2/13/20-2/14/20 Acewtin Tam Period 8

02/13/2020-02/14/2020

Acewin Tam Period 8 

Modern Mythology 2020

Aim: How does Grendel’s conversation with the Dragon illuminate the philosophical idea of nihilism and simultaneously define Grendel’s purpose?

Notes for 02/13/2020:

We started with a vocab quiz for Unit 7 Level H words and then discussed the questions after a pair-share, which grew into a full class discussion.

Questions: 

1. Why does the dragon use a ridiculous term to explain everything?
1. He finds humans ridiculous, so he laughs at them
2. He is even more advanced than us, so his vocabulary may seem like nonsense to us, but is actually just vocabulary used often in the future. Therefore, even we struggle to understand the Dragon and are put in the same position that Grendel is in. 
2. How does Gardner describe the voice of the Dragon? Why?
1. He describes the Dragon’s voice as similar to an old man’s, which shows that the dragon is seemingly wise and has seen everything, which may be why he doesn’t care.
2. It could also be that the Dragon is a senile old man that is spouting nonsense that just sounds like it makes a lot of sense. 
3. What physical item(s) is/are the only thing(s) the Dragon seems to care about?
1. He only cares about his money. He believes that all our actions and existences are insignificant, so the only thing that will outlast himself is his money and gold. 
2. He has nothing better to do, so he believes, why NOT hoard gold and treasure? 
4. What elements(s) of time can the Dragon “see”?
1. He can “see” the past, present, and future. It means that he can’t actually physically look into the past, but rather that he knows everything that is going to happen and everything is just one big mesh together for the Dragon. He has no linear or chronological sense of time. 
5. How does the Dragon describe the role of the Shaper?
1. When people doubt and feel like the stories are unrealistic, the Shaper glues everything together and makes everything make sense. 

Discussion:

• Dragon = Satan (questioner)
• Serpent
• Tempts Grendel into believing nihilism (even worse than evil because evil has a purpose. Nihilism says there is not)
• Grendel falls through the rocks and sea
• Falls into h*ll
• A possible turning point in the story: Grendel is tempted and may begin to not care and just being hostile towards humans
• Dragon says that we are so insignificant in Time that what we do does not matter (nihilism)
• 2 points of views on nihilism:
• Nothing we do matters, so we shouldn’t do anything (Grendel’s original point of view)
• Nothing we do matters, so we should do anything we want (Dragon’s point of view)
• Grendel just wants to find his purpose in life
• Goes to Dragon, who is supposed to know everything 

Notes for 02/14/2020:

• Dragon says there is no God, knows how everything ends, says everything happens because of chance -> wants to believe there’s a God when there isn’t (in Dragon’s opinion)
• Humans are very narrow-minded
• Nature favors complex systems
• No order/only simplistic things: means no purpose in life
• Dragon understands time & space
• Dragon is similar to Book of Job (God tries to convey his wisdom, knows all, etc._
• Dragon = higher being (satan) 
• Isn’t evil. I just “questioner”
• Satan tempted Eve to eat the apple
• Dragon tempted Grendel to become hostile towards humans
• Falling: Lucifer = fallen angle
• Quote: falling into h*ll
• Apparent absence of change doesn’t mean no change overall
• We are insignificant
• When we experience change, overall that doesn’t mean anything
• Symbols of Dragon: sit on a pile of gold = miserly
• Treasures = relics of old history
• Omniscient = sees past, present, future and all is the same
• Monstrosity: not really
• Perception creates it to create purpose
• Horde treasure = horde temptation (gold = greed = sin)
• His purpose in life is to give other people a purpose in life
• Tells people to get gold because he hordes gold 
• Tells someone to kill him for gold
• Monism: person consists of only a single substance (no crucial difference between all of us)
• How it elucidates fear of “what is meaning of life”?
• Mr. Lu vs Zac Efron: not rich vs rich
• In the end, when they die, it’s all the same because we are all ultimately the same
• Titanic poem: 
• 1st two lines of a stanza = how good the Titanic was
• Last line of a stanza = how amazing it was is meaningless, dead, and gone anyways
• Monism: Wealthy and not-as-wealthy people were both on the boat, but they all met the same fate
• Nihilism: The Titanic sinking event is also just a speck. 
• It will be forgotten eventually
• Twin halves: iceberg’s importance is just as great as the importance of the ship

Reflection: 

We once again reinforced the idea that in many cultures’ books, there are often subtle connections back to the Bible and Christianity, with the Dragon representing Satan. This is important because subtle connections like this may influence the culture of the region. For example, some people would strengthen their faith in God and Christianity after reading this book. 

I also learned about nihilism can be considered even worse than evil because then you have utterly no purpose in life and feel like you’re just waiting for death. Like the dragon, you’ll end up bored with life and just not care about anything, thinking you can’t change it anyways Even with evil, at least that’s something to pass time. This explains why Grendel was so desperate to find a purpose in life and why the Dragon seems so sick and tired of everything. 

We were also taught about the philosophy of monism, which says that we are all the same in the end. We are all made up of 70% water and we all die, so there’s