Can books teach us anything about our leaders today?
[Choose 1-2 of the following to post about]
*You may wish to compare and to contrast the 2 books you have read (or should now be reading)
*What new information have you learned about your main character (as a leader or not) that you have started reading?
*You may incorporate any satirical aspects covered in your new text (up to about 1/2 or 3/4 through)
*You may also compare and contrast All My Sons to your new text, or all 3.
*How are you as a person compared to your new text in terms of leadership qualities? What is similar/different? What about the prior text that you just finished?
You may discuss any beginning segments of your new novel but do not spoil the end of the book (yet). I should be able to tell that you completed reading book 1 by now.
Funny pun names based on any of the literature--encouraged :)
For full credit, you MUST have quotations as support of your points from 2 texts, you MUST show reading and avoid online summary info, you MUST respond to a minimum of 2 posts. Points will be deducted for those students who wait until the last 12-24 hours, for spelling problems, repeating information already stated, confusing responses, attacking classmates verbally, simply agreeing without saying much of anything, or off-topic commentary.
------APA documentation must be used----
Your argument will be judged harshly, so be prepared to defend yourself!
**This blog will end at 10 a.m. or sooner on 10/19. Remember that starting on the last 12-24 hours prior will result in loss of points since your discussion will be limited.
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ReplyDeleteA leader is they're ability to pick people up and being able to trust them to do their job right. Many important leadership qualities involve being well liked by your peers. A book called Brave New World has the first character introduced called the DHC, which is short for Director of Hatcheries and Conditionings. At the beginning he gives off the leadership quality of being ambitious about what they were doing in this factory, he gave the people touring some exitement by being loud and passionate about it and he seems to really connect with the people he talks to. We shoudn't decriminate who can be a leader either, in my book there is a guy named Bernard Marx who is an alpha which means he's high up and more respected by people below him, but the other alpha's make fun of him because he is less attractive and shorter than the other alpha's. In today's world we trust who is attractive more than people who are ugly which is a very sad thing. When you are a leader you try to grow other people other than yourself, an underrated leadership quality is being commited to doing it. You might not be the best at it but you never quit and you always try to make your people the best people that they can be.
ReplyDeleteto add on "ending is better than mending, the more stitches the more riches"(Huxley pg 49), which means of instead of fixing something you should just throw away and get something new, give people chances. Instead of kicking leaders out for doing something bad, give them a chance to rewrite themselves and everyone can build together.
DeleteThe overall message is clear, but this needs to be run through a grammar check. You use the wrong their in the beginning, and the punctuation needs to be rearranged. Make sure to triple check your writing.
DeleteSo I'm going to kind of mix a few prompts into one for now so bear with me. (satire aspects and qualities of the character). In the beginning of the book Grendel sees a ram and tries to act big and scary and tries to scare it away. We don't really like Grendel in the beginning, because it seems as though he is full of himself and shows no mercy. He goes into Hrothgar's meadhall and kills a bunch of people with no remorse. This is shown in a satirical way, with Grendel saying he is a "respected guest" and that he "knocked politely". "And so I come through trees and towns to the lights of Hrothgar's meadhall. I am no stranger here. I am a respected guest... and knocked politely on the high oak door, bursting its hinges and sending the shock of my greeting inward like a cold blast out of a cave. " (Gardner, 1971, pg. 7)
ReplyDeleteAs you dwell a little further into the book you sort of emphasize with Grendel. He is not all bad, and often feels remorse for his killings. He is also in shock by the hostility of humans (but it later says he is also amused.) You also feel bad because Grendel is cut off from other creatures because he is not able to communicate with them. Grendel tells many tales in which he tries to communicate with others in a nice way, but all they hear is roars and they get scared of Grendel. "I staggered out into the open and up toward with my burden, groaning out 'Mercy, Peace!' The harper broke off, the people screamed. Drunken men rushed me with battle-axes. I sank to my knees screaming, 'Friend! Friend!' They hacked at me, yipping like dogs" (Gardner, 1971, pg. 44)
Grendel just wants someone to talk to. The humans, the animals, and even his own mother won't speak with him. He feels it's unfair.
^^These are my notes for the first 1/4 of the book. I just need to reread the other parts of the book and analyze and I will post more comments.
