One may wonder what caused Grendel to commit such atrocities. ... Grendel may not have been acting out of pure evil, but out of grief. ... Again, we see a lack of malignance and evil within Grendel. ... Grendel's mother is also depicted as an evil and "monstrous hell-bride" (Line 1255), who is "grief-racked and ravenous" over the loss of her son Grendel (1275). ... Because she is much stronger than her son Grendel and bears kinship ties with him, the reader is logically forced to assume that she is also more evil and heinous than Grendel (strange case of Grendel'...

• Word Count: 1275
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The first impression that the reader perceives of Grendel is that he is "that demon, that fiend, who haunted the moors, the wild marshes, and made his home in a hell, not hell but earth." This immediately reveals that Grendel is a creature of darkness that thrives on depraved pleasures, and the reference to hell inevitably associates him with Satan who is the evil character in the Christian faith. ... In addition, the verity that Grendel is attacking Herot, which is understood to be a city of "good", obviously displays that he is on the corrupt side in the ceaseless battle of good vs. evil. ...

• Word Count: 1019
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate