Grendel as a Narrator

In John Gardner’s version of the story of Beowulf, he decides to shift the narration to a different viewpoint. Instead of starting at the arrival of the Geats and the story being told with Beowulf as its center, Gardner decides to use the monster Grendel. Beginning in Grendel’s childhood, Gardner creates a story of self discovery and conflicting philosophies that shows the other side of story. I think that Gardner chose Grendel to narrate his book because of the how different it would be from the traditional story. Instead of glory and honor, Gardner’s tale shows a darker side to society that Grendel discovers as he tries to find his own purpose. This allows Gardner to explore complex social, political, and philosophical concepts that wouldn’t be possible through Beowulf’s point of view. Grendel’s status as a monster is also a great opportunity for Gardner to maintain a sense of objectivity. Grendel isn’t human; therefore he is free from human biases. Gardner is able to narrate the story with Grendel as an observer describing the oddities and values he sees in human society. This allows the book Grendel to be an excellent insight into the intrinsic values, morals, and philosophies of human society and how they conflict with humanity’s race to rise above barbarity.