Grendel - Desperate to get to the top?

The first monster of Beowulf we will be looking into is Grendel the dreaded demon of Heorot, who Beowulf fights.

What did he look like?                  

The poem never fully describes what Grendel looks like; it only describes him as such things like "a prowler through the dark," a "grim demon" and a "God-cursed brute" (Beowulf, 86, 102,121). The poem does not give much description of him, not telling us anything we can use to visualize him. By doing this, the poem seems to allow us to make up our own kind of Grendel. If you have seen any of the movies you'll come to realize that Grendel is portrayed differently each time. 

What was his problem anyways?

In line 87, the poem says that he “nursed a hard grievance.” According to dictionary.com, a grievance is “a complaint or resentment, as against an unjust or unfair act.” As we read on we notice he is mainly targeting the Mead Hall where everyone gathers for merry-making and good times. The Mead Hall also has the throne in which the king sits, the throne of power. Grendel lives in a cave somewhere nearby, close enough to hear the parties going on and all of the happiness. Could it be jealousy that drives him to kill? Could it be the fact that everyone else is having a good time, while he sits in his cave and broods? By going straight for the heart of the town, he shows that he means business. Perhaps it is his status that drives him to the brink. According to an article in Social Forces called “Occupational Status and the Experience of Anger,” “status and emotion are generally thought to be compatible.” Grendel could have had a grudge against everyone because he was at the bottom of the totem pole. “Those of low status are more likely to be chronically situated in ‘aversive environments’ that produce anger as a response...”

So, that explains why he was so angry! I don’t blame him all that much. I would be pretty cranky too if I were at the bottom, with no hope of getting to the top. I do believe he should have gone about it differently instead of ripping people to pieces and eating them. Maybe then he wouldn’t have had his arm ripped off and not died in the end.

I don’t know about you, but this seems to give me a different view on Mr. Grendel. Just another man at the bottom, lonely and depressed. Who wouldn’t be unhappy in his place? Does this change your perspective of him like it does mine?

Abrams, Meyer Howard, and Stephen Jay Greenblatt. “Beowulf.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature The Middle Ages. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2006. 36-100. Print.

Collett, Jessica L., and Omar Lizardo. "Occupational Status and the Experience of Anger." Social Forces 88.5 (2010): 2079-2104. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. EBSCO. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

"grievance." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 13 Nov. 2010. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/grievance>.