Eric Jiang, Period 7, 3/4/24

Eric Jiang

Period 7 3/4/2024

Modern Mythology 2024

Literacy and learning

In class we read the book named Grendel by John Gardner and I learned a few things. We are going to focus on chapter 5 of Grendel in which Grendel, our main character, ends up talking to the dragon. The dragon in the book Grendel is depicted as a red and gold dragon sitting on a pile of gold. He is also depicted as being able to see the future and by the looks of it, it might have the ability to break the 4th wall. It was like talking to us through Grendel. It shares an interesting philosophy which is Nihilism. I did not know that was what I was called but i was kind of believing in that too but a bit different then the dragon. For those of you who don’t know what Nihilism is, I will explain.

Nihilism is a philosophical viewpoint that believes in the fact that life does not have an inherent meaning or goal which in turn makes life meaningless .It often rejects basically all things from society, values or morality saying that they are arbitrary constructs with no real significance. Nihilism says that life lacks inherent meaning, purpose, or value, and that any attempts to find such meaning are ultimately futile and changing things has no real significance since all things in the end will end up the same. The term "nihilism" is derived from the Latin word "nihil," meaning "nothing." Nihilism can manifest in different forms, including existential nihilism, moral nihilism, and epistemological nihilism. Existential nihilism questions the meaning of existence, moral nihilism rejects the idea of inherent moral values, and epistemological nihilism challenges the possibility of objective knowledge. Not all people who believe in nihilism have the same thought process like how there are different forms of nihilism, and different people have approached it in various ways.

For example the dragon in Grendel says the end of the apocalypse is nothing kind of like a silent universe with nothing to exist in it. He believes that nothing matters and no matter what you do it won’t matter in the end so you might as well become what others see you as. For example the humans see dragons as scary beings that hoard and sit on gold so that is what the dragon became. So he didn’t really do anything. While I also believe that in the end nothing really matters since how long can someone stay important in the long river of time. For example, people who did amazing things like Einstein. We may remember him now and due to the internet but what about in the face of billions and trillions of years. Did it really matter? Was it truly important? So I tell myself when I die will many others truly remember me. Some people out there maybe do that and maybe they will be remembered for decades, maybe centuries to come but that is like 1 in a half a billion people. Will you really succeed in such a small chance? What if you fail, what has your life come to then? All that work and effort for nothing to be forgotten to not matter. I would say chase your dreams but be realistic the odds are against you. It is better to look for smaller successes. The bigger you are the harder you fall just like when setting expectations you should aim smaller. But this also doesn’t matter whether you succeed or fail. When you die do you really care? Can you care for that matter? Do you even know what happens after you die? At this point all things are meaningless. Your legacy left behind is but a mere speak in the river of time. Nothing is truly immortal, all things can fade. That is why I believe you should live in the moment, do what you want and plan for the future. The dragon became what others saw him as but I feel others don’t matter either. What if they judge you, what if they make fun of you, They too will face the relentless pursuit of death. Their feelings, their opinions do not matter when they die so why care about them now. Just do you and pay attention to yourself. Be selfish but you can be selfless if you want. You can do whatever you want as long as you can be happy for as long as you can be. Because when it all ends you will have nothing left but living like a beggar when living is not enjoyable so be in the moment and live for yourself or what you believe in after why should you listen to me. I am also but a mere speck in your life and the river of time and my opinion does not matter so you could move on if you want.