Journal 8

Journal 8: Grendel Parody

                Grendel is considered a parody because it is a different version of an already told story. Grendel parodies the epic poem Beowulf. Grendel takes the monster from the poem Beowulf, and tells the story from the monster’s point of view as well as adding more history and character development to Grendel’s character. The same characters from Beowulf appear in Grendel and the same basic story that Beowulf has is told in Grendel, though it’s been changed to suit Grendel’s point of view. Grendel’s role in the story is still as the destroyer of the mead halls that Beowulf must defeat but instead of a faceless creature, Grendel is a thinking, caring creature that is more human than he thinks. Instead of the heroic, awesome larger-than-life man that Beowulf is portrayed as in the original poem, in the Grendel parody, Beowulf is cold, mechanical, and someone that Grendel is unsettled by. Other characters that Grendel interacts with are different in the parody than they are in the poem, like Unferth, who has a larger role in the parody than he does in the original poem. Grendel is a parody because it sort of mocks the original literature it was based off of. Grendel has more differences than similarities between itself and the poem Beowulf, but the similarities are what make Grendel a parody.