The Twelve Traps in John Gardner's Grendel Author(S): Barry Fawcett and Elizabeth Jones Reviewed Work(S): Source: American Literature, Vol

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The Twelve Traps in John Gardner's Grendel Author(s): Barry Fawcett and Elizabeth Jones Reviewed work(s): Source: American Literature, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Dec., 1990), pp. 634-647 Published by: Duke University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2927072 . Accessed: 12/09/2012 11:45

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http://www.jstor.org TheTwelve Traps in John Gardner's Grendel

BARRY FAWCETT ELIZABETH JONES DalhousieUniversity DartmouthHigh School

W~THEN JohnGardner's Grendel appeared in 1971 it wasgreeted by a chorusof praisefrom reviewers, critics, and readers. Since thendiverse interpretations of this fascinating work have been proposed.What indeed are we meantto makeof Grendel, Gardner'sreworking of the monsterwho, in Beowulf,harries King Hrothgarand his thanesfor twelve years until overcome by the Geat hero,Beowulf? In variousinterviews and in his own writingsGardner gave many indications of whathe setout to do when writingGrendel. On one levelGrendel, "creature of twominds," representsconflicting parts of Gardnerhimself: "I was consciousthat what I was about to do (or dramatize, or seek to get clear) was an annoyingsometimes painful dis- harmonyin my own mentalexperience, a conflictbetween a wish forcertainty, a sort of timidand legalisticrationality, on the one hand,and, on theother, an inclinationtoward childish optimism,what I mightnow describeas an occasionalflicker- ing affirmationof all thatwas best in myearly experience of Christianity."2Here we recognizethe basis forGrendel's pre- dicament:his stubbornclinging to skepticismand cold, hard reason,while constantly tempted by belief. In an interviewwith JoyceRenwick and Howard Smith,Gardner makes the same pointwhile hinting at hisstructuring of theconflict: "The novel Grendel,it seemsto me, is about reasonand faith.Grendel is againand againgiven the opportunity of believing in something whichwestern civilization has heldup as a value."3 On severaloccasions Gardner enlarged on his structuringof thisconflict: "What Grendel does is take,one by one,the great

1 Grendel(New York: Ballantine,197I), p. 95. Furtherreferences to thistext are given in parentheses. 2 On Becominga Novelist(New York: Harper and Row, I983), p. 6i. 3JohnGardner: An Interview(Dallas: New London Press, 1980), p. i8.

AmericanLiterature, Volume 62, Number4, DecemberI990. Copyright? I990 by the Duke UniversityPress. CCC 0002-983I/90/$I.50. JohnGardner's Grendel 635 heroicideals of mankindsince the beginning and makea case for thesevalues by setting up alternativesin an ironicset of monster values.I hate existentialism."4And in anotherinterview with JoeDavid Bellamythis exchange occurs: Gardner:In GrendelI wantedto go throughthe main ideas of West- ern civilization-which seemed to me about . . . twelve?-and go throughthem in thevoice of the monster with the story already taken care of,with the variousphilosophical attitudes (though with Sartre in particular)and see whatI coulddo, see ifI couldbreak out. That's whatI meantto do. Bellamy:Do yougo throughall twelvemajor ideas in thatbook? Gardner:It's got twelvechapters. They're all hookedto astrological signs,for instance, and thatgives you nice easy clues.5 Here it is obviousthat Gardner's intention was to examineone mainidea (heroicideal, value) in eachchapter with an astrological signserving as a focusfor the contents of thatchapter. A passage that indicateseven more clearlywhat Gardner meansby "mainidea" occursin his Artof Fictionwhen he is discussingthe modified picaresque plot: "Instead of thecustom- arypicaresque hero, [a writer]might use somemonster from the fens-the monsterGrendel from Beowuif, for instance-and in- steadof thecustomary movement through the strata of society, he mightchoose a list of GreatIdeas of WesternCivilization (love,heroism, the artisticideal, piety, and so forth)to which one byone he introduceshis skepticalmonster. The structuring of plotis likelyto be moreinteresting or lessdepending on the extentto whichthe sequence raises questions involving the wel- fareof thecharacter, each value,for instance, putting increasing pressureon themonster's skepticism."6 Two questionsnow arise.First, what specific heroic ideal is the focalpoint of each chapter?What are thetraps that attract and repel the skepticalmonster who exclaims,"Twelve is, I hope,a holynumber. Number of escapesfrom traps" (p. 8o)? This is a questionthat has neverbeen tackled.And second, how exactlydoes theastrological sign in each chapterpoint to a heroicideal? This, too,has notbeen fullyexplored.

