2/27/20 Sara Wu Period 8

February 27, 2020

Sara Wu Pd 8

Aim: How are philosophies of religion and government constructed by the characters in Grendel?

DN: Is Red Horse an anarchist? What is the purpose of explaining this to a prince? Argue: is this true or false?

Stanley started the discussion by saying that Red Horse is definitely an anarchist because he believes the government is violent and therefore wrong. The prince is young, so he is easily influenced by those around him. Since he is the prince, he has a chance of securing the throne, a place of great authority. In this case, Red Horse is acting as a puppeteer to make the prince possibly do what he wants in the future. Joshua adds on, saying Red Horse believes that all forms of government are evil. However, he doesn’t agree with this viewpoint. Though giving too much power to one person could make them become evil, giving people a little power, like the system we have today, can prevent the government from becoming evil.

Consider Tolstoy’s perspective on government compared up to Red Horse and the Priest. Are government and religion synonymous? Are they ubiquitous? Are they necessary?

Alan states that government and religion are synonymous because a lot of laws have something to do with morality and morality is a huge part of religion. There isn’t a way to separate government and religion. Both government and religion bring purpose and structure to people so they are very much necessary. To counter this point, Ruby brings up the point that not everyone is religious. Many people are atheists so does that mean they don’t have a moral code? Religion does have a lot of morality but she believes humans are born with a sense of morality. Morality also stems from one's environment and parents. 

Josh makes a great point about whether or not we had a religion when we first learned how to make a fire. Ultimately, we ended up with a question. Just where does morality come from???

Fear not because next week’s class with Mr. Spellacy is all about the moral philosophy. Please come to class prepared!

Ms. Fusaro then presented us with her thought bubbles of insanity:

• Ork? Orc - Like Lord of the Rings?
• The “Great Destroyer”!?
• Black Sun with Spiders
• Ork’s a priest… how about his friends? What does this remind you of?
• Wings
• Snow
• 
  

Snow is a symbol of innocence and purity, as well as the end of something. In movies and books, the black sun is well... bad. These two things can be linked back to the events of Ragnarok. Before Ragnarok, there was a snowstorm which was a warning for what was about to come down and during Ragnarok, Fenrir devoured the sun. Winter can be seen as an omen for the end of Grendel's life by the hands of Beowulf.

Ryan ties Ork and the other priests with the Book of Job. Like Job’s friends, the priests were doubtful of Ork and his God. They think that he has gone senile. In this case, however, maybe Ork has truly talked to the Great Destroyer. Grendel impersonated this god and afterward, he was unable to fall towards hell, to the dragon. Grendel wasn't a god initially but he has impersonated god.

Reflection:

Today's discussion revolved around the idea that Grendel is a part of the Great Destroyer. As shown in both Ragnarok and Noah's Arc, god is both a creator and a destroyer. I learned that Grendel's existence gives humans a purpose but in being the enemy of humans, he in turn also gives himself purpose by being a part of the Great Destroyer. His existence brings the hero, aka Beowulf, to make an appearance and purge the world of sin.

Joshua Szymanski 2/27/20 Period 2 - Blog #2

2/27/2020 Joshua Szymanski PD2

Aim: How are philosophies of religion and government constructed by the characters in Grendel?

To begin the lesson we started with a discussion about Red Horse, a character in Grendel, and his relations to anarchism. I brought up the fact that he is not only representative of anarchism but more specifically anarcho-communism. He is constantly mentioning the plight of the peasantry in the Hrothgar’s kingdom to Hrothulf. He goes on to say how they are constantly repressed and subjugated by those at the top. This echoes the sentiments held by many people who ascribe themselves to the marxist ideology. However, he does also say that all government will lead to evil. Also that there is no system that will benefit everyone, because there will always be a group of people of higher power who will exploit the lower classes with less privilege. This is a demonstration of how he also represents the anarchist philosophy that the best system, is no system. Red Horse, in this scene, was speaking to Hrothulf, a prince. This brings up the important question as to why someone who believes in such radical notions, such as no government, would say this to a high ranking member of the current government. My theory was that Red Horse believes that they need to start at the top to bring a whole system down. Similar to the saying, cut the head off the snake, if you were to destroy a government at the top, the rest would crumble as well. So Red Horse is trying to bring Hrothulf around to his perspective to try and bring the system down around him.

