Grendel & Unferth: An Ongoing Battle
Today, I was able to experience an enjoyable and enlightening discussion led by my fellow class members on the various events and those events significance within Chapter 6 of Grendel. Through this discussion, I definitely gained a larger perspective of the chapter as whole, and delved further into the relationship between Grendel and Unferth - a significantly pivotal part of this novel. In today's class discussion, we discussed the meaning of this relationship, what one means to another, what one represents for the other, and how this connects to the larger sphere of comprehension for this novel. Perhaps one of my favorite chapters in the novel so far, I'd like to share my own thoughts about these topics.
I think the first area of interest resides within the physical communication and closeness of the interaction between Unferth and Grendel. Isn't it odd that Grendel and Unferth reach such a "closeness" that Unferth is able to understand every word Grendel says? "Oh I heard what you said. I caught your nasty insinuations," (Gardner 87) Unferth whispers to Grendel, laying on the ground, helplessly and pathetically. When Grendel first encounters humans, they mistake his words for anger and attempt to hurt him in response to that. This is definitely significant is showing a transition within Grendel, and setting Unferth apart from the common man.
After chapter 5, well identifiable for Grendel's encounter with the dragon, Grendel's actions really gave off dragon-like vibes. In the way the dragon attempted to "enlighten" Grendel of the truth about life, Grendel seems to want to "enlighten" Unferth. When he throws apples at Unferth (typically representative of knowledge), he is basically manifesting that attempt to "enlighten" Unferth. He embodies the dragon greatly in this scene. Why do I keep using quotations for the word enlighten? Here is where the next topic of discussion lies.
Is Grendel truly enlightened? He says, "Whatever I may have understood or misunderstood in the dragon's talk, something much deeper stayed with me, became my aura" (Gardner 75). In my opinion, I do not truly think Grendel is enlightened, but I think that Grendel has convinced himself that he is enlightened. If Grendel was truly enlightened, I think he would be able to reach past the point at which he is right now. In the way the dragon told Grendel that Grendel's role helped men define themselves, I believe man's attitude is actually rubbing off on Grendel - he is using their "un-enlightenment" to appear superior to them. This can also be traced back to the whole ascend vs. descend idea. Almost God-like, he descends into the land of men, and ascends back up to watch from a tree. This is truly ironic - Grendel describes the words of the Shaper's song as "ridiculous, not light for their darkness but flattery, illusion..." (Gardner 48). Hasn't Grendel created an illusion of enlightenment for himself? Is Grendel really all that different than the men he mocks?
These points further convince me that every time Grendel commits a malicious deed towards men, he is only highlighting the flaws of his own inner self, as the attitude of man exists within himself as well. From the beginning of this novel, he had a peculiar sense of similarity to man - feeling similar emotions and acting greatly human-like. Through his actions, he appears to be giving up bits of himself, more importantly, clouding up his own identity.
Just something to be thinking about!
Hey a Silent Caller, you made some interesting comments regarding the relationship between Unferth and Grendel. You addressed whether or not Grendel is enlightened, but do you believe Unferth is enlightened? I believe that he becomes enlightened when Grendel shows him the meaninglessness of life which allows him to be able to see through the illusionary system of the Danes which previously gave him purpose..
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the chapter, Unferth is incased within the system. When Unferth challenges Grendel in the meadhall, he does so using the ideals of the Danes. He boasts non-stop and even tells Grendel, “The King has given me splendid gifts. He will see tonight that his gifts have not gone for nothing! Prepare to fall, foul thing! This one red hour makes your reputation or mine”. Unfeth believes that by battling Grendel he is doing what he is obligated to do in order to serve the king. Unferth justifies the self-destructive act of fighting Grendel through the ideals of the Danes—Unferth wants to obey his allegiance to his king. However this begins to change when Unferth first understands Grendel which is what initially establishes their relationship. Grendel, who believes that he himself is enlightened, begins to ridicule Unferth and his beliefs saying “I’ve never seen a live hero before. I thought that they were only in poetry” which implies that heroes are fictitious. Grendel seems to do this hoping that Unferth will possibly see the supposed stupidity in his beliefs. However at this point in the story Unferth still believes in the system and is not yet enlightened. Then, Grendel begins to throw apples at him which is an allusion to The Garden of Eden in which the apples represent knowledge. In throwing the apples at Unferth, Grendel is trying to force Unferth to see that the meaninglessness of life and that the Dane’s system is just an illusion that the Danes use to give themselves purpose. However instead of receiving the knowledge, “He dodged, and then his mouth dropped open. I laughed harder, threw another. He dodged again”. By dodging the apples, Unferth is initially refuting the knowledge that Grendel is throwing at him. Eventually Grendel begins to hit Unferth with the apples which foreshadows that Unferth eventually will accept the knowledge from Grendel and become enlightened.
Unferth follows Grendel to his cave knowing that he will be a hero and “It will be sung” if he is able to slay Grendel. However Unferth is too weak from swimming through the burning lake to kill Grendel and Grendel has no intention of killing Unferth. Instead Grendel watches as Unferth humiliates himself. When Grendel admits that he isn’t going to kill Unferth, Unferth threatens to kill himself because in his preconceived idea of what a hero is, he must kill Grendel or be killed. When Grendel returns Unferth to the meadhall and thus sparing him is when Unferth becomes enlightenment. While before, Unferth’s strive to be a hero is what gave meaning to his life, in sparing him, Grendel shatters that meaning.