4 "Backstagewith Esquire,"Esquire, October I97I, p. 56. I The New Fiction: Interviewswith InnovativeAmerican Writers (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, I974), p. I79. 6 The Artof Fiction(New York: Knopf, I984), p. i66. 636 AmericanLiterature The mainproblem is thatthe zodiacal sign taken by itselfis not a sufficientclue. David Minughtakes us furtherby associ- atingeach sign withits rulingplanet and a house.7Following theolder system of sevenplanets, he baseshis schemaon Con- stance'shoroscope as givenby WalterCurry.8 Sign, planet, and housetaken together provide a clusterof symbolsthat point in variousdirections and relateclosely, in variousways, to thecon- tentsof the chapter.In the firstchapter, for example, we have Ariesthe Ram (springseason), ruled by Mars (god of war) in the firsthouse, that of life,the individual self and its potential. Here Grendelobserves a lasciviousram (emblem of the prolif- erationof new life),deals out deathin his war withHrothgar, bothmocks and pitieshimself, and faceshis potential: his death. He insiststhat he is caughtup in a meaninglesscycle of lifeand death,yet longs for meaning. What is satisfyingabout Minugh's schemeis the ease withwhich it fitsthe text.No strainingor guessworkis needed to identifythe contentsof each chapter withinthe astrologicalframework. One is, indeed,left with a senseof wonderat Gardner'singenuity in his manipulationof theseelements, at hisartistry in makingthem serve the narrative flowwithout calling attention to themselves. What Minughfails to do is identifythe heroic ideal, the trap thatis thefocal point of each chapter. Unless this is firmlyestab- lished,we will be unableto see exactlyhow Gardnerhas struc- turedGrendel's story, his progress(rake's? pilgrim's?) around the wheelof the zodiac,and appreciatethe exact nature of his conflict.Gardner hinted in theBellamy interview that the values too are "hookedto astrologicalsigns." And analysisshows that in each chapterthe heroicideal with whichGrendel is con- frontedis indeeddrawn from well-known significations of the associatedsign, planet, or house.So, in thisfirst chapter it is not enoughto recognizethat Grendel, while wishing for meaning in life,rejects it as meaningless.It is importantto notewhat heroic ideal he encountersand how he deals withit. That valueis life, or moreprecisely the celebration of thecycle of lifeand death. Life and death themselvesare givens.It requiresimagination