We then discussed a quote made by Leo Tolstoy, which goes as follows, “Government is violence, Christianity is meekness, non-resistance, love. And, therefore, government cannot be Christian, and a man who wishes to be a Christian must not serve government.” There is an obvious contradiction here about being both a religious and political man. I do not believe that it is that black and white, there are examples of both a prosperous religious government as well as many failing ones. One of the most successful empires in all of history, had a very strong religious backing. I am referring to the Ottoman empire, whose laws were mainly derived from the Islamic faith. They were wildly successful in many different areas, including conquest and governorship. Even our own country of the US has a strong Judeo-Christian presence in our morality, ideology, laws, and culture. Both of these countries have been very successful. However there have also been examples of how the lack of separation of church and state had catastrophic consequences. The Holy Roman Empire which was mainly based in modern day Germany had a lot of corruption due to their religious ties. They also had a very obvious hypocrisy in the style of government they had and their beliefs as christians. They were usually very violent and set out to conquer other lands, a very big contrast to the christian belief, for example “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” Another member of the class brought up the good point that ideally these two should be one in the same, church and state. However when they stray from their ideals, such as a government away from it’s people or the church away from god, this leads to corruption and subjugation.

The next discussion was about some of the motifs present in this chapter of the book. One motif was the snow and winter, which in this case represents the apocalypse. As winter comes everything around us seems to die and all the animals seem to disappear. This seems to be an allusion, along with the black sun, to Ragnorok. As when there is a winter that is the length of three winters, Fenrir will swallow the sun, and will turn black. These, and many other motifs in this chapter, either allude to other works or demonstrate the perspective the Grendel has of the world.

We closed out the lesson by taking an online test on our machiavellian qualities. This is relevant to the story of Grendel as throughout the entire novel he explores many different ideologies and philosophies. Machiavellianism is just one of the many philosophies explored throughout the novel. Some others include nihilism and existentialism. All of these different viewpoints help to shape Grendel and his view on humanity up until this point in the novel, and most likely until the end as well.

Joshua Szymanski

Blogger #29 Modern Mythology 2020

2/27/20 Allen Vaiman PD 7

Allen Vaiman

2/27/20

Period 7

Aim: How are philosophies of religion and government constructed by the characters in Grendel?

Today we considered the different beliefs and mechanisms at the core of religion and government, how they interact, and even interfere in some cases.

For the Do Now we once again took a closer look at Red Horse and his motives. Most groups agreed that Red Horse is an anarchist who believes all systems are inherently evil and that he was trying to sow the idea of revolution in the mind of the young prince Hrothulf. We also discussed corruption in modern systems of government and how they may start off with good intentions, but ultimately end up straying from their original path because of the nature of humanity.

This led us into considering the role of religion and government and how they compare. Both are systems that work by unifying people under certain values, and yet this unity can lead to division as well, excluding people who do not conform to the system such as Red Horse. We tried to see the Hrothgar’s government from the peasants’ perspective with Steven likening it to a “cult” because it demands unquestioning allegiance from subjected groups, as opposed to the more individual significance of religion in one’s life.   

Finally, we took a look at some of the “omens, allusions, & ominous woes” present throughout the chapter.

We talked about how Ork was an outsider who could communicate with Grendel eventually even gaining his empathy. The blind old man grovels at the feet of who he believes to be “the Destroyer '' god, but continues to speak his beliefs, reconciling pagan ideas with that of monotheism. Later he is ridiculed by his group of fellow priests, a scene that was reminiscent of the Book of Job. The harsh snow and desolate land foreshadow doom and gloom, and the coming of Beowulf to defeat Grendel in the next few chapters. The children make angels in the snow and Grendel speaks of visions of the black sun being consumed by swarms of spiders. The priests preach a hope that they themselves do not entirely believe in, a feeling that resonates uneasily even with the nihilistic Grendel. The end is approaching. A time of reckoning, judgement, and Rapture.

Additional Thoughts/Reflection:

Overall I feel like we had some insightful discussion about the core themes of Chapters 8 & 9 and nicely wrapped them up as we head towards the climax of the novel and inevitably, the end. This was a shorter chapter but, I feel like it was still densely shrouded in enigmatic signs, which this lesson helped us uncover.

