Gardners letter

     Garnder’s letter in response to the student’s views on Grendel basically took my opinion of the novel and turned it all the way around. My impression of Beowulf changed drastically. Before reading the letter I thought that Beowulf just came in as the destroyer. I saw his purpose and role in the novel as destroying Grendel and that was it. Pretty one dimensional…But then, the letter made me do a total 360! First off it really helps to understand that the dragon represents a “Truth-teller,” Gardner says in the novel that “Beowulf becomes a kind of second dragon another absolute truth-teller, only this time it's a positive as opposed to negative truth.” If he is a truth teller and it is a “positive” truth then this also adds to the idea that he is not so much destroying Grendel as he is leading him to a new truth. He is acting as a guide of some sort. A Christ figure.

However I thought that it was very interesting in that Gardner also says that part of the foundation of the novel stemmed from the philosophies of Jean Paul Startre stating that, “There’s no god, or meaning in life.” This was interesting because there was clear Christ figure imagery at the end of the novel regarding Beowulf. This idea counteracts Startre’s. If there is no god why does Gardner develop Beowulf as god like and a Christ figure (“He stretches his blinding white wings…” (172)). Gardner ends his letter to the students by saying, “Also, of course one must be sure that what is said in one part of the book is not contradicted, expanded, or redefined in another.” Again, this interesting because I feel that he did this in the novel. The basis of the novel is that there is no god and no meaning in life, yet he alludes to Beowulf as a Christ figure. It just seems as if Gardner is being hypocritical with his own ideas.

However, the central question still stands, “If the world really is meaningless (as it now stands) how should I live?” A question of morality and values, that there is no right answer too and that Gardner leaves up to the reader. The response he gave furthered my understanding of the novel and deepened my interpretation. I see Beowulf in a different light after reading Gardner’s response and it almost makes me want to re-read the novel with this in mind. It also goes to show how differently people can interpret literature.