7"John Gardner ConstructsGrendel's Universe,"Stockholm Studies in English,46 (1978), 125-41. 8 Chaucerand theMedieval Sciences (New York: Barnesand Noble, I960), p. 176. JohnGardner's Grendel 637 and courageto connectthem and celebratethe cycle. What pulls thechapter together is thefuneral scene. Hrothgar's people, cre- matingtheir dead, the victimsof Grendel'swar, are celebrants of thecycle. For theyraise their voices in a songthat begins as a dirgeand then"swells, pushes through woods and sky,"and drivesthe "sane" Grendel,raging at suchlunacy, back intohis cave(p. 9). In the Bellamyinterview Gardner claimed that the twelve astrologicalsigns give "nice easy clues" to his "twelvemajor ideas."This is particularlytrue for certain chapters. In chapter3 thesign is Gemini,the planet Mercury in thehouse of kindred, journeys,and education.The associatedheroic ideal is poetry, art. Mercuryas inventorof the lyrepoints to the Shaper,ex- ponentof the artisticideal, who givesa senseof nobilityand destinyto a band of thievesand rogues,all muchalike and so peers,kindred. (Mercury, an ambiguousgod, is also the patron of liarsand thieves.)In chapter6 the signis Virgo,the planet again Mercury,this time in his roleas messengerof the gods, in the houseof servants,hard work, sickness and health.The value featuredhere is heroism,to whichUnferth, the untried virgin,aspires. Servant of his lord,Hrothgar, he combatsthe sicknessGrendel's raids bring to thekingdom. In chapter7 the signis Libra,the planetVenus in the houseof marriage,part- nership,and, ironically,enemies. Wealtheow, under the aegis of Venus,becomes, by marriageto Hrothgar,a pointof balance betweenenemies, his people and hers,and so is the embodi- mentof self-sacrificiallove. In chapter9 thesign is Sagittarius, theplanet Jupiter in thehouse of dreams, intellect, and religion. The chaptershows Grendelat gripswith organized religion, listeningto a priestdiscourse on the natureof the kingof the gods. Grendelhimself is hauntedby religionof anothersort: dreams,omens, and particularlythe portentof the archerand the hart.In chapteri i the signis Aquarius,the house thatof friendship,ideals, and worthycauses. The value is friendship. Two planetsare featured here: Saturn, deposed king of the gods, fromthe oldersystem of sevenplanets, and Uranusfrom mod- ernastrology. Beowulf comes over the water in friendshipto the Danes, Uranusbeing the planetof altruismand brotherlylove, to heraldthe passing of theold order,Saturn. And in chapterI2 underthe signof theFish, a symbolfor Christ as savior,Gren- 638 AmericanLiterature del encountersBeowulf, champion of faith.Here in the house of privateenemies and betrayalsGrendel suffers affliction. Here also two planetspreside: Jupiter (sky-god) and Neptune(sea- god). Afterclinging to theoak of Jupiter,while looking "down past stars,"Grendel feels a "darkpower [Neptune] moving in him like an ocean current,"and takesthe imaginativeleap of faith(p. 152). Here, as can be recognized,we have touchedon the most obviousof the "clues."The othersrequire fuller commentary. Chapter2 is underthe sign of Taurus, ruled by the planet Venus in the houseof fortuneand possessions.Grendel's mother is an uncouthVenus fiercelyprotecting her son, whose fortune,or misfortune,is his existentialistsense of beingan alien in the world.But she is not the onlycreature to care forhim. The youngHrothgar presented here is a conservationist,concerned aboutsaving trees and horsesand havingGrendel fed. And his "hairlessskinny" companion "with eyes like two holes"has the insightand imaginationto divinequite correctlynot onlythat Grendeleats pig but also thathe is in a "periodof transition" (pp. I9-20). Love,the value featured in thischapter, is practical, caringlove forliving things. The sign Cancer,ruled by the Moon in the house of treasure,the home, one's roots,points to the value of civilization.In chapter 4 the home, the house of treasure,is Hrothgar'sgreat meadhall, Hart, built and adornedby craftsmendrawn fromfar and wide. It is Hart that Cancer the crab symbolizes,for, as Elizabeth Larsen pointsout, "craband its home are synonymous and medieval society,too, was synonymouswith its hall."9 But Hart is more than a well-appointedhall. It is also "a sign of gloryand justice,"the emblem of a great,generous civilization. Here Hrothgar "would sit and give all treasuresout, all wealth but the lives of men and the people's land" (p. 40). But, set under the sign of the inconstantmoon, this civilization,like all others,will wane. And it has its own cancer within it: idyllic young lovers' casual indifferenceto a man theyhave murdered in the forest.

9 "The Creative Act: An Analysisof Systemsin Grendel,"in JohnGardner: True Art, Moral Art,ed. Beatrice Mendez-Egle (Edinburgh,Tex.: Pan AmericanUniv. School of Humanities,I983), p. 45. JohnGardner's Grendel 639 The marvellouslyhorrid dragon, jealously guarding his treasure,appears in the followingchapter. The sign is Leo ruled by the Sun in the house of childrenand childbirth,hobbies, creativity.The value,knowledge, is particularlythe illumina- tion acquiredfrom an oracle,seer, or mentor.Like Odysseus and Aeneas,Grendel goes to the underworldfor advice but, in a chapterof inversions,returns armored with despair rather thanhope. Here he is less monsterthan bewildered child seek- ing enlightenment,knowledge. But the sun he encountersis a terrifyingnothingness, the "black sun" he sees deep within the dragon'seye. For, thoughgolden and fieryas a lion, the dragon,with his crackedvoice and debauchedleer, has none of the energyof a trueLeo. (As a character,however, he is a wonderfulembodiment of evil,the most vivid character Gren- del encounters.)A nihilist,claiming omniscience, he sneersat men's "crackpottheories," their systems of philosophythat will neverembrace "total reality"(pp. 55-56). All quests forknowl- edge are meaninglesssince in the end nothingwill remain but a "silentuniverse" (p. 6i). The onlyadvice the dragon can offer is: "Know how much you've got and beware of strangers!" a cynicaldistortion of the Delphic oracle's injunctionto "know thyself"(p. 63). But how, we may ask in the light,or darkness, of all this, can pursuitof knowledge be seen as a value? The answer lies in the dragon's attemptto impressGrendel with a discourseon Time and Space, which,as Craig J.Stromme points out,'0consists of lengthyextracts from A. N. Whitehead'sModes of Thought."These passages emphasize processand connectedness, ideas thatthe dragonfundamentally dismisses as nonsense. Gardner himself,however, as he told Marshall L. Harvey in an interview,delighted in Whitehead'sphilosophy and considered him his mentor,though finding his styledry.'2 So, by havinghis devil quote scripture,he slylygets in the good word. The Scorpio episode is anotherthat works both directlyand by means of inversion.This sign is ruled by Mars in the older astrology,by Pluto in the modern system.Mars signifiesvio-