As for the Zodiac symbol of this chapter, the Sagittarius is referenced in the archer shooting the hart, which also foreshadows Grendel’s demise in the near future. His invulnerability to weapons and nihilistic nature have made Grendel complacent when it comes to taunting humans for their beliefs, be it their religions, governments, or honeyed view of heroes and poetry. He now wanders freely within their walls, terrorizing them and laughing at their ideas. Likewise, the passionate and commanding Saggitarians enjoy freedom, philosophy, and occasionally even mischief as they search for purpose in their lives. As of late Grendel has been enjoying his delusions of enlightenment, not realizing that they do little to give him any more control over his fate. Consciously or not, he has followed the dragon's advice to a T and has become "the Destroyer '' from whom humans define their purpose. Unlike the dragon who is able to foresee the circumstances of his own death, Grendel is in for a rude awakening when he discovers his unfortunate role in the story of one such human “hero” has unknowingly inspired. For now, the snow drops in silence, a numbing cold before the frenzy of death...

“All Heaven and Earth

Flowered white obliterate...

Snow...unceasing snow”

• Kajiwara Hashin

2/27/20 Michelle Zhang PD 5

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

MICHELLE ZHANG

PERIOD 6 

SOPHOMORES 2020

AIM:

How does Orwell criticize society through Boxer and Benjamin?

DO NOW:

With a partner, discuss and write about two images. Consider the message, the audience, the perspective, the bias and the persuasive technique.

A Pork Chop

The Message: Become a vegan to save animals

The Audience: Everyone, Specifically those who are meat eaters

The Perspective: Of someone who is a vegan

The Bias: Trying to convince people to become vegan because they think that it will help save the lives of animals

Persuasive Techniques: Pathos 

Are you pouring on the pounds?

The Message: To cut back on drinking sugary beverages and stick to drinking water

The Audience: Everyone, the general public 

The Perspective: Medical professionals that know the affects of sugary drinks

The Bias: Trying to convince people to stop drinking sugary beverages because they think that it will cause you to gain weight 

Persuasive Techniques: Ethos

What Would You Do?

You’re in class and your friends start checking their phones and laughing. Soon, your phone goes off as well. You receive a text message of a picture of a girl who is in your grade turned into a really nasty meme making fun of her. The girl is currently in class with you, you watch her check her phone, her eyes turn red, and she asks the teacher to use the pass.

Whole Class Discussion:

Richard Wright argues that “All literature is protest. you can’t name a single novel that isn’t protest.”

Your thoughts? Ideas? Options? Feel free to integrate your own knowledge as well as Animal Farm into your commentary.

GROUP WORK:

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” - George Orwell

-What are the themes elicited from George Orwell’s Animal Farm?

-Watch the two videos posted in the syllabus about “Thorny Situations.”

-What relatable issues do you see in your own worked compared to the novel? How would George Orwell want to inspire your generation?

-What is one thing you could do this week?

REFLECTION:

Today I learned how different messages can be shown through images and advertisements. Each ad is designed by those who have a certain perspective or bias that they want to convince people t believe. They can use the three rules of persuasive techniques: ethos, logos, and pathos to help them make their message stronger. We also dig deeper and discovered that as humans, we usually go along with the crowd and won’t stand up for what we think is right or only will speak up when if solely affects us. Going back to our aim, Orwell uses Boxer and Benjamin to criticize society and human behavior. In Animal Farm, Boxer is a horse who is extremely strong and a hard worker. His devotion in his job may seem like something positive on the outside. However, it also shows that he is just following the ideals of the pigs and doesn’t have independent thinking. We can see this because his two mottos are “I will work harder” and “Napoleon” is always right. Orwell uses Boxer to show that humans have the tendency to just follow what everyone else is doing and not even question it. Benjamin is a donkey who is extremely wise and knows what is really going on. He even knows how to read just like the pigs. However, he doesn’t express the desire of opposing the pigs probably because he is scared. He does eventually speak up when his best friend Boxer was sent off the be slaughter. Orwell uses Benjamin to show that humans have powers that we misuse by not using it in order to benefit others but only ourselves. This was an important lesson because it showed us how Orwell used characters to resemble real life people. This makes us aware of the fault in our society and can even make us want to stand up for something we truly believe in even though others won’t agree with us. We can further apply what we learned today and try not to turn a blind eye when we see injustice.

2/26/20 Salma Torky PD 7

2/26/20 Salma Torky Period 7

Modern Mythology 2020

2/26/2020

Salma Torky Period 7

Aim: How are philosophies of religion and government constructed by the characters in Grendel.

Write now: Grendel speaks of various hypocrisies in chapter 8. Choose one of Gardener’s examples to discuss and include your own opinion. What is Gardener’s statement and position, and infirm, what is yours and why?

