Theme Of Evil In Beowulf

Evil has no definitive interpretation; it is a matter of morals and the mindset of the being. It depends on the person to define such an ambiguous idea, some have faith in God(s), others look to dictionary definitions. Though based on Grendel’s intelligence and his repeatedly disgusting acts, he is evil. He is an astute being that can comprehend what kind of pain he creates by his ways, and he has no remorse for anything. Grendel’s actions are revolting, from ruining Wealhtheow, to killing harmless beings, to many spouts of unprovoked violence. Most importantly, Grendel is a repulsive creature. He says that his hatred for Hrothgar is not from his original encounter with humans, so maybe his behavior is simply for no reason other than to ruin
There isn’t much of a difference between him and Hrothgar. “Pity poor Grengar, Hrothdel’s foe! Down goes the whirlpool: Eek! No, no!” (Gardener p.92) This stanza could be representing that Grendel and Hrothgar aren’t that different. Humans can be just as cruel as monsters; they wage war against each other, they kill for greed and power. Both Grendel and Hrothgar are weak, they act on their lack of being able to deal with their emotions. As pointed out before, Grendel attacked Wealhtheow for no reason other than his incapability to deal with his feelings. Hrothgar feels threatened by the other cities, for if they rise to power, they could overthrow Hrothgar’s successful reign. However, Grendel’s actions aren’t in the mind of trying to improve anything for anyone else, he tore Unferth down mentally for fun. He attacked Wealhtheow for no reason. Hrothgar had some notion to better life for his
He makes the reader feel sympathy by presenting Grendel’s thought process and showing him in his weakest points. By sharing the thought process of Grendel, it proves that he is an intelligent being capable of doing harm purposefully. Various times throughout the book, Grendel would think that it was in his right to kill something, as if there was no other choice. A prime example is on page 140 when Grendel is more or less confronted by a goat. He decides that it is his prerogative to force the goat to leave. He ends up killing the goat simply because the goat was following his animalistic senses. Grendel writes sadistically of this encounter saying “The air is sweet with the scent of his blood,” showing that there was no regret in Grendel’s