sign, Pisces which is the end of the astrological cycle, is in accordance to the end of Grendel’s cycle of philosophies.

Journal 10: Why do you think Gardner made the decision to use Grendel as a narrator? How does Grendel's status as a monster affect the way he tells the story?

Gardner uses Grendel as the narrator of his own story in order for the readers to understand what he, Grendel, is doing and the reason he does it. From the beginning of Grendel’s childhood to when he becomes a monster, the reader is able to follow Grendel’s thought process and see how his overall narration of the story has evolved from little, if not none, knowledge of language to basically mastery. From Grendel’s point of view, the reader can hold sympathy for Grendel because, unlike in Beowulf, Grendel can be seen not just as a monster but also as a curious creature (especially in Grendel’s childhood).In addition to Grendel being the narrator, readers are able to see that Grendel has not always been the cruel killing monster that most people know of. Readers can also see how Grendel is capable of learning new things, expressing feelings (sadness, anger, frustration, etc.), and interacting with other creatures.
Grendel’s status as a monster does in fact affect the way he tells the story. Since he is seen as a cruel monster and “son of Cain,” Grendel is rejected by human societies—especially those of government and religion. Although Grendel is an outcast, he still is able to learn of poetry, verse, and many other human concepts of language and literature. This can be seen especially in chapters 7 and 8. In these chapters, Grendel includes other characters’ inner thoughts, other character’s soliloquies, and many other things. For example Grendel uses a metaphor of a deer to compare to humans because “the deer sees life without observing it” (8).

Journal 8: How is Grendel a parody of Beowulf?

Gardner’s novel, Grendel, can be seen as a parody of the epic poem, Beowulf, in many ways. In Beowulf, the character of Grendel is seen as a cruel monster that does not express emotions or feels any emotions. On the other hand, the character of Grendel in Gardner’s novel is depicted still as a monster, but he, Grendel, feels and expresses emotions. Readers are also able to see the reason of why Grendel does the things that he does; in Beowulf, the reader is not able to see that and assumes Grendel is a heartless monster who kills and tortures for no reason. In addition to the character of Grendel being portrayed in the two different ways in Grendel and Beowulf, the character of Beowulf is also described differently. In the epic poem, the character of Beowulf is the embodiment of an Anglo-Saxon hero. In contrast, the character of Beowulf in Grendel  is seen as the enemy because the point of view if from the monster’s , Grendel’s, point of view.