10 "The Twelve Chaptersof Grendel,"Critique: Studies in ModernFiction, 20, No.i (1978), 86-87. 11Modes of Thought(New York: Macmillan,1938), pp. 192-94, I19, 28-30, 40. 12 "Where Philosophyand Fiction Meet: An Interviewwith JohnGardner," Chicago Review,29 (Spring 1978), 74-75. 640 Amer-icanLiterature lence, while among Pluto's spheresof influenceis the will to exercisepower and influencethe masses.The house is the inaus- picious eighthhouse of fear,death, and inheritances.The value is loyalty.Hrothgar's treacherous nephew Hrothulf,"sweet scor- pion" (p. 98), plots to inheritthe kingdomby means of violence and demagoguery.In sharpcontrast to such treacheryis Hroth- gar's loyaltyto his dangerousward and Wealtheow'sloyalty to Hrothgar. Hope is the heroic ideal encounteredin the depths of win- ter when Saturn reigns.Ruling the sign Capricorn,the planet moves in the house of kings,career, and conductof life.A goat, stubbornlycontinuing to climb toward Grendel's mere though his skull has been split and his mouth smashed by the stones Grendel hurls at him, is, in his perseverance,a vivid symbol of hope. He is also a figurefor the Shaper who even in death provesto be an incorrigiblevisionary-a figure,too, forHroth- gar's kingdom, weakened by Grendel's raids. Saturn signifies that this is the "end of an epoch" (p. I30), while the Shaper's assistant,singing of the careersof past kings,anticipates a new era: "Spring rain drips down throughrafters" (p. 129). And, as Hrothgar'speople perseverein theirdaily tasks,an old woman predicts to children the coming of Beowulf and so holds out hope forthe future. It should be emphasized that the precedingskeletal outline can only hint at the varied,complex, and subtle ways in which Gardnerdeploys the astrologicalsignifications in each chapterto indicateand explore a heroic ideal. But Gardnerachieves more than a remarkabletour de force. By associatingheroic ideals with sun, moon, planetsnamed aftergods, and constellations,he gives them an archetypal,mythic, cosmic dimension.For Gard- ner wants us to apprehendthese ideals as pertainingnot just to a particulartime and place but to all cyclesof human life. With the twelvevalues or trapsestablished, we are now in a betterposition to appreciateagainst what forcesGardner pits his existentialistmonster. Since Gardnerspecifically states to Harvey that he wanted "to presentthe Beowuif monsteras Jean-Paul Sartre" and that "everythingthat Grendel says Sartre in one mood or anotherhas said,"'3 some commenton Sartreanexis-

13 Harvey,p- 75. JohnGardner's Grendel 641 tentialismis calledfor. Basically, Sartre sees the human being as individualconsciousness, being-for-itself, separated, by virtueof its consciousness,from being-in-itself, the solid,non-conscious, purelycontingent, accidental world in which being-for-itself exists.Aware of this separation,being-for-itself experiences a senseof lack,anguish, but anyattempt to denyor disguisethe individual'sbasic alienationby establishingset values and so givingman a placeand purposein theuniverse is self-delusion, bad faith.Man is condemnedto be freeto choose his own values.To acceptvalues imposed on himby tradition,force, or persuasionis to allow himselfto be suckedinto inauthenticity. One individualconsciousness encountering another can regard theother only as an obstacle:"Hell is others."Humanity has no community.In his lack and anguishwhat man longsfor most is to experiencehimself as bothconscious flow of existenceand non-consciousfullness of being.His desireis, as Hazel Barnes explains,"to be at once a Being-in-itself-for-itself."This is, in effect,"the desire to be God," notmerely "find an existingGod outsideourselves." But this is futile.For "God does notexist.. 'Man is a uselesspassion.'"14 Though fascinatedby Sartre,Gardner was repelledby his philosophy.In a PBS televisiondocumentary produced by Richard.0. Moore,he describedSartre's philosophy as "para- noid and lovelessand faithlessand egoistic."15An episodethat perfectlyexemplifies the tensionGardner creates between exis- tentialistattitudes and heroicideals occurs early in the novel. Attackedby a bull,the young Grendel makes the basic existen- tialistdiscovery: "I understoodthat I aloneexist. All the restis merelywhat pushes me, or whatI pushagainst, blindly. I create thewhole universe, blink by blink" (p. i6). It is shortlyafter this discoverythat Grendel, alone, loveless, and faithless,first meets a communityof men,Hrothgar and his band. They,like so- calledprimitive people, are attentiveto thenatural world. They can divinea spiritin what looks like fungusand tryto take care of it. To Grendel,alienated by his paranoia,this is sheer insanity.Hrothgar interprets his mockinglaughter as hostility and respondsby flingingan ax at him. What is importantin