                 

We then went on to discuss the three major hypocrisies mentioned in Grendel

1. Many people only care about themselves and do everything in their own self-interest even while claiming that everyone will benefit from something.
2.  All the power lives in the top of the system. The top of this system reaps the benefits of the hard work put in by those at a lower status. 
3. Divine right comes with a moral responsibility that must be applied otherwise it is not deserved. Divine right can be seen from the perspective of many.

We then went into the analysis of the character named Red Horse. Some ideas thrown out was that the red represented communism, anger, passion, or being bloodthirsty.

We came to the conclusion that Gardener most likely named the character Red Horse either after the red horse of the apocalypse or Red Horse, the chief of Little Big Horn.

The red horse of the apocalypse represents war. In this case, it's a war for power building up to a possible revolution due to the massive power/wealth gap between the upper and lower levels in the kingdom.

Red Horse, the chief of Little Big Horn, fought in the battle of little bighorn that aimed to stop/slow down American imperialism. George Custer was a United States Army officer who fought in this battle and was sen as America’s hero similar to how Hrogthar is seen as the hero. 

We then read the quote by Red horse shown below and an article about Harlem Redlining and related them both back to Grendel.

From the quote, we could clearly see Red horses disagreement to how the government is set up as well as other key lessons such as

• Real violence is a never-ending cycle that merely changes perspective based on the oppressors and the oppressed.
• The government is meant to serve not  rule the people, instead the government has monopolized what they believe is right and wrong. As they attempt to enforce more rules to avoid tyranny they go too far and become the very thing they were trying to avoid because again they are looking out for only themselves.
• There is hypocrisy in how the people are ruled. For example, the state has power that normal people don’t such as drafting people to fight in wars they believe should be fought while people were shot down from fighting for what they believe in such as civil rights.

Ultimately everyone wants power and wants to apply their own morals but they will always be skewed and unjust.

    The class then went on to discuss redlining and how it related to Grendel.

Redlining was the denial of various services by federal government agencies, local governments as well as the private sector, to residents of specific, most notably black, neighborhoods or communities, either directly or through the selective raising of prices. Its purpose was to isolate those deemed unworthy.

    A notable person who was big on redlining was Robert Moses, Cheif of Urban Planning. He designed the southern state parkway with a weight limit as to not allow buses on it which would most certainly carrying people with less money or those of a lower class. His purpose of doing so was to isolate Long Island and keep it “sanctified”.

     

    This ultimately ties back to the write now prompt where as seen by redlining everything is being manipulated by the higherups for their own benefit under the guise that it will help all. This keeps people compliant while giving the hope that something may be done to better their life. However, this blissful ignorance does not always last and people will revolt and stand up when they realize everything told to them was a lie.

Reflection

While I’ve known that people in positions of power tend to want more and will do anything to get it this lesson helped reinforce that. It’s seen all throughout history and as we all know history repeats itself and will continue to repeat itself. This is extremely important to understand in today’s political world. Many people in my generation are happy to be ignorant about politics as long as it doesn’t directly affect them. This submissive nature allows those in power to gain more due to no one questioning or rebelling against them. While the chances of me personally changing the way things have been since the beginning of time is impossible I can still attempt to have even the slightest amount of influence if it will even slow down the power-hungry people in our world. 

Yayin Ruan 2/26/20 Period 2 - Blog #2

2/26/20 Yayin Ruan Pd 2 Blog #2

Modern Mythology 2020

Aim: How are philosophies of religion and government constructed by the characters in Grendel

Write now: Find hypocrisies in chapter 8, discuss and add in your own opinion. We then shared out loud what we wrote 

Symbolism of red horse

Henry stated that the red symbolises communism and horse is a reference to Animal Farm which represents the workers. I mentioned that the Red Horse is also a reference to the four horsemen of the apocalypse in the bible. It symbolises war and division which goes hand in hand with Horthulf’s want for revolution. Ben took the time period this book written into context. This book was written in the 1960’s and this can represent Gardner’s perspective on the Vietnam War.

Red Horse is also a reference to the Native American Red Horse who fought against Custer in the battle of little bighorn. He was opposing the American government’s westward expansion and coercive forces against Native Americans. Red Horse represents the opposition to the government. 

