Wenyan Li, Period 7, March 8,2022
Blog #3- Literacy and Learning
Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class.
Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.
How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?
It was interesting transitioning from the reading of Beowulf to Grendel as one holds the perspective of Beowulf as a hero who slays Grendel, an inhuman monster. Yet, Grendel by John Gardner shows a more human side to him as Grendel can understand the humans and wishes for them to understand him. In fact, in some moments Grendel displays more humanity and morality than the humans themselves. In class, we discussed Grendel’s mother and how throughout the entirety of Grendel his mother is misunderstood. We believe that she’s going crazy yet, when she warns Grendel “beware the fish”, we the audience can finally make out what she is saying. One way that this can be interpreted is that Grendel has been choosing to ignore his mother, similar to how the humans can’t understand Grendel even though Grendel understands them. The humans choose to ignore Grendel and make him out to be this monster.
It was nice reading Grendel as everything tied together even the smallest anecdotes had meaning to it. Such as, the goat jumping off the cliff and how it related back to Grendel and his purpose or Red Horse and its symbols of oppression. For me, Grendel has opened my eyes to new perspectives as things aren’t as 2 dimensional as they seem. Grendel was set on searching for his purpose and because the humans never intended to give him a chance he caved into the words of the dragon. Grendel’s character is complex as he struggles with morality given two separate perspectives, the words of the Shaper or the words of the dragon. He wishes to be understood and for that I can sympathize with Grendel and in some moments rooting for him to be given a chance.
When applying Grendel to my own life, it helps me grasp the reality of a situation. We too have Shapers and dragons in our lives, feeding us information, shaping our perspectives, and offering us different conflicting views. It is up to us to make the decisions of what to believe.
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