14Sartre (London: Quartet Books, 1974), p. 45. -5The Originals:The Writerin America,3 AprilI978. 642 AmericanLiterature thisepisode is the contrastbetween the monster'sexistential- ist egoismand the capacityof humanbeings, although flawed and limited,to makeimaginative connections. Recognizing that Grendelwants pig, the skinnyman smiles"as if a holyvision had explodedin his head" (p. 20). It is this abilityto make imaginativeconnections that is at the core of all twelveof the heroicideals. For each involvesa generousmovement beyond the self,the individualconsciousness,toward someone or somethingelse. (The medievalself- improvementvirtues of chastity, poverty, and obedience,and the puritanicalself-improvement virtues of hygiene,thrift, and dili- gence do not figurein Gardner'slist.) Generosity, as we have seen,is a vitalelement in Hrothgar'sdream of a gloriouscivili- zation.Hope is an imaginativereaching out towardthe future. True knowledge,as exemplifiedfor Gardner by Whitehead's philosophy,emphasizes a connectednessbetween the worldas one and the worldas many:"Importance is derivedfrom the immanenceof infinitudein the finite"(p. 58). If Unferthis a lesserhero thanBeowulf it is becauseUnferth is concerned about himself,his heroicposture, how he looks to himselfas hero,whereas Beowulf is a herofor others. The veryessence of artisticendeavor is the makingof imaginativeconnections. Inspiring,sustaining, celebrating all heroicideals is the Shaper, Beowulf'sscop, who has a Blakeancapacity for holy vision. For he is "moved by somethingbeyond his power,"so his "words made a visionwithout seams, an imageof himselfyet not himself" (p. 42). It is this visionof connectednessthat Grendel, as Sartreanexistentialist, thrusting his individualconsciousness againstthe opacity of theworld and others,cannot accept. Grendel,however, is no meremouthpiece for Sartrean exis- tentialismand certainlynot fornihilism. (Here we shouldnote that,in Gardner'sview, Sartre's contention that man is a useless passion-and thisis thegist of thedragon's message-leads to nihilism.)Though one partof Grendel sees heroic ideals as traps set to catchhis individualconsciousness, another part of him is stirredby the imaginativevision of the selfas connectedwith somethingother and largerthan the self.This innerconflict is sustainedright to theend of thenovel. Even after his interview with the dragon,Grendel, in spiteof his doubts,continues to be particularlysusceptible to Wealtheowand the Shaper.He JohnGardner's Grendel 643 does notcommit "the ultimate act of nihilism."He does notkill the queen (p. 8i). Nor does he kill the Shaper,though growl- ing in retrospectthat he shouldhave done so. And he spares the womanthe Shaperhas loved,an older and less beautiful Wealtheowfigure. So Grendelleaves love intact.And poetry, as Susan Strehlehas shown,he himselfbegins to practice.'6All chaptersfrom chapter 7 on, withone exception,contain some exampleof Grendel'spoetic talent.To Strehle'sobservations mightbe added the pointthat "brachiating with a hoot from rhymeto rhyme,"Grendel consciously, though with accustomed irony,reaches out to elementsin naturethat he, as a practicing existentialist,would regard as inanimate: 0 hear me, rocksand trees,loud waterfalls!You imagineI tell you thesethings to hear myselfspeak? A little respectthere, brothers and sisters!(P. 97) His cynicismundercut by desirefor belief, Grendel suffers the anguishof being"two-headed" (p. 37). The linesthat best exemplifythis ambivalence occur at thebeginning of chapter7 (Libra), where,halfway through the zodiacal cycle,halfway throughGrendel's narration, midway through the twelfthyear of hiswar, we are at a pointof balance. "Balance," he announces, is everything,riding out timelike a helmlesssheepboat, keel to hellward,mast upreared to prickout heaven'seye." He follows thiswith "He he!" to showthat he is quite awarethat he has tippedthe balance in favorof nihilism,then qualifies his cynical cacklewith "(Sigh)" (p. 79). This ambivalenceis maintainedthrough every chapter even when Grendelis at his mostmocking or vicious.Unferth, the braggartwould-be hero, is easyprey, but Grendel suspects even him of beingcapable of laughing"at the bottomlessdepths of mystupidity" (p. 76). Whileviciously rejoicing in Hrothulf'sin- tendedtreachery, he also,through his compassionate albeit ironic identificationof himselfwith Hrothgar, shows an understand- ing of loyalty.Though contemptuous of priestsas functionaries of organizedreligion, Grendel experiences a certainawe at old