Red Horse quote: “public force is the life and soul of every state: not merely army and police but prisons, judges, tax collectors, every trick of coercive repression. The state is an organization of violence, a monopoly in what it is pleased to call legitimate violence” 

Discussion “ legitimate” violence as “coercive repression”... page 114 the bread thief example

The bread thief in this quote has the same meaning as Jean Valjean in the book “Les Miserables.” 

Ben started off by criticizing how if a state deems an act of violence is legitimate it is justified, even if it is not. For example, Germany believed that the holocaust was ok and deemed it as “legitatimate violence.” But at the same time people are getting punished for small crimes such as having long jail sentences for possession of even the smallest amount of marijuana. Gautaman talked about how some people choose to give up a certain freedom or aspects of life to the government in pursuit of comfort and security. I brought the conversation back to the Jean Valjean reference, in “Les Miserables” the reason Jean Valjean stole the bread was to save his starving nephew, which was a necessary and legitimate reason to him. However, he was jailed for 20 years. How is his reason for his crime any less legitimate and necessary?

Article of Harlem Redlining: 

Redlining-African American neighborhoods were deemed by the Government as too risky for mortgages.  Banks refused to give mortgages or invest in these neighborhoods. With banks and government abandoning these neighborhoods, many neighborhoods degraded and its people were facing income equality.

On the other hand, Robert Moses designed the southern state parkway to have a small weight capacity so buses can’t drive on it. Since only lower income people took buses, this kept the poor people from Long Island. 

Reflection: This lesson focuses on the criticism of the government. The government can be oppressive and sometimes what the government deem as morally correct may not be true. This is reflective of real life with Harlem Redlining of the past. The government believed it was reasonable to put neighborhoods and a community of people in financially disadvantaged positions was correct. Even if it happened in the past, we still see the consequences and impact it has on the same neighborhoods and the African American community to this day. This also enriches my understanding of the communist revolution in Russia. The Tsar’s wish to join World War I was justified under his rule, but the serfs were already suffering. The people were tired of his oppression  and they overthrew the government. From this lesson, the takeaway is you should not blindlessly put your faith in the government, and criticize the government when it’s needed before it gets too far. 

2/26/20 Eri Dumesh Period 1

Red Horse, Hrothulf, and the revolution of the Danes 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grendel

Aim- How are the philosophies of Religion and Government constructed by the
Hypocrisies in Grendel: Wealtheow is supposed to be in a perfect marriage and the ideal wife but in reality Hrothgar wants to expand his power and legacy. Hrothgar would not risk his life when Grendel attacks to save his wife, and she starts to realize that she’s a small part of the large, self centered plan that he has. He is only worried about preserving his name, and that is one of the biggest hypocrisies of a good long. 

Also, Hrothgar is further a hypocrite when he states that he will deal with the problem of the growingly-powerful king Ingeld by marrying off his daughter. He first expresses his disappointment that Wealtheow spent her entire life with an elderly husband, however he solves his problems by subjecting his daughter to the exact same fate. 


What is the Symbolism of Red Horse? What is in the name? 

http://www.peterolsenart.com/slide15.html

Horse talks about how one government full of tyranny is only going to be replaced by another with a revolution. He talks about how there must be “murder and mayhem” to lead to real change. Hrothulf is a carrier of destruction for him. Although he may represent communism with a similar socioeconomic position as Hrothulf, I believe he represents more. He can also represent the Red Horse of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who is manned by War. Even more so, he can be connected to the Native American Red Horse, who watched the Battle of Little Bighorn and saw/sketched the true evil nature of warfare. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Horse_(Lakota_chief) 

Reflection
After the lesson regarding Red Horse and this chapter, I realized political and social philosophies stay more or less the same over time. Root ideas are never changed, with only small details being added. This can be seen with how Red Horse wants no government, saying that tyranny is only replaced by tyranny. This seems like a simple idea, but has molded history for so hundreds of years. While Red Horse is fictional, it is easy to see that a political viewpoint, like communism for example, has existed for hundreds of year. Even with mass death and failure it is still found in many countries outside the United States. Red Horse can easily reflect the communist struggle in the 1900s and through time. 
Further Reading http://www.american-tribes.com/Lakota/BIO/RedHorse.htm

• 
  

2/25/20 Christopher Turano Period 8

2/25/20 Chris Turano Period 8 #28

Modern Mythology 2020

Aim: How does Grendel’s obsession with Wealtheow illustrate his struggle with identity?