I feel bad for Grendel because he has nobody, he feels so misunderstood, and he can't understand anybody and nobody can understand him. He's just trying to communciate and try to make something for himself
DeleteI do think Grendel gets a bad rap, I would love to hear your opinion on a comparison of Grendel and Joe Keller, both people get flamed for their actions. Talk about some leadership qualities Grendel might have(might be a little hard cause he can't really talk).
DeleteIn "A Brave New World", the main characters take a tour through the Dictator maker, I mean DHC building. There they make babies using unnatural sperm and ovum. Those babies are similar at birth from the way they look to the job they get. The bokanovsk, pride and joy of the factory, is a process which creates 96 identical people from one ovum. 96 identical people, 96 identical factory jobs, 96 perfect cogs in a machine.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really picking up your point to this besides kinda just telling us about the story, try to relate back to one of the prompts and go from there.
DeleteThe DHC, director of the factory, is like the leader of the world because they control the production of people.
DeleteTry to talk more about the characters and less of the storyline, tell us the ladership qualities of the main character. Maybe compare the main character from your previous book to this one and tell us how they differ socially. Give us a quote too or quotations from the book to help us understand your main point.
ReplyDeleteSo after finishing the first half of the book I have noticed other things. Grendel is a very complex character and I can't seem to figure him out. At first he is in awe as the humans attack for no apparent reason and Grendel thinks the humans are stupid for doing so. But as the book progresses, we find Grendel doing the exact same thing. He is getting a euphoric feeling from killing since the Dragon has cursed him with a power to be invincible against weapons. "I burst in when they were all asleep, snatched seven from their beds, and slit them open and devoured them on the spot. I felt a strange, unearthly joy. It was as if I'd made some incredible discovery, like my discovery long ago of the moonlit world beyond the mere." (Gardner, 1971, pg. 69)
ReplyDeleteIt causes a little confusion in what Grendel's real feelings are. Is he really empathetic towards humans? Or does he purely find joy in these killings? I think it is a mixture of both. I think while he may feel empathy, a darker side of him tends to come out often.
I think Grendel's encounter with the Dragon is definitely humbling for Grendel. Grendel often thinks of himself as above all others. "...and the men were nothing to me..." (Gardner, 1971, pg. 30) But upon meeting the Dragon, Grendel quickly realizes there is a creature much more superior than him, and Grendel feels threatened by that. Since the Dragon knows he is more superior than Grendel he tries to talk down on Grendel to seem wise and important, but Grendel only sees it as "gibberish". The Dragon once states, "That's valuable stuff you're standing on. Boobies, hemorrhoids, boils, slaver..." I think that is to mock the whole situation of the Dragon and about how he guards his treasures. By saying that we can obviously see those are not real treasures, and is a satire to what treasure really is.
Forgot to put the APA citation on the last quote. It's (Gardner, 1971, pg. 50)
DeleteA good leader should be able to take accountability for error even though it wasn't there, for example in the military if someone beds not made the person in charge gets yelled at. "There are certain men in the world who rather see everybody hung before they'll take blame".(Miller, Act 2, Line 430). This quote tells the importance of a leaders ability to take responsibilty.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to hear how you would show that maybe Keller isn't a good leader since he never took responsibility for what he had done to the airplanes and instead threw Annie's dad under the bus. It'd make very good evidence for your claim of a good leader taking accountability!
DeleteBetween my two books The Firekeepers Daughter and Grendel the main characters both talk about their appearance Daunis is talking about how tall and wide in the book she says "Tall,sturdy chick,ginormous ass,ghostly white skin,wide mouth,big nose,and what cruel irony small tits." (Boulley,page 45) and Grendel is a monster. In the book Grendel he is described "by the roots of horns. Flanks atremble,eyes like stones." (Gardner,page 1). "I had teeth like a saw". ( Gardner,page 13).
ReplyDeleteMy main character Grendel is a monster and kills people. To be a leader you need communication and open mindness and Grendel is alone and fights people. He doesn't really show much skills of leadership due to him destroying and killing people. For example in the book "They throw up a mound for the funeral pyre, for whatever arms of legs or heads my haste has left behind." (Gardner,page 8). He shows the traits of anger when the woman and men sing a song when he leaves portraying that the humans have won and he says "I shake with rage" on page 9. Part of me thinks that Grendel may be misunderstood as well he is all alone in the darkness and just watches the humans."I was safe in my tree,and the men who fought were nothing to me"(page 30). Which kinda makes me feel like something has to trigger him to fight and kill.