Journal 5: Analyzation of the character Grendel

Since the beginning of time, good and evil have always gone "hand-in-hand." Because of this, stories about epic heroes usually contain monsters in some form that symbolize bad or evil. In the poem Beowulf, the epic hero is forced to save his threatened community, battling and defeating three evil monsters. One of the monsters is the character Grendel, who had terrorized the citizens in the past. Throughout the poem Grendel is portrayed as evil. However, through reading the story, it is seen that Grendel is not totally the blame for his belligerent behavior. Also, an anonymous author characterizes Grendel through his actions, motives, and the way that people see him.
Upon reading the poem, readers can see that the role of the antagonist is given to Grendel. Grendel gets his reputation as an evil beast based off of his actions and personality. The fact that he can kill and steal with no remorse portrays the image of a heartless murderer with a lust to kill. The poem opens by stating,"...A powerful monster, living down/ in the darkness, growled in pain..." (Raffel 1-2). These lines foreshadow an evil in the story that readers aren't aware of yet. Shortly after the opening readers get a taste of how devilish Grendel really is. "So Hrothgar's men lived happy in this hall/Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend/Grendel, who haunted the moors" (Raffel 15-17).Throughout most of Europe people knew to fear the name and the actions of Grendel as they did not know when his next attack was going to occur. Grendel's first horrifying attack was the invasion of Hrothgar’s mead-hall. Grendel, far past ruthless, went through the mead hall smashing men and leaving bloody trails. His actions are described as, “Killing as often as he could, coming / Alone, bloodthirsty and horrible,” (Raffel 80-81.) Although readers know much of the character Grendel, the readers learn more about Grendel upon reading the final fight with him and Beowulf. Although Beowulf would win in the end, it would not be without great effort as Grendel was not an easy opponent. Grendel was stronger than most creatures, especially humans, for "…their points/Could not hurt him, the sharpest and hardest iron/Could not scratch at his skin" (Raffel 481-483). At this point readers learn of Grendel's almost supernatural powers. The fact that Grendel has tremendous strength makes him all-the-more a ferocious creature, which gives readers a better understanding of the Grendel’s evil, vicious state as he kills with no remorse.
Grendel's first reason for being evil is that he is naturally drawn to it. The author describes Grendel as being “…spawned in that slime" (Raffel 19), saying that he was born with an evil nature. Grendel knew nothing but to kill, attack, and anything else evil as it was his way of life. The author states that Grendel was "conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain," (Raffel 20-21) pointing out that Grendel was merely born a killer; it was only natural that Grendel would be evil as he is a spawn of two evil beings. This is a direct biblical allusion, eluding to the bible story of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, in the book of Genesis. In the poem, the story uses the two biblical names in a negative connotation because Cain is known as the first murderer in history as he killed his brother, Abel.  Another reason for Grendel's actions is his hate for society. Grendel was forced to live away from people in the swampland since his birth because of where he was from. Upon knowing his past, you can generate the idea of Grendel wanting to be accepted instead of feared but doesn't know how to do so. The reaction people had towards Grendel portrayed his role in society. No other warrior would fight Grendel except for Beowulf, but seeing as though he was stronger than his peers, he was suitable for the task. With Grendel gone, people felt safer and they were ultimately happy knowing that they didn't have to live in fear. Grendel's death ended the pain and suffering of the Geats. Grendel was the perfect choice for the role of the evil monster, given his rejection by society and the way he was portrayed in the poem.
Throughout the poem, Grendel’s character is the most memorable. He murdered people, stole from them, and showed his lust for evil. The author gives information about Grendel's motives, probably a growing hatred or natural inclination. Finally, the reaction he got from people ultimately decided his role in society. By creating such an evil creature in the poem, the author of Beowulf explains the evil in the world as well as its reasons for being here.

Journal 3: What is Grendel's attitude towards language? How does it change throughout the novel?

In the beginning of Grendel’s life, Grendel has lived in a cave with his mother and has had no contact with the outside world. He is basically alone and isolated in the cave because he cannot understand what his mother says and she cannot understand him. As Grendel progresses throughout the story and has more interactions with the humans and their language, Grendel’s begins to learn their language. In time, Grendel is able to understand what many of the humans are saying and, to some, communicate with them.
Throughout the story, Grendel’s understanding of the human language and his use of this language constantly increased. From chapter to chapter, a reader can see the improvement of narration and the addition of different aspects of the human language. Chapters 7 and 8 are great examples of the different aspects of language Grendel has learned from the villagers in Hrothgar’s village. In these chapters, Grendel uses italics, bold, and indentations. In addition, Grendel plays around with the language when he puts scene 1 and scene 2. Eventually, Grendel includes the thoughts of other characters and the novel even includes a couple of soliloquies from the other characters. These adjustments and format Grendel uses is an enormous improvement to that of the beginning of Grendel’s childhood. 
From the beginning of the story, the reader can interpret that Grendel has some knowledge of language. During his first encounter with humans, he sort of understands what they are saying and tries to communicate, but he really only groans and moans to them. As time progresses, Grendel begins to be able to pronounce words and say complete sentences. He also starts to talk to some humans—like Unferth. Finally towards the end of the story, it can be seen that Grendel’s “storytelling” has had greatly improved; he even uses italics and brackets. By the end of the story, Grendel has great knowledge of language and can talk to and understand humans.