3/3/20 Alexis Ofshtein Pd2

3/3/20 Alexis Ofshtein Pd.2

Aim: How does the arrival of Beowulf change the mood, aura, and atmosphere of the novel, Grendel?

Do Now (pair share): Aquarius- the Water Bearer. How is water (and all things related to water) illustrated in Ch.11? Why is this particularly significant in comparison to the ending of ch.10?

During the class discussion someone said that the water symbolizes Beowulf’s coming.
He kisses the ice and says that he honors the water underneath the ice to bring Beowulf. Water also symbolizes purity (Beowulf coming to purify Grendel).
Water also means destruction, meaning the flood. Beowulf is the only one who can kill Grendel showing he is the destruction. When Beowulf comes, he is compared to a fish which relates to jesus. People pray for a destroyer to come and cleanse the land.
The water symbolizes the cleansing of sin and ending nihilism. Baptism showing a new beginning and forgiveness for sins.


We watched a video of the meaning of the jesus fish symbol:
An acronym in greek
Symbol used to avoid persecution
Christians had to worship and communicate in secret
The acronym used to communicate secretly was ICHTHYS, meaning fish in greek
The word in greek spells out I=Iesous=Christ, CH=Christous=Christ, TH=Theos=god, Y=Yios=Son, S=Soter=Savior

Thoughts on the video:
Beowulf is not supposed to be Jesus himself, but has similar qualities to Jesus.

How are the “Nothings” compared in The Neverending Story and Grendel alike? What is intended for the reader to understand? How do Beowulf and Atreyu serve humanity?
Both serve humanity to bring hope and not let nihilism take over
In the movie, nothingness is about hope, and in the book it’s about purpose
Gamork seeks to control in the absence of hope, but in Grendel there is no afterwards for him and that is his greatest pain
The beginning of the clip is a reminder of young Unferth
When hope is lost, are you serving it or are you a victim of it? The anger about nothing creates a cycle.
Grendel is more of a though tout and deeper representation of Nihilism
The wolf has a purpose and just wants control, not as well thought out

Does the depiction of Unferth from Grendel’s perspective create an empathetic and relatable character in Unferth?
It does create empathy because Grendel describes this as robotic and people are serving their purpose to the understanding of the world they have
Unferth isn’t necessarily greedy or evil, and these qualities are just a product of his existence and what he is
Context and perspective is important. Grendel’s perspective was put down by the main character, and it was empathetic because the readers had the context to understand what is going on
There is irony because the way the dragon gave Grendel a purpose that wasn’t meaningful, he kind of did the same thing to Unferth. On page 164 the real heroism is where he accepts what Beowulf says and thinks he right. Unferth kind of gets the inner heroism he was looking for. By stepping back and realizing he’s not the leader, is a portrayal of inner heroism and Grendel ends up seeing that too.

Reflection:

I learned that inner heroism doesn’t mean being everyone’s savior and helping people. Unferth stepping back from being a leader to let Grendel lead was an act of heroism and still benefits everyone in the end. I will use what I learned to other lessons and see Unferth’s purpose in the story.