I like how you talk about how you think Grendel doesn't show any leadership and give examples why. Do you think there's anyone in "Grendel" that shows better leadership qualities? It'd be nice to hear you compare Grendel to some of these other leaders within the book to solidify why you think Grendel lacks leadership qualities.
DeleteWhy is Grendel not a leader? What kind of characteristics do you consider a leader to have? In a way, I think Grendel is a leader of the monsters. He protects himself and other creatures from the humans wrongdoings and cruelty.
DeleteAt the beginning of the book “Grendel,” the monster, Grendel, is nothing short of an actual monster. Angry at all creatures and objects around, surrounded by rotting men, children, and cows. Around the fourth chapter, a deeper look into the actual humanity of Grendel can be made, though we need to look into Hrothgar first to further understand. Hrothgar, who is the king of the Danes, uses his leadership for the good of his people after becoming inspired by a song that the sharper (a bard) sang about the Danes (a song which was over the top, making the Danes seem greater than they were in reality). Grendel is greatly affected by this song as well, as he knows the truth of all the gruesome battles he had witnessed between these men, but he states, “When he finished the hall was quiet as a mound. I too was silent, my ear pressed tight against the timbers. Even to me, incredibly, he had made it seem all true and very fine.” (Gardner, 1971, p.36) As a result of knowing the actual truth, Grendel flees in a whimpering, crying mess, stating that he has been torn apart by poetry.
ReplyDeleteFurther emphasizing how Hrothgar was inspired by the Sharper’s song, Hrothgar decided to use the leadership he had to build a magnificent meadhall in response to the song of the Danes. Within this meadhall, using the power he had, he would hand out treasures to his men, and expected his future sons to do the same with the power they would pass on to them. Later, Grendel makes a statement about this exact expectation, stating, “And as for Hrothnews for him. If he had sons, they wouldn’t hear his words. They would weigh his silver and gold with their minds. I’ve watched for generations. I’ve seen their weasel eyes.”(Gardner, 1971, p.45) (Within that quote, Grendel basically talks about how he has firsthand witnessed the greed of humans, especially those who claim themselves to be leaders).
The sharper arrived once again to sing to the visitors about the meadhall, and Grendel had concluded that all of the treasures of Hrothgar’s and the songs of the sharper were nothing short of foolish, though he could not help but get sucked in once again. “I listened, felt myself swept up. I knew very well that all he said was ridiculous, not light for their darkness but flattery, illusion, a vortex pulling them from sunlight to heat…Yet I was swept up.”(Gardner, 1971, p.40) Shortly after listening to the second song the sharper had sung, Grendel steps on a man’s body, whose throat had been slit. One of Hrothgar’s own has been slain by a brother. This event causes Grendel to realize the empty promises of Hrothgar, the promises of riches and a fair life for the Danes. However, during this moment, the sharper sings a song about the curse of Grendel, causing Grendel to again be swayed by his storytelling songs as he stumbles into the open of the hall, with the dead man in hand, in an attempt to declare himself as a friend, not a monstrous curse. The Danes do not understand Grendel’s desperate cries as they attack Grendel until he flees. Lonely, Grendel realizes within himself that he is different from man and that no leader will understand the heartbreak the isolation and empty leadership causes him.
This is a good summary/set of examples, but I would like to hear some of your opinions. Why do you think Grendel acts/feels this way? Is he insecure? Depressed? Spiteful?
DeleteYou have great observation skills and this is very well put together. I would like if you would put more of yourself into this argument and hear a little bit of your thoughts. You have observed and read the book as we can tell, but I want to know what YOU are thinking about and analyzing while reading the book.
DeleteA short but fun little comparison to make between all three of the books I have read/am reading (All My Sons, Firekeeper’s Daughter, and Grendel) is that all three books have a person who is guilty of committing a crime and doesn’t tell others what they have done.
ReplyDeleteIn “Grendel,” Grendel states that his mother is guilty of a crime, although she doesn’t know, or perhaps won’t admit, what she has done. “Guilty, she imagines of some unremembered, perhaps ancestral crime” (Gardner, 1971, p.6).
