Grendel

            In many novels, there are protagonists and antagonists who are two completely separate people or two separate groups of people with their own separate resolve. However, in Grendel the antagonist and the protagonist are one in the same, Grendel, himself. Grendel shifts between being a protagonist and an antagonist throughout the story. Those shifts are caused by his confusion and his encounters with other characters. Grendel also had many things that he set out to do, a resolve to fulfill however that constantly changes as he changes back and forth from protagonist to antagonist. This is apparent throughout the story.

            In the beginning of Grendel, Grendel acts like a child learning of the harsh world of humans for the first time. At this point, Grendel has the innocence of a child which paints him as the protagonist of the story as he faces the “evils” of the worlds, the humans. Grendel not only has the innocence of a child but he has the ability to observe the world in such a careful way, different than that of most creatures, and see the “evil” and stupidity of humans and their actions. Grendel decides to just observe the behavior of man however, as time goes by, Grendel becomes confused especially when he meets the Dragon. The Dragon tells Grendel that his “purpose” was to push the humans to advancements in their society by killing and scaring them. He also adds that even if Grendel does not do this and acts in a “good” manner towards them, e.g., help them or at least try to help them, something else will just replace his role. Upon hearing this, Grendel becomes lost in his thoughts and accidentally encounters the humans when he realizes that the Dragon has enchanted him with a spell rendering him impervious to attacks from weapons. This realization that he could now go face to face with humans causes him to become more violent and attack in such a periodic manner thus shifting to be the antagonist.

            Grendel slowly reverts back to being the protagonist as the story comes to an end. His meeting with Unferth can be taken as a sign of his change back to a protagonist because Unferth tries to fight Grendel knowing that he will lose. Grendel noticing that Unferth is prepared to die decides to take pity on Unferth and lets him live. This shows a glimpse at Grendel’s more human side. The major scene was the encounter between Grendel and Beowulf. Grendel attacks Herot after seeing that the Geats have arrived and expected a simple victory like the last times he attacked however this time was different. Grendel manages to only eat one person before Beowulf catches and twists Grendel’s arm. Grendel becomes so frightened that he sees fiery wings sprout from Beowulf’s back, much like a demon. Beowulf then bashes Grendel’s head into the wall cracking his skull. Grendel bellows out that his defeat is merely an accident then dies. In this case, Grendel is the protagonist and Beowulf becomes the antagonist as the one who opposes Grendel.

            In conclusion, Grendel’s shifts back and forth from protagonist to antagonist not only show his indecisive and confused nature but his weak resolve as well. Throughout his travels as aforementioned he had a resolve but was never really able to fulfill it. For example, in the beginning he had the resolve to just observe humans not interact with them however that changed after his first meeting with man and the meeting with the dragon as well. Then he wanted to kill the humans in an orderly manner, only once a year at a certain time but that too changed with the coming of Beowulf. He was able to focus on his goal for a small amount of time before something else swayed him off his path. However, the ultimate failure of his goals and actions shows that he is played both the antagonist and protagonist role in this novel because usually it is the antagonist who fails but the protagonist who is the main focal point of the story.

Evil

Why does Evil exist in the world? That is one of the major questions of the world that bewilders many people. The problem with this one question is that it is such a vague question that there are no real answers as to why Evil exists. One can argue that Evil exists as God’s test to man and their faith. Others might say that Evil exists to balance out the Good, much like Yin and Yang; where one exists the other must as well. However, there are no real answers to this difficult question for these are all theories and speculations, so one cannot really properly define Evil. Nevertheless, individuals like to create their own reason to fill the void of the unknown, due to the fear of the unknown. I, for one, do the same but I like to think of it more in the scientific and mathematical point of view.

