Literary Connections: Grendel, the Anti-hero

In the epic poem, Beowulf, Grendel is introduced to us as a villain. After watching the film version of the tale, Beowulf and Grendel, we begin to see an alternative perspective, where the line between hero and villain becomes much more distorted. This is important because based on the interpretation of this century old story, the dichotomy between good and evil is set up in a way that transcends our modern understanding of the concepts.

Beowulf and Grendel set the tone for modern day heroes and villains. To understand this, you must think beyond the terms of contemporary ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’—where bad guys break the law, do evil things, and are avenged by the heroes we adore. To truly understand what it is Beowulf and Grendel have done for the English literary canon, we must dig deeper, and we must question character motivation.

For example, what motivates Beowulf in the poem? What motivates Grendel? They are both daring, fearless creatures. But what drives their actions? I like to think of Professor Xavier and Magneto as the modern day Beowulf and Grendel, respectively. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that Professor X is a valiant hero and Magneto an evil villain, but look more closely: isn’t Magneto driven by the fact that mutants are a discriminated race, and he is simply fighting for his, and other mutants, rights to exist? Is Magneto’s motivation purely evil? If Beowulf and Professor X are heroes, does that make Grendel and Magneto the Anti-heroes?

Which brings us to this: What is an anti-hero in literature? The way you define an anti-hero can be subjective. He is usually a protagonist or a key character. Generally, an anti-hero will have the following qualities:

it is clear that he has human frailties; he has flaws he is more accessible to readers because he is more "gritty" he is often disillusioned with society, or increasingly becomes so he often seeks for redemption or revenge for his own satisfaction, and sometimes for the greater good of society unlike the classical tragic hero, he doesn't always think about what the right, moral thing to do is - he often thinks about what's right for him he is often misunderstood by others in his society he could perhaps be called a noble criminal or a vigilante qualities normally belonging to villains - such as amorality, greed and violent tendencies - are tempered with more human, identifiable and even noble traits their noble motives are pursued by breaking the law; a.k.a. "the ends justify the means" increased moral complexity and rejection of traditional values

Your assignment is to write an essay (that’s right, 5 paragraphs) comparing Grendel with a modern day anti-hero of your choice. You must use details from the poem, and the movie; and you should compare and contrast these details with those of your contemporary anti-hero. You may not use Magneto as your contemporary anti-hero.

This is a HUGE writing assignment grade. This can make or break you at least a full letter grade. DO NOT TAKE THIS ASSIGNMENT LIGHTLY. Impress me with your ability to think for yourself and make connections! I am looking for higher-level thinking here, beyond the obvious! Most important, make sure that you are proud of what you turn in as the finished product!