In the book/play “All My Sons,” the gravity of the crime is extremely severe as Keller, the father, shipped out faulty plane parts in order to not damage his business reputation, resulting in a grave amount of deaths. He hid this from his family and killed himself shortly after his son Chris and the rest of his family learned of the truth. “CHRIS: ‘You killed them, you murdered them… I want to know what you did, now what did you do? You had a hundred and twenty cracked engine-heads, now what did you do?’ KELLER: ‘...I never thought they’d install them…I thought they’d stop them before anybody took off.’ CHRIS: ‘Then why didn’t you tell them?’ KELLER: ‘It was too late. The paper, it was all over the front page, twenty-one went down, it was too late…’” (Miller, 1975, pp.69-70).
In “Firekeeper’s Daughter,” the main character, Daunis, has a brother, Levi, who keeps the huge crime he has been committing throughout the book a secret until almost the very end. Daunis works undercover with two agents to discover who has been making and exporting meth within her native tribe in Sault Ste. Marie, and uncovers that her brother is the person she has been chasing the whole time. “My heart breaks with a thud. Levi is the mule” (Boulley, 2021, p.384).
Although these are three very different books, it’s fun uncovering the similarities they have with each other!
I really liked this idea about them all having someone commenting a crime and not telling anyone what they did, not really speaking up, I think you could also add to this that it doesn't show good leadership skills because beinga a leader also means coming clean with what you've done and owning your mistakes.
Deletei like how you found the similarities in the book and how it relates. Maybe try to put in how it affects the people around them and what traits they share to make them commit a crime for example does keller feel guilty and grendel not.
DeleteI really really love this point! I would've never put this connection together. I like how they are all vastly different books but somehow all have a connection with each other.
DeleteIn my two books, The Fire Keeper's Daughter and Grendel, the main characters both talk about feeling like they don't fit in with those around them. Daunis talks about it when she brings up being part of two different ethnicities.” Yet even with such deep roots, I don’t always feel like I belong. Each time my Fontaine grandparents or their friends have seen my Ojibwe side as a flaw or a burden to overcome. And the less frequent by more heartbreaking instances when my Firekeeper family sees me as a Fontaine first and one of them second. When they say things about the Zhaaganaash and then, a beat later, remember that I’m in the room too. It’s hard to explain what it’s like being so connected to everyone and everything here… yet feeling that no one ever sees the whole me”. ( Boulley, 2021, p. 33). With Grendel he talks about not fitting in because he can't talk to everyone and they just misjudged him. Grendel is cut off from other creatures because he is not able to communicate with them. Grendel tells many tales in which he tries to communicate with others nicely, but all they hear is roars, and they get scared of Grendel. "I staggered out into the open and up toward with my burden, groaning out 'Mercy, Peace!' The harper broke off, the people screamed. Drunken men rushed me with battle axes. I sank to my knees screaming, 'Friend! Friend!' They hacked at me, yipping like dogs" (Gardner, 1971, pg. 44)
ReplyDeleteI like how you say grendel is alone and everyone is scared of him do you think that he is misunderstood. If he is then why does he keep killing people. Good find on how they both don't fit in and they are different in their own ways.
DeleteGrendel seems lonely and very full of hate for everything, as he seems to talk to the sky and hugs himself, “The sky ignores me, forever unimpressed. Him too I hate…” , “I cry, and hug myself, and laugh, letting out salt tears, he he! till I fall down gasping and sobbing.” He seems to also have low self esteem. (pg. 2)
ReplyDeleteGrendel left his cave where he lived with his mom through a water hole leading out, he wanted to attack and kill Hrothgar, “I swim up through the firesnakes, … and I surface with a gulp among churning waves and smoke. I crawl up onto the bank and catch my breath.” , “I start very carefully down the cliffs that lead to the fens and moors of Hrothgar's hall.”(pg. 4+5)
ReplyDeleteGrendel's self esteem issues seem to come from his seemingly mean and controlling monster mother, he also seems to hate his mother a lot, “My pale slightly glowing fat mother sleeps on, old, sick at heart, in our dingy under-ground room. Life-bloated, baffled, long-suffering hag.”
