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.