Grendel's Self Image In Beowulf

Grendel's self image modifies all throughout Grendel. To begin, in the beginning, Grendel acts very child like. In many occasions, Grendel seems to be a mama’s boy. for instance, Grendel quotes, “Mama! waa! waa! I bellowed to the sky, the forest, the cliffs, until I was so weak from loss of blood i could barely wave my arms. I'm going to die! I wailed. Poor Grendel! Poor old Mama! I wept and sobbed. Poor Grendel will hang here and starve to death! I told myself, and no one will ever even miss him. The thought angered me.” (Gardner 18) As Grendel is crying for his mama's help, he is forced to realize that he is all alone in his lonely world. Furthermore, this begins to start the change in Grendel. His mother, who is the only family he has isn't even there for him so he realizes, that no one will ever …show more content…
In addition, The draggon also provides change in Grendel's charisma. For example, as Grendel is conversing with the dragon, the dragon begins to give him advice as well as an education about the true meaning of life. The dragon states, “What God? Where? Life-force you mean, the principle of process? God as the history of chance? In some way that i couldn't explain, I knew that his ways of my childish credulity was right. Nevertheless, something will come of all this I said. Nothing he said, A brief pulsation in the black hole of eternity. My advice to you- wait and see I said. He shook his head. My advice to you, my violent friend, is to seek out gold and sit on it.” (Gardner 74) In other words, the dragons advice to Grendel is to be nihilist. The dragon knows everything about literally everything; he knows the past and the future. He knows everything that will happen to Grendel, so advice to him is to live like like he does, to just sit on gold and kill anyone who attempts to defeat him. Last, Beowulf has the biggest adjustment on