Initial thoughts on Grendel

Grendel Blog:

     On Friday maybe Thursday, I cant remember, we took notes in class on Grendel and John Gardener. It got me really excited to read Grendel! First off I am super excited because I like Beowulf a lot, and I think it will be really interesting taking a different point of view on the epic, and seeing what goes on in Grendel’s head and how he perceives Beowulf ect. I think Grendel is not only at war with the Danes but also with himself. There is a constant struggle to find himself. We talked about how the novel is essentially a telling of Grendel finding himself. We also noted that there were themes of guilt and responsibility, this being tied possibly to events in Gardner’s life. I thought this was interesting and could somehow be connected. Grendel trying to find himself could possibly be tied to Gardner struggling with the guilt of his traumatic childhood experience and finding closure with that.

     When we listened to the clip of Gardner reading his own work I drew a connection between this and another excerpt from the clip. Earlier in the clip one of Gardner’s students was featured. One of his main focuses that he said Gardner taught him, was the “importance of voice”. I recognized this in Gardner own work as he read the dialogue of the dragon, describing him as old, wise man. When he read the excerpt he changed his voice and It was exactly what I expected the creature to sound like given his previous description. However as he read this part I thought of something else as well. This story kind of put a new twist on the old man/adviser archetype. We have not read yet but in the context of what we heard, it seemed that Grendel was going to see the dragon and the dragon acted as an advisor of some sort. This was just interesting because usually the allusion to this archetype is very positive for example Merlin, but this seemed as if it were different. These were just things I initially thought about as we took notes. Ill have to see how everything pans out when we read the novel, but I am really excited! I am getting good vibes from this novel! I feel like it’s going to be good! And I cant wait to decorate my composition notebook! That seems like a good way to help understand the novel as we read! Ahhhh so ready for this book!