16 "JohnGardner's Novels: Affirmationand the Alien," Critique:Studies in Modern Fiction,I8, No. 2 (1976), 93. 644 AmericanLiterature Ork's depthof feelingas he keenshis neo-Platonicutterances. And he himselfis awareof thingsin theexternal world as sig- nifyingsomething beyond themselves: the angel wings the chil- drenmake in thesnow, the hart's antlers "like wings, filled with otherworldlylight" (p. i io). Thoughhe maydefy hope byston- ingthe goat to death,Grendel himself continues to heeddreams and portents,waiting "with restless expectation" for something to happen(p. 130). Intuition,not existentialistawareness, tells himthat "the only way out of the dream is downand throughit" (p. I09). Whathe is waitingfor is, of course, the encounter with Beowulf,the opportunity to pithis "I aloneexist" (p. 138) against the "lunaticvision" of a championof faith.Finally, defeated by an "accident,"as theexistentialist in him claims,stubbornly clingingto skepticism,defiantly maintaining that darkness is the only realityhe has everunderstood, he does, however,at the verypoint of death, have an imaginativevision of connectedness, experienceshimself as himselfbut also somethinggreater than himself:"I look down,down, into bottomless blackness, feeling thedark power moving in me likean oceancurrent, some mon- sterinside me, deep sea wonder,dread night monarch astir in his cave,moving me slowlyto myvoluntary tumble into death" (p. I52).'7 And so, in Gardner'swords: "Grendel begins to ap- prehendthe whole universe: life and death,his own death"and becomesthe Shaper's "real successor."'8 It is notjust at his death,however, that Grendel has a mysti- cal experience.In thefirst chapter we see him poisedabove an abyss,screaming defiance at thechasms and startledby his own defiance:"I am terrifiedat thesound of myown hugevoice in thedarkness. I standthere shaking from head to foot,moved to the deep-seadepths of mybeing, like a creaturewho has been throwninto audience with thunder" (p. 5). Here too he has the imaginativeexperience of being, paradoxically, himself and more thanhimself-one thinksof Jehovah,Job, and Leviathanall in one. In Grendel'ssense of beingboth flow of existence and full- nessof being, especially in thefirst passage quoted, we recognize Gardner'sresponse to Sartre'sclaim as to the impossibilityof achievingBeing-in-itself-for-itself.

