A home is a place where one lives and feels most comfortable. In John Gardner’s Grendel, the dragon is a character that has a large influence on the way Grendel thinks towards the end of the novel. He also is responsible for Grendel’s decision to attack the Scylding people, and eventually this decision led to Grendel’s “unexpected” death. The dragon impacts the Anglo-Saxon people because his words influence Grendel to raid the Scyldings, he impacts Grendel by presenting a different outlook on life, and the character reflects the meaning of the book because he believes everybody has a set role in the world and they cannot change that.
The dragon impacts the Anglo-Saxon people, Hrothgar’s people, by influencing Grendel to “scare” them for fun. In Chapter 5 of Grendel the dragon insists, “You improve them, my boy!”(Gardner 72). This quote indirectly impacts the Anglo-Saxon people as the dragon is boosting Grendel’s ego claiming that the humans cannot grow without Grendel. Another quote in which the dragon impacts the Anglo-Saxon people is when he tells Grendel, “You are, so to speak, the brute existent by which they learn to define themselves” (Gardner 73). This quote indirectly impacts the Anglo-Saxon people because through quotes like this the dragon is claiming the human race is not defined and nor will it be till Grendel does his role. According to the dragon Grendel is what makes the humans “think and scheme” (Gardner 72). This both boosts Grendel’s ego and degrades the human race at the same time as the dragon is saying that the humans cannot grow on their own; therefore, it boosts Grendel’s ego by slyly stating that Grendel
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