Topic: 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?
When John Gardner wrote Grendel, he chose to use Grendel as the narrator. This allows us to see the motives behind his wretched actions. This allows us to have a window into Grendel’s confusing, monstrous mind. Gardner’s entire goal of Grendel was to parody the epic of Beowulf. In Beowulf, Beowulf is seen as the complete hero and having no bad intentions. In Grendel, we see Grendel as a better ‘person’ than he was seen in the epic. We see Grendel’s inner motivations and his thoughts, and we realize that Grendel is not a complete monster. From Grendel’s view, we also see how obnoxious Beowulf is, and how he feels as if he is better than others. Gardner also made it easier to parody the philosophical views of others, like his nemesis John-Paul Sartre. Grendel’s philosophical views are not established in Beowulf, and this allows Gardner to establish them for himself in Grendel.
