Journal 4

In John Gardener’s novel, Grendel, the main character, Grendel, encounters various philosophical views in his quest for a purpose in life. Grendel philosophical journey begins when he leaves his home as a child with little knowledge. Outside Grendel’s cave, there exists a world that Grendel hasn’t truly been exposed to. The philosophical journey that Grendel embarks on goes through many stages of philosophical ideas.
Grendel starts his philosophical journey as a curious child, leaving his cave to look for a calf. Smelling a newborn calf in the upper world, Grendel goes into the forest and encounters a bull while stuck in a tree. The bull instinctively attacks Grendel, always aiming too low. Grendel, young and helpless, cries for his mother, who is obviously not there to help him evade the danger. At this point, Grendel realizes that he alone exists and that his mother will not come to the rescue. The idea that Grendel is the only person in existence is called solipsism.
Soon enough, Grendel ventures even further into the world, outside his cave. He eventually comes upon the Danes and their organized society. The Shaper, a poignant storyteller of the Danes, captivates Grendel with his poetry. In chapter three, which represents the sign of the Gemini, the Shaper’s poem brings Grendel into a state of confusion, making Grendel torn between rationality and riveting poetry. However, in chapter four, Grendel enters into a new theology, one that involves the acceptance of the Shaper’s story. In chapter four, the Shaper sings about the Old Testament philosophy. According to the Shaper, Grendel is a descendent of Cain and all of Cain’s descendants are eternally cursed because of Cain’s act of murder. At first, Grendel perceives the stories of the Shaper as absurd. But, since Grendel wants a place in society, he untimely accepts the Shapers story and decides to play the wicked villain in society. By virtue of accepting the Shaper’s story and willingly becoming the villain, Grendel embraces the Old Testament philosophy as his own philosophical view on life.
Grendel, once again, has a shift in philosophical views. Grendel meets the dragon, who puts a charm on Grendel that would allow Grendel to be impervious to attacks. In the chapter of Virgo the Virgin, which is chapter 6, Grendel is reborn into a philosophy of skepticism. Like a virgin, Grendel also claims to be born again with new ideas and new powers.
Because of various events that make continue to make Grendel unhappy with his philosophical view, Grendel’s journey to an ideal philosophical view does not end. Nihilism, a sobering and bleak outlook on life is the new philosophical view that Grendel embraces. When Grendel first meets the dragon, the dragon compels Grendel to take a similar philosophy on life as him: existentialism. An existentialistic philosophy is one in which there exists no God or meaning in life. Consequently, existentialists believe that one can choose to either enforce meaning or live without meaning. The dragon tries to enforce meaning in his life by sitting on gold, and he advices Grendel to do the same. Grendel, being Grendel, thinks about the dragon’s advice and eventually embraces a nihilistic view, which is very similar to the dragon’s philosophy of existentialism
In the end, as the dragon predicted, Grendel dies. Before Grendel’s inevitable death, however, the philosophical belief that he acknowledges is nihilism. As Grendel is being attacked by Beowulf, Grendel says, "Poor Grendel's had an accident. So may you all" (174). By saying such, it becomes almost obvious to the readers that Grendel has no purpose in life other than to destroy and cause death. Grendel words are associated with the nihilistic view that he embraces because just like the philosophy of nihilism, Grendel is extremely pessimistic and wants to see others destroyed.