ReplyDelete(pg. 6)
Grendel ends up attacking Hrothgar's hall and he seems to be very interested in the chaos and almost to get off on the people's pain, he also seems very prideful and acts as if he's better than everyone and everything, “In the darkness, I alone see clear as day. While they squeal and screech and bump into each other, I silently sack up my dead and withdraw them into the woods. I eat and laugh and eat until I can barely walk.”(pg. 7)
ReplyDeleteI think that it is satirical that Grendel seems to hate himself yet there's still a part of him that wants to think highly of himself, “Not, of course, that I fool myself with thoughts that I'm more noble. Pointless, ridiculous monster crouched in the shadows, stinking of dead men, …”
ReplyDelete(pg. 2)
Honestly.. you could've put more effort into this (no offense). I'm just noticing all your quotes are literally from the first 10 pages of the book and have very little explanation to them. Sorry.
DeleteI stand corrected omg please ignore this comment my computer didn't load the rest of your responses. :(((((
DeleteGrendel has come up to the world from his cave before(pg. 12)”And so I discovered the sunken door, and so I came up, for the first time, to moonlight.”
ReplyDeleteWhe grendel was young, he stayed out past the time he was supposed to be home by and got his foot caught in between 2 tree and when he called and called for his mom she never came and he was scared he was gonna die alone, on page 14 grendel recalls what he said to himself during this, “i'm going to die,” ”Poor Grendel! Poor old Mama!” “Poor Grendel will lay here and starve to death,” “and nobody will ever miss him!”.
Even though grendel has no people really other than his mom, the creatures he refers to as “us” exist in his head and to him(pg 18)”They where small, these creatures, with dead-looking eyes and gray-white faces, and yet in some ways they were likes us, except ridiculous…”
ReplyDeleteWhen Grendel was stuck, he was first attacked by a bull, then humans came and at first they were friendly but then they were easily scared by Grendel when he was just trying to communicate with them(pg 20), “ “Pig!” I tried to yell, it scared them.” He then got angry and started to call the humans names as they scattered around trying to attack Grdenel, “ -and suddenly I knew I was dealing with no dul mechanical bull but with thinking creatures, pattern makers, and the most dangerous things I'd ever met.” “ “You're all crazy,"I bellowed, “you're all insane!” “(pg 21) this is where his hatred for humans began. His mother ended up coming in to save Grendel, scaring the humans away. It's strange that she finally came, after days, once Grendel was almost dead. She then seemed to give him a hug of torture from the cave. It's like in their world things are opposite from in the human world, ex. Hugs to humans are loving, to the monsters it is painful torture, “she hurls herself across the void and buries me in her bristly fur and fat. I sicken with fear.”(pg 22)
Grendel observes the humans, dissecting every little thing they do (pg 28)”The people would laugh. I would back away into the darkness,furious at my stupid need to spy on them and I would glide into the next camp of men, and I'd hear the same.”
ReplyDeleteGrendel goes on to explain how humans have war after war and he seems to almost find the whole thing amusing. (pg 25-31)He then goes on to explain how the humans toy around with oxs, likely for their own amusement, sort of like hot grendel toys with the humans. “Sometimes he merely sat, when he found the ox, and met its stupid, gloomy eyes and wept.”(pg 31-32)
Grendel talks about how loyal Hrothgar's men and people are to him(pg 36)”They would seize the oceans, the farthest stars, the deepest scariest rivers in Hrothgar's name!”
I like how Hrothgar's men are loyal to him, does that make Grendel jealous or angry?
DeleteYou can tell that Grendel knows what he's doing, antagonizing the village people and Danes, is wrong and causes pain, but he seems to enjoy that, which somewhat makes my point about thighs being opposite to Grendesl world, “My heart was light with Hrothgar's goodness, and laden with grief at my own bloodthirsty ways.”
ReplyDeleteGrendel seems to be getting paranoid after listening to the harper's song, as he seems to think that someone or something is following him and out to get him, he also seems almost wigged out by the sound of music and the emotions it uprises(pg 42)”It followed me- whatever it was, i was sure of that as id ever been of anything. And then, in one instant, it was as if it had all been in my mind, the thing was gone.”