17 Gardnerelaborates on this passage in On Becominga Novelist,pp. 57-60. 18 Bellamy,pp. I79-80. JohnGardner's Grendel 645 If,however, Grendel does notyield to imaginativevision until the momentof his death,it is not onlybecause he, earlyin life,adopted an existentialiststance and was thereforeparticu- larlysusceptible to thedragon. It is also becausehis experience and observationof a cycleof history,the rise and fallof Hroth- gar'skingdom, lead him to questionheroic ideals. Or, to put it anotherway, experience and observationmake him reluctantto abandonexistentialism and nihilism. Love, he notes,even Wealtheow's self-sacrificial love, may be seen as merebiological instinct imprinted on creaturesfor the preservationof thespecies. The bull in chapter2 attacksGren- del in defenseof a calfthat may not even be his. And Grendel expresslydraws a "grimparallel" between Wealtheow and his mother,"horrible, humpbacked, carp-toothed creature, eyes on firewith useless, mindless love" (p. 88). Also kithand kin may be valuednot for themselves but as extensionsof theself: "even my mama loves me, not formyself but formy son-ness,my possessedness,my displacementof air as visibleproof of her power"(p. 138). Hrothgar'sband mayinitially be conservation- ists,but it is notlong before we see themwantonly and viciously destroyingforest and animals.It is bymeans of suchdestruction thatHrothgar's civilization is built:"The moorstheir axes had strippedof treesglowed silver in themoonlight, and theyellow lightsof peasanthuts were like scatteredjewels on the raven- dark cloak of a king"(p. 37). Turningviolent deeds to golden phrases,the Shaperindeed lies. And his celebrationof Hroth- gar'scivilization at harvesttime is merecomplacent jingoism: "Here alone in all the worldmen were freeand heroeswere braveand virginswere virgins" (p. 67). Is thereany disproving thedragon's contention that all humanendeavor is onlya "brief pulsationin theblack hole of eternity"(p. 63)? Heroismis arguablyall vaingloriousstrut and posture,con- cernedwith itself rather than the people it purportsto serve.By seizingWealtheow and pullingher legs apart,Grendel exposes heras merelya bare,forked animal, the Sartre in himgloating withdisgust over the obscenity of theflesh. Love is justanother instinct:sexuality. Hrothulf's main motivefor disloyalty may be personalambition. But surelyloyalty can also spellunthink- ing acceptanceof an unjustregime? Religion is mostlyempty convention,the preserveof narrow-minded,hypocritical, self- 646 Amer-icanLiterature regardingclerics, or sentimentalgush, the "sweet fantasy" of an enthusiast"overflowing with meadbowl joy" (p. i I 8). Can mindless instinctor habit,the goat'sblind determination to climb, peoplegoing on withtheir daily lives be valuedas hope? And cannotfriendship be mereexpediency, the Danes thawingto Beowulfand the Geats out of self-interest?Again and again alliancesare depictedas expedientand fragile.In the lightof such experiences,Grendel's and ours,faith and celebrationof the cycleof lifeand deathare fraughtwith absurdities. To be- lievein heroicideals is to be dishonest,to fosterillusion, or, in Sartreanterms, to be guiltyof bad faith. Gardner'sverve in presentingtraditional ideals as the saving fictionsof pattern-makingcreatures, who hypocriticallypro- claimallegiance to somethinglarger than themselves when they are actuallydriven by instinct or greed,is suchthat Grendel has oftenbeen readas an attackon thevalues he wishedto affirm. But if finallythe novelhas validity,it is becauseGardner gives full weightto our experienceof absurdityand evil. Thus the youngpriest who squeals: "The godsmade this world for our joy!" (p. I2 I) lacksauthority because he has notfaced up to the sickeninghistorical and dailyevidence that challenges his facile optimism.If Grendelfinally comes to an understandingof joy in theapprehension of himselfas partof somethingterrible and holy,it is onlyafter experiencing, with good reason,the blackest pessimism. What Gardnerachieves then is to presentwithin the frame- workof the ever-recurringzodiacal cycle with its mythicreso- nancesthe predicamentof modernman, conscious of the past. For in Grendelallusions abound, pointing to manyof thephilo- sophical,religious, and politicalideas thathave influencedthe courseof Western history. Witnessing the rise and fallof Hroth- gar'skingdom, we thinkof Greekcivilization, the Roman Em- pire,the British Empire, and theAmerican Republic, and do not alwaysrejoice. Again and againheroic ideals have been betrayed. Such a multitudeof sinshave been committedin the nameof loyaltyand religion,in particular,that we havebegun to relish cynicalnihilism, the debunkingof piouslypreached traditional ideals.Sartrean existentialism, which views these ideals as hypo- criticalconventions trammelling individual consciousness, and whichinsists on our freedomto createour own values,appeals JohnGardner's Grendel 647 to the individualistin us all. But forall thatwe cannotdeny what Iris Murdochcalls "thepower of our inheritedcollective view of the world."'9Somewhere in our cavernoushearts the old heroicideals continueto hauntand illumineus. Grendel's conflict,as he holdsfast to skepticismyet sways toward vision, turningand twistingbetween mockery and anguish,poetry and black humor,continually ironizing his ironies,is our own as inhabitantsof thetwentieth century.

19Sartre:Romantic Rationalist (New York:Viking, }987), p. i28.