In the Old English epic poem Beowulf, Grendel is described as an inhuman, evil monster believed to carry a curse because he is a descendant of Cain. He attacks the Danes at night in reaction to a joy with which he cannot sympathize. His home is revealed to exist beneath a body of water littered with sea monsters and dragons, murky with blood. Yet his eventual death is avenged by the one with whom the bond is the strongest that has ever existed: his mother, raising the question of whether or not Grendel was truly a "monster". John Gardner, in his retelling of the old poem from the monster's point of view, titled Grendel, humanizes the life of the legendary monster by taking readers through Grendel's spiritual journey, answering the questions behind his alienation and outbursts who call him a "monster." By giving Grendel a voice that has not been heard in centuries, Gardner proves to readers that Grendel's struggles and spiritual journeys are no different from those experienced by humans, blurring the lines that differentiate human from monster. Grendel's reflection on his existential view of life in certain parts of the story resonates with my understanding of what life means to me, opening doors to many possibilities that. exist beyond my imagination: this life is simply what I make of it. For Grendel, it was his inevitable death. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be. banned” ?Get the original essay Existentialism, as described by William Barrett in his novel Irrational Man, began after World War II, where disillusionment was rampant and post-war emotions included pessimism and despair ( Barrett). The term was first introduced by French writer Jean-Paul Sartre, becoming a "cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s." Existentialism is a philosophical inquiry that asserts that human beings cannot be described or understood simply by "categories found in the conceptual repertoire of ancient or modern thought" (Crowell). The fundamental scientific concepts that appear to be understood by humans are therefore insufficient to describe the depth of human existence; these tools can only provide a limited understanding of physical processes, but not emotional processes. Existentialism concludes that current methods of rationalizing and giving meaning to life and human existence are insufficient to fully understand it (Crowell). Existentialism was created with the underlying question of what it means to live. It recognizes the difference between human existence and existence in general, because generalities can be understood with knowledge, whereas humans cannot (Burnham). When a person adopts existentialism as a way of life, they succumb to one of the following beliefs: “Nature as a whole has no purpose, no reason for existing. » The sciences that seem to define nature do not actually explain why things happen the way they do, but are simply a description of what is observed. “Freedom will not only be undetermined by knowledge or reason, but from the point of view of nature. in the latter case, my freedom will even seem absurd. Every aspect of the choice will have moments of absurdity, even if it seems that the path taken to arrive at a specific conclusion does not seem absurd in itself. “Human existence as action is doomed to always destroy itself. » Actions are always linked to the world around them andno action can occur independently of other factors. A “free” action, once accomplished, is no longer free (Burnham). With this, existentialists come to the conclusion that human existence is what it is not. Existence is then separated from humans themselves, and to be “free”, one cannot be linked to the world of cycles. In short, existentialism is a representation of the choice one makes to live one's life, whether that way is true or not. Everyone can define their own value and live to fulfill themselves. Such is the vagueness of philosophy. At the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi is inscribed the phrase “Know thyself!” ", a saying attributed to Socrates about the beginning of a philosophical journey: knowing yourself first (Barrett). Grendel's philosophical journey of trying to understand the true meaning of life revolved around understanding the world around him; he already knew what he was. The beginning of Grendel's journey begins with an allusion to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, in which a group of men sit, chained, inside a cave, watching the shadows on the wall in which they perceive reality. It is only when a man breaks the chains and ventures into the outside world that he realizes that the world is more than just a perception of what people think of it, although perception and truth can overlap. Grendel, in his journey, parallels this journey as he ventures out of his lair and breaks the physical barrier that exists between his world and the outside world, which was the body of water filled with sea dragons. During Grendel's first encounter with humans, he realizes that he is very similar to them, the only differences being his appearance and the way he grew up in isolation. It can be argued that the reason for Grendel's anger and actions throughout the rest of the book may be rooted in the isolation and alienation he felt when humans excluded him while he tried to communicate, since they both spoke the same language. Humans' instinctive expressions of hatred towards different creatures could be the tipping point that catalyzed Grendel's need to discover the meaning of his existence, as if it were different from that of others. Hence Grendel's need to find his true place. Grendel's isolation allows him to observe the world as a third party, as if his being were independent of the mechanics of the world. At several points in the novel, Grendel criticizes the cyclical nature of the universe, illustrated by his frustration with the ram who kept attacking him, the mountain goat who was determined to climb the mountain despite the impossibility, and the humans who killed without reason. . Grendel, preventing himself from succumbing to this cyclical nature, ventured to find meaning in his existence that had nothing to do with the stupidity, as he thought, of the world. The only thing he was sure of was that he was alone. He said: “I understood that the world was nothing; a mechanical chaos of brutal and fortuitous enmity upon which we foolishly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I exist alone” (Gardner, 22). This idea of ​​existential absurdity allows Grendel to define the values ​​of his life that separate him from the rest of the world and its mechanisms to which others succumb (Burnham). The only thing that matters to him is his own existence, because he is the only one who can shape and give meaning to his life. Perhaps the meaning Grendel gave to his own life was the determination to understand why he existed. While Grendel felt confused at several points in the novel, the reason he continued to live the way he did was because his goal was to understand the meaning of his.