Blake and Grendel

Two opposites must live in harmony. This is the central idea throughout Blake's work and throughout Grendel. That Gardner chose one of Blake's poems for the short introductory quote makes sense since Grendel's internal conflict so closely parallels that of Blake's. Grendel must choose between two conflicting ideas. This internal battle eventually destroys him, as if to prove that the battle cannot be won. Blake, however, disagrees; Blake believes that a perfect state is a mixture of both heaven and hell. He believes that these two opposites must combine to maintain a sense of innocent joy coupled with knowledge. Grendel is an exploration of that idea.

The Shaper is one of the forces that Grendel is attracted to. The Shaper builds and creates memories. He unifies the people. Grendel desperately wants to be a part of his world, even if it means being one of Cain's descendants. The Shaper represents the Songs of Innocence. Both are hopeful and naïve. The Shaper lives in an illusion where the conquests of the Danes are important and heroes are real. Even Unferth fights to be a hero, in the end. The poems represent a child’s perspective on life while the Shaper represents child-like perspective. Both are similar in their joy and innocence.

On the other hand, we have the Dragon. The Dragon is all knowing. He has the knowledge that the child-like Danes cannot even hope for. In chapter five, he shares his experience with Grendel. He explains the concept of time and says that extinction is inevitable, but the world will keep spinning. The Songs of Experience represent him. The Dragon sees all and understands the harshness of life that destroys all good and innocence. He shows Grendel that Grendel is only an enemy of the Danes because he needs to be. Without Grendel, life would go on and the Danes would find a new enemy. This reality is something Grendel must accept. Grendel is a monster because it is fate. Everything is pre-determines, so there is no free will. The Dragon can see all but change nothing. This viewpoint is harsh and lacks hope.  

Grendel struggles to find a common ground. At first, he accepts the Shaper’s point of view. The Dragon, however, convinces him otherwise. So, Grendel begins his spree of killings. He transforms himself into the Wrecker of Mead Halls. However, he begins to doubt himself when Wealtheow is introduced to the novel. She tears him up on the inside, just like the Shaper, and he is again faced with an internal conflict. Is the Shaper right, or is the Dragon right? This internal conflict destroys him and eventually causes his destruction. He is unable to fight Beowulf because Beowulf represents his own inner conflict. Beowulf’s constantly changing appearance further shows that he is another mental conflict Grendel faces. Blake’s two opposites don’t come together very well. Instead of in a perfect state, Grendel was left destroyed. 

Isolation.

Isolation: a common theme throughout the semester. Frankenstein was isolated; Frankenstein’s creature was isolated. Wing Biddlebaum was isolated. Enoch Robinson was isolated. Almost every novel we have read features isolation, but it was specifically Winesburg, Ohio and Frankenstein in which isolation was prominent.

Frankenstein isolated himself in trying to create the creature. He locks himself away and creates something that he eventually regrets. He “shunned his fellow creatures” and hid in his lab (Shelley 41). He was isolated in the beginning and again, in the end, he was isolated. In the end, a “solitary cell had been [his] habitation…” (Shelley 176). Out of isolation, he created what he called, a monster, and he failed to destroy his monster. It was in isolation that he, again, almost created another monster. Victor’s isolation proved detrimental and eventually caused his death as he died after spending months isolated in the artic. It became difficult to tell whether he was the monster himself. His fits coincided with the creature’s appearances and nobody else ever saw the creature. If the creature was real, even he was isolated. Men feared him, so there were “none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist…” him (Shelley 116). Villagers ran away at the sight of him. His isolation turned him into the monster that Victor thought he was in the beginning. The creature even admits it and says, “I am malicious, because I am miserable” (Shelley 124). His isolation made him miserable and by extension, malicious. The family that he thought would protect him abandoned him. Isolation was his downfall.

Even Winesburg, Ohio was full of isolated characters. Wing, for example, is isolated out of fear. His hand forced him to fear men. He was accused of horrible crimes, so he keeps his hands “hidden away” and isolated (Anderson 12). He is “driven from the Pennsylvania town,” which is when he starts his period of isolation (Anderson 15).  His isolation made him nervous and “forever frightened” (Anderson 9). Similarly, Enoch Robinson’s isolation drove him crazy. He bought a room and left his wife, and that “took Enoch out of the world of men” (Anderson 171). This isolation then drove him crazy especially when he met a woman who only furthered his isolation. This woman’s room is never shown, and there is no proof that she is real. She is likely just one of his imaginary people. However, he screams at her and when she leaves, she takes all of his people with her, leaving him completely alone. Thus, he is forced to return to Winesburg.

All of these characters-- Victor, the creature, Wing and Enoch—were isolated and suffered because of it. Their isolation became their downfall; it ruined them. So, the main theme throughout these two novels is that isolation is usually a curse.