Leah Livin, Period 8, 3/8/22

 Modern Mythology 2022

Leah Livin, March 9, 2022

    Reading Grendel has been very insightful, and at times confusing. As the story moves along, we watch Grendel burrow himself deeper and deeper into the nihilistic ideologies presented to him by the dragon. In class we discussed the dragons complex perspicacity of the world, as he describes to Grendel, can make you question your own existence and actions. As was mentioned, humans tend to compare their own lives, for example most house pets' life span is only a fraction of humans, however, pets don’t recognize their life span to be short. This comparison helps me change the way I consider time. Humans will be alive for thousands of years to come, making my life span only a tiny portion of history. Therefore, I should focus less on the legacy I will leave for others, but rather on how I impact people's lives currently, and how those around me feel. Additionally, I now push myself to think of time as a constantly changing number rather than a measurement of my existence. Humans collectively decided how to define a day, month and year. However, these values we use as a measurement of time, don’t hold true to all living things around us. For a mouse, 10 years could feel like eternity.

Except for the concept of time, the story also incorporates current political events. From the beginning Grendel viewed the humans' fighting and insults as amusing, he was inspired by their faith in god and in good. The pointless wars described by Grendel, were in part a reference to the Vietnam war, which was happening at the time the book was published. The author, John Gardner, spread a message to his readers that war was unnecessary. Additionally, he tried to expose the government's carelessness and ignorance through a conversation he included with the Red horse and Hrothulf. Although the novel held true to events that occurred 60-50 years ago, I believe it still holds true nowadays. Currently there is a war happening in Ukraine, and it has been extremely destructive and harmful to many innocent citizens. Many can’t find a qualified reason for why Russia had to begin the war and why it took on such an awful path. This reflects back to Grendel's mockery of humans and their unnecessary battles. Additionally, this war relates to Gardners attack on the government, as Putin (the president of Russia) is doing a great deal of harm to his own citizens, especially the many young men forced to serve in the army.