I do not believe in God so much but I believe in the Yin and Yang; that for one to exist, the opposite must exist as well. If good people exist bad people must exist. For how can you define what is good if you do not know what bad is? Without fear, how can there be fear? How can light exist without darkness? It is imperative to balance out the negative with a positive or vice versa. Take it from a scientific view point for example. In an atom there are positives and negatives, the protons and the electrons. Without either one, the other’s existence would be almost worthless. If there were no protons in the atom, the negatively charged electrons would have no point in reacting with other atoms because it would no longer have any properties to combine and form an entirely new property. Conversely, if there were no electrons the positively charged protons that are accumulated in the nucleus would constantly repel one another, following the law that like charges repel and opposite charges attract, and the nucleus would shatter with no atom remaining. Even in the world of science there are things to balance each other out; as aforementioned, the electrons and protons, and also for matter to exist anti-matter too exists. Through mathematics is it vague but the concept is similar to the scientific one. In math there are both positive and negative numbers and zero is considered a “neutral” number. Add a positive and negative number of supposedly “equal” values, e.g., -7+7, and you get zero. In laymen terms, everything must be balanced to achieve a neutral state.

So why exactly does Evil exist? No one really knows. Or rather there really is no answer as to why Evil exists; it just does. But people will constantly search for the nonexistent reason just as many people have tried to search for the meaning of life or some other unbelievably difficult philosophical question that has not been answered. As they search they will also develop many theories to answer the question but that will be enough to satisfy many because as long as people have something, whether or not they really believe it, to quell the fear of the unknown they will be fine and able to live out their life trying to find their purpose or fulfill the purpose they have already found.

Imperial Adam

            The mixture of religion and science is usually absurd, but the poem Imperial Adam by A.D. Hope does just that. In his one line, “The surgeon fingers probing at the bone” alludes to the fact that God is the surgeon and removed a rib from Adam to create Eve. Not only that, later on in the poem, he describes the sexual encounter between Adam and Eve in a savage and beastly way portraying them as mere animals; “He took her in his arms and there and then, Like the clean beasts, embracing from behind, Began in joy to found the breed of men.” I believe that Hope hints to the fact that science and religion can co-exist. Maybe some portions of the religious view on how life was created are true, such as how God created the animals and man. But that is where God’s actions halted and science came to play. Humans, then, evolved from their savage like form to the more sophisticated way they are today. It is the combination of the two theories of life rather than believing in each one separately. 

Invisible Man

        The Invisible man by Ralph Ellison portrays a man who feels as if he is “invisible” to society although he is clearly physically visible. In the beginning of his story, not including the preface, the Invisible Man feels as if society is there to help him; that it would be good to him. He graduated his class as valedictorian and he gave such a grand speech where he received praise from everyone, blacks and whites. However, after a long journey through life, he realizes that society is not necessarily good, it may seem good but it is inherently evil towards a select few groups, blacks especially. The novel goes through his life journey filled with disappointment and shows that he has come up with the conclusion that society is evil.

            If the Invisible man were a real person today, one might tell him to keep on trying to strive no matter how much society puts him down, but his views are completely justified due to the experiences that he had gone through. For example, in the beginning of the novel the Invisible man was invited to give a speech in front of some of the most respected white people of the community. However that was not the entirety of the situation. Those who invited him also forced him to enter a “battle royal” along with a group of other black boys to fight for money in which the narrator got beat up. Then, the narrator had to give his speech to a group of people who did not pay much attention, instead they sat there laughing and drinking. He was then given scholarship money to an all black college which made him believe that everyone was trying to help him succeed. However, it was not soon after that he was expelled and given several letters of “recommendations” so he could obtain a job to make the money to return to college. Even this was false hope in society because those seven letters did not boost him image but rather marred his image as a prospective employee. Later in his life, he had joined the Brotherhood, a group of people who were supposedly trying to better the image of the black person. During his time in the Brotherhood, he met a person Ras who told the Invisible man that the Brotherhood was not what he thought it was. At first he did not believe it but after a couple of years he finally recognizes that it was in fact a lie.

            Throughout his life, he was let down by society. Society had filled him with false hope and faith. How could anyone find good in society when all society did was let you down? That was how the Invisible man felt although he didn’t feel that way right away. As aforementioned he thought society was there to help him because as a boy he was praised and the white people would smile at him. In the end, though, he was just a transparent image; people had just looked right through him because of his race. He understands that he, being a black man, will never be seen on the same level as a white man, he will always be inferior and disregarded, thus becoming “invisible.”