ReplyDeleteWhile Grendel is listening to another of the harpers songs, the harper tell a tale of how the earth was first built, and towards the end of his tale he said that there was an ancient feud which split the world into 2, good and evil this really really upset Grendel which does show repentance for the wrong he has done(pg 43)”He told of an ancient feud between two brothers which split all the world between darkness and light. And I, Grendel, was the dark side, he said in effect. The terrible race that god cursed.” , I stood wriggling my face, letting tears down my nose, grinding my fists into my streaming eyes.” He had a bit of a meltdown and ran up the hall to try and make peace, which of course, scares everyone(page 44)”...up toward the hall with my burden, groaning out, “Mercy! Peace!” The harper broke off, the people screamed.” , `` ``Friend! Friend!” They hacked at me, yipping like dogs.” He seems to hate on himself anytime he feels and shows emotions, i think it's because he views emotion as weak and no emotions as strong because he's aware of how strong his emotionless mother is(pg45)”My sudden awareness of my foolishness made me calm.”
“The Once and Future King” and “Feed,” as examples of leadership, are polar opposites. Feed’s main character and narrator, Titus, is a self-centered, unsympathetic, ignorant child. While The Once and Future king features a great, humble king.
ReplyDeleteTitus’s leadership skills pale in comparison to King Arthur. Even as a child, Arthur is shown showing great compassion and empathy. Early on, he loses a servant’s hawk, and instead of letting it be, he chooses to return his kindness by delving into the woods and retrieving it~ “... But we can’t lose Hob’s hawk, it would be beastly” (White, 1965, pg. 17) He also shows this great respect to all life. Upon killing a rabbit, he shows respect by performing a knightly ritual~ “It was partially a gesture of farewell, partly of triumph, and it was beautiful. They did it now as salute to their first prey.” (White, 1965, pg. 55)
Titus, while partially redeeming himself, shows an egregious lack of empathy and leadership skills. He may possess charisma, but that is overshadowed by the negative. After being given a car by his parents, he refuses to see the fact that that makes him lucky~ “Are you saying I'm spoiled?”, “It seems like that's what you mean.”(Anderson, 2012, pg. 122) He also has a severe lack of commitment and the ability to make bonds. Whilst his partner is dying, he refuses to grant her dying wish, instead saying~ “I didn’t sign up to go out with you forever when you’re dead. It’s been a couple of months. Okay? A couple of months.”
forgot to cite the last quote -- (Anderson, 2012, pg. 272)
ReplyDeleteWhen Grendel seems to stumble upon a dragon, the dragon says something that really made Grendel see things from a different perspective. When Grendel was obviously terrified by the dragon, the dragon made a comment comparing Grendels terror of the Dragon, to the humans Fear of Grendel, which is another sign that he isnt evil. I suppose eventually the abused becomes the abuser and thats what happened with Grendel, he wasnt born evil.(pg 52)”It was one thing, to eat one from time to time … but it was another thing to scare them, give them heart attacks, fill their nights with nightmares, just for sport.”
ReplyDeleteIt also seems that the dragon knows what Grendel is thinking.(pg52)”Why not frighten them? Creture, i could tell you things…” And on the next page the dragon tells us he actually know everything. On page 54 and to the end of the chapter on page 63 he explains more on how that works.
After Grendels encounter with the dragon, a guard attacked him and he didnt really fight back, then he came to realize the dragon put a spell on him protecting him from damage(pg 67) He wasnt hostile at first but then when he realized he was almost unhurtable, the power got to his head and he found more joy in taunting the humans, as shortly after this he rips a gfaurds head off in front of a crowd(pg 68)”Id meant them no harm, but they attack me again, as always.” , “And now atlast the grim laughter came pouring out, as uncontrolable as the dragons …”
ReplyDeleteGrendels intentions become malicious and violent compared to his usual curiosity. Its like the little bit of what he did understand of what the dragon told him about the universe, made Grendel loose his empathy.(pg 69)”... and slit them open and devour them on the spot. I felt a strange, unearthly joy. It was as if id made some incredible discovery, …”
While attacking a meadhall, Grendel had an encounter with a man thinking of himself as a hero. This was the first time(of the readers knowledge) that a human had actually been able to understand what Grendel was saying and communicate with him. Grendel ended up attacking the ‘hero’ but not enough to kill him or really majorly injure him, then he left the ‘hero’ there in the meadhall.Grendel enjoys this attack more than any of the other ones he had initated, i think he appreciates just getting to simple talk to anything really, that will actually respond and listen.(pg 74)”I got more pleasure from that apple fight than from any other battle in my life.”
