2020-03-02/09 Dominick Villamor Period 7

2020-03-02/09

Dominick Villamor Period 7

Aim: How does the mood shift to a sense of tragedy and foreboding, foreshadowing

events to come in Grendel?

The lesson began with a reading quiz followed by a discussion on the gruesome

imagery of Chapter 10: the mountain goat and children who don't come in at night.

Notes

The mountain goat and children who don't come in at night

What happens in these scenes, and what can be deduced about Grendel's character

from these incidents? How does this affect our view of Grendel as an enlightened

monster? How does it affect our view on the darker depths of humanity?

Billy begins by noting Grendel's shift from a misunderstood character to a more

typical monster figure: doing whatever entertains him and eliminating whatever doesn't.

Iandra adds nihilism and by extension boredom is the root of Grendel's penchant for

murder, saying Grendel kills others to kill time until his death. Shannon comments on

Grendel's actions considering his unique position between the worlds of monster and

human. Grendel does not kill mindlessly unlike an animal hunting its prey. His capacity

to take a different path is what makes him evil, not solely the act of killing. Steven

describes Grendel as wanting to shape the world according to his ideals using brute force.

Cornelia adds Grendel's struggle is proved futile through the ram and goat: nature is

indifferent, life goes on, and Grendel is unimportant. Allen then connects the goat he

killed in this chapter to the ram he didn't in the first. Miss Fusaro wraps up the discussion

by saying the goat represents the monotony and tedium that Grendel detests. The

mountain goat was an instinctual created who thought "with his spine", translating into

perseverance which Grendel looked down upon and grew angry at. Finally, because

kids represent innocence and the future, Grendel's child eating means he has tasked

himself with an act more vile than killing adults and still remains bored.

To me, the scene of the mountain goat demonstrates a greater pattern in Grendel's

interactions with the world around him. Manipulation has always seemed Grendel's

goal, with murder being a last resort. Just as the Shaper and dragon challenged his

worldview using only words, Grendel tries to imbue his surroundings with nihilism.

Unferth is perhaps the strongest evidence of this pattern. When they first meet,

Unferth emphatically challenges Grendel at a prudent distance, narrating the great

son of Ecglaf's as he vanquishes this unsightly monster and avenge the murdered

lesser men. A nihilistic TED Talk and some thrown apples later, Unferth is spared,

growing bitter and shameful as he is spared time and time again in his feeble

attempts at stopping Grendel's raids. "So much for heroism."

Grendel treated the goat similar to how he did Unferth, though to lesser success.

As the goat embarked up the cliff on his allegedly futile journey to Grendel's mere,

Grendel admiration grew into annoyance at its "bottomless stupidity". Neither rock

nor tree could stop the goat from climbing the cliff. When it was clear the goat

would not bow to Grendel, it takes a rock to the skull, painting the cliffside with

brains and blood but continues its ascent all the same. Grendel picks up another

stone, now locked in the monotony of throwing rocks and climbing cliffs despite his

efforts to end it.

Dragon, the purpose of the Dragon, "End of an epoch, abandoned."

How can we interpret the death of the shaper?

How does the proposal that the dragon could symbolically be the serpent/snake

change our viewpoint on his perspective?

Shannon starts the discussion noting the Shaper's role in giving everyone purpose

through history---even Grendel feels the effect of the Shaper's death. Alan expands

on how Grendel handled the Shaper's death, saying Grendel's reaction was not

very pronounced but he still remembered the beautiful stories and acknowledged

the end of an era. Billy notes the Shaper's role in shaping Grendel's identity into that

of a monster and Steven adds with the Shaper died the "old Grendel", marking

Grendel's total loss of hope in humanity and full descent into nihilism. Miss Fusaro

finishes with a statement on the loss of truth after the Shaper's death. Only the

fantastical stories, the legends that people chose to keep, remain.

"Nihilo ex nihilo." - Out of nothing.

What can be argued and/or established by Grendel's mother's behavior in

Chapter 10?

Steven connects the Latin phrase to Grendel's tendency to see things at face-value.

"Creatio ex nihilo", or creation out of nothing, describes the skewed view of reality that

Grendel sees in the humans when they see things where there are none. Miss Fusaro

relates the saying to Grendel's dismissiveness of the Shaper's death despite his going

to the funeral and his dismissiveness over his allegedly insane mother's warnings.

Billy and Kelly connect Grendel's mother's warning with the zodiac signs related to

each chapter. The final chapters have aquatic zodiac signs which corresponds to

Grendel's understanding of his mothers warnings, "Beware the fish", and the woman

talking about a giant coming from the sea.

Finally, Miss Fusaro introduces the idea that Grendel's inability to communicate with

humans and his mother may be a Grendel problem. Grendel's mother killed with

purpose in Beowulf to avenge her son, signifying a greater connection to good/humanity

compared to Grendel who killed without purpose and Unferth who killed his brothers.

Reflection

In this lesson, we delved deeper into how the chapter's events justify our previous

conception of Grendel's nihilistic philosophy and how these events shape Grendel

moving forward. This chapter seemed like Grendel almost acting as the Shaper and

the Dragon's successor as he tries to spread his ideals. The death of such an

influential figure as the Shaper also demonstrates a period of change in the book

going forwards. Though Grendel's actions are monstrous, the discussion on why he

does what he does builds the idea that Grendel is not completely different from

humans and humans have some capacity for his actions as well. This chapter but the

whole book communicates there is some worth in considering the motives behind

evil people and their actions rather than writing them off as a mindless monster.