Do Now: List everything Grendel is not

Answers Given: human, accepted, a liar, stupid, optimistic, oblivious, good, evil

WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION

"What will we call the Hrothgar-Wrecker when Horthgar has been wrecked?" (91) What reason does Grendel give for not finishing off the Danes? Why Does he pace himself with "Form is function"

Since his meeting with the Dragon, Grendel has become nihilistic and believes that nothing in the world has meaning. When he gives himself the name “Hrothgar-Wrecker” he is giving himself purpose. If he goes and kills all of the Danes then he is destroying his only purpose in life. He uses the idea “Form is Function” to show that the structure he puts himself in is what gives him purpose in life. If you are given full freedom in school and are allowed to walk into and out of any class any time you want, you would most likely eventually create your own schedule that you followed everyday. Without some sort of order it all just seems pointless.

Balance:

The Dragon

Humans are inevitably violent and will destroy themselves. Everything is pointless. Past/Present/Future, it doesn't matter.

Wealtheow

Humans are capable of compassion and selflessness. Especially Women. With a word, the past is the past-changing future.

The Dragon instills the ideas of nihilism in Grendel, the idea that nothing in the world really matters. Wealtheow on the other hand acts as a sort of beacon of hope for Grendel. Her beauty and innocence show him that there may be some point to it all. The Dragon is a serpent which is representative of Satan and Wealtheow with her almost divine beauty and innocence can be seen as a sort of angel. The two naturally oppose each other. 

PAIR-SHARE

A Closer Look at Figurative Language and Syntax Structure 

Grendel seems to be speaking to himself in parentheses, almost in the fashion of a screenplay. Why? (Consider the time period this particular chapter refers to.)

Grendel is narrating what happened to him in the past and in doing so is seemingly having a conversation with himself. Past, present, and future are beginning to meld together for Grendel much like the Dragon.

Examples in humanity…

Pining over a lost love. The person broke your heart, shattered your world,even altered your perception of trust, and yet he/she still appears in your dreams, or creeps into your daily mind.Addiction-whatever the addiction maybe. A struggle to separate what is best from what we think we want.

When the heart and mind are on two different platforms, we struggle, we fear, we ache.

Innocence and Beauty are Futile

Grendel describes Wealtheow as “like a child, her sweet face paler than the moon”(101) He views her innocence in the same way we see children. We often do not like being called “innocent” or “naive” and spend much of our time trying to prove that we are exactly the opposite, regardless of consequences. However, as we grow older we realize that the satisfaction we get is often not worth the consequences, “snatched seven of them from their beds, slit them open and devoured them on the spot. I felt a strange, unearthly joy... But also, as never before, I was alone'' (79-80). 

Children, in their innocence, don't usually understand the damage that is caused by mankind's mistakes, sothey live in a world of ignorant bliss. Grendel is viewing Wealtheow from the perspective of one well-acquainted with both the pleasures and the pain of the world, and he sees her innocence as something to be protected. Even though we briefly enjoy the pleasures of sin, we still view the purity of children as something beautiful, because we know, deep down, that our world is supposed to be innocent. Grendel Wealhtheow's purity as something valuable, "priceless among the Scyldings treasures," but he sees her genitalia as a symbol of her fallen innocence (105). Not her vagina itself, but the fact that she has slept with Hrothgar makes her unclean to Grendel.

Reflection:

Today we continued to dive deeper into the psyche of Grendel and his conflicting emotions. Wealtheow specifically begins to tear Grendel apart much like the Shaper’s stories originally did. Grendel attempts to give himself purpose, becoming the “Hrothgar-Wrecker” and decides to not kill all of the Danes so as to not destroy his only purpose. Job security. When he first sees Wealtheow however, he begins to get torn apart. He can’t help but admire her beauty, grace, and innocence and this causes him to question the Dragon’s ideas. Grendel’s heart and mind are on two different platforms and it is tearing him apart. Today’s lesson can also be easily applied to our own lives. All of us struggle with the same things Grendel is currently struggling with. We all want to find purpose in life much like Grendel has as the “Hrothgar-Wrecker”. We want to follow our hearts in the next steps in life, going to our dream colleges, studying our passions. However we must realize that this often isn’t the best path logically, our dream college costs too much, our passions don’t pay enough. Our hearts and our mind are on two different platforms. The struggle of Grendel is the struggle of humanity. Wanting a purpose in life, a meaning to it all. Understanding what Grendel is going through can help us each understand more about ourselves and our lives.