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 7 Grendel ends up becoming obsessed over hrothars newly-wed young wife. At first he seems to be in deep love with her, then all of a sudden he attacks and decides he wants to kill her, but while tourchering her decides he dosent want to and flees. Grendel is getting apparently more violent and malevolent. This also brings me back to the idea that to in the monsters world everything is similar but opposite in the darkest ways possible. Its like when grendel loves something, he shows his love by destroying it.
The 8th chapter talks about how Hrothgar's younger brother died, so he took in his deceased brother's son. The son, Hrothulf, seems very wise for his age, he also seems kind but strong. (pg 104)”Hrothgar's nephew was kind … “ , “He was a moody, lonely young man, … “
ReplyDeleteGrendel then somewhat compares hrothgar to his nephew, Hrothulf, making the point that hrothgar is greedy and self-centered, whereas Hrothulf may keep to himself, but he is empathetic, a trait a good leader has to have.(pg 105)”When someone speaks to him, he answers politely and gently, his mind far away– on murdered thanes, abandoned hopes.”
Grendel seems to think that because of that fact that his main target has always really been Hrothgar, that he single-handedly is the reason Hrothgar has the fame and title that he upholds. Grendel feels like he has the right to continue attacking Hrothgar, because after all, he feels as though he created- or permanently tainted Hrothgar's soul.(pg 106-107)This nobility of his, this dignity: are they not my work? What was he before? Nothing!” , “Hive is not a right to test my own creation?”
Grendel seems to hate the idea of a god being real. He likes to watch the humans talk to god and mock them to himself. (pg112)”Once, years ago, for no particular reason, I wrecked the place; broke up the wooden god like kindling and toppled the gods of stone.” I think he despises the idea because if there were a god, why would it give Grendel this miserable existence and life. And on the next page he tricks the priests, talking in place of who the priests believe are gods. Grendel asks the highest up priests questions, really just to cause confusion(pg 114)”Speak to us concerning His unspeakable beauty and danger,”
ReplyDeleteGrendel is extremely easily angered by the simple acts that happen in nature, he seems to act like everything is obligated to listen too and understand him(pg 122)""You've had fair warning,” I yell at him. I'm enraged now.”
ReplyDeleteThe sharper ends up dying while giving a type of fortune of the Danes, and he seemed to have a love affair with a married women who seemed shocked but very depressed about his death.(pg 127)”The lady comes out onto the steps and stands with her arms locked, expressionless.”
In the cave, Grendel's mother is slowly going more insane as she paces all day and can only really say ‘dool-dool’. She tries to prevent Grendel from leaving the cave(pg 128)”I lift her by the armpits as though she were a child and, gently, I set her aside.”
When the geats arrive and Grendel senses them and eavesdrops(like always), Grendel becomes fixated on the newness of the army, he is desperate to know what is going to happen between the geats and Hrothgar(pg 137)”My chest filled with excitement like joy, i tried to think whether or not i was afraid of the strangers.”
ReplyDeleteGrendel explains his views on order and how he thinks that it is a stupid way to live your life(pg 138)”All order, iv come to understand, is theoretical, unreal- a harmless, sensible, smiling mask men, slide between the two great, dark realities, and self and the world- two snake pits.” I think that because he never really had a life with sanity and reason, he doesn't understand why anyone would live that way. I'd say he has a very closed mind and it makes him angry and frustrated.
ReplyDeleteGrendel, while attacking the mead hall, tie a napkin around his neck, and is filled with exhilarating joy for what he's planning to do, which is eat averone in the hall(pg 147)”i can hardly believe my luck and my wild heart laughs,”
In the final scene of the book, It seems that the person attacking him knew he was weak and simple minded, as he taunts Grendel and controls him much like Grendel's mother did for a very long time, and still somewhat does. I think this is why Grendel gave into his attackers demands so easily. (pg 151)”Sing walls, he hisses. I have no choice.”
On the final page we are met with a bit of satire as Grendel is dying, as when he looks at the people and animals and creatures watching him die he gives them a smile even though he was full of terror and dread, accepting his fate of death. (pg 152)” Animals gather around me, enemies of old, to watch me die. I give them what I hope will appear as a sheepish smile.”
John is an honest person. He sees the truths of the new world and how people are not happy, and most need a drug for a fabrication of happiness. For example, his mother, who was essentially the village crazy lady, until she got back to the "modern world",and used Soma until she died.
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