Grendel as a Parody

In the book Grendel, John Gardner attempts to parody the traditional epic story of Beowulf. In essence, a parody is an imitation of a writing that uses an exaggerated style to produce a humorous effect. Gardner is successfully able to produce this effect through the use of a similar writing style and a contradictory stance on the story. Gardner tells the story from a different point of view, through the eyes of Grendel the monster rather than Beowulf. Instead of telling a story of glory, honor, and battles, Grendel shows the sadistic side of humanity and how their society was founded on the ideas of barbarians. Not only does Gardner parody the plot, he also copies the Anglo-Saxon writing style. In later chapters, Grendel is able to mold words into verse and poetry in order to mock the humans he so hates. In this way Gardner mocks the Anglo-Saxon love of figurative language. Instead of the hero that defeats the monster through his god-given strength, Beowulf is portrayed as an almost evil man who revels in the pain of his enemies. He tortures Grendel as he kills him, publicly humiliating him before brutally tearing his arm off. Gardner twists the story from the classic “man vs monster” into a gruesome display of sadism exerted on a character that the reader has become attached to. Gardner’s development of Grendel’s character makes the reader think of him as more than a monster and casts a shadow over Beowulf, making him seem like the antagonist of the story. Through all these methods Gardner has produced what can be said as an excellent parody of Beowulf.