Grendel and Cain Essay Example for Free

Grendel and Cain EssayIn the story of Beowulf you get a glimpse of some different themes through with(predicate)out this epic. Those themes range from well behaved and evil to those of death and glory. The story itself depicts a period in history when aliveness was lead blind through the teachings of the book of the lord and his spoken words. At this aforesaid(prenominal) period in history traditional irreligious religious practices and beliefs have slowly given bureau to the ideals and philosophy of Christianity. Many of the themes held within the pages of Beowulf stem from the proverbs and fables recited and practiced in the Old Testament, while concurrently adding pagan beliefs of monsters, demons, and multiple divinity fudges. The most striking of these biblical comparisons is viewed between Grendel (the protagonist, evil rival of Beowulf) and Cain (the evil brother of Able).In the Old Testament, Cain kills his brother Abel and is consequently punished and banished f rom the Garden of Eden by idol. His actions be to have a dramatic effect on the life of Grendel and the choices he makes throughout his life until his epic struggle for achievement over the Geats and Beowulf himself. Symbolic ally and genetically, Grendel assumes the role of his ancestor Cain in this epic story as an outsider, disowned from the rest of society, finding a home only(prenominal) among the un cognize (evil) and those who have sinned.Feeding on the flesh and production line of gods creations, Grendel starts a vigorous battle to destroy all that is good and the things he can not have. To the Anglo-Saxons and the creators of Beowulf, one of the whisk crimes a person could have committed in life was that of murdering ones kin (or the killing of ones brother). During the era of this composition the figure of Cain is used metaphorically to represent the unknown (chaos, evil) and the presence of evil. Cain defies gods will and so he secludes himself to the evils of the meet world only to foster a hatred of god and a family cursed for eternity.The period in which Grendel and Cain resided in was deeply structured around the book of the lord (bible) and as a result created a society structured around the teachings and morals of its stories. The idea of friendship and kin be desecrated through the act of murder is one of the pip things a person can do and the consequences of that are severe. Grendel is a victim of his own world and the actions of his ancestors. The society for which Grendel wants to conquer and deny existenceproves to be the creator and uprooter of his tragic being.In the classic story of Cain and Able, Cain enviously slays his brother Able in a flagitious outcry of jealousy and anger. For his sin, he was banished from mankind for eternity and left only to live life dis place from the routines of design beings and forced to live among the dark and the sinful. Cain was the first of a cursed family to be exiled for the sins he co mmitted. His punishment proved to have a drastic effect on him and the future of his blood line. His punishment spawned his dedication to retention a grudge against god himself and the unreachable light he has been denied of. After being the first born(p) of Adam and eve, Cain went on to become a farmer of the ground, while his brother Abel followed the pursuits of a keeper of the sheep. Cain became a self-willing, vindictive man, defiant in his attitude towards matinee idol and his relation to his kin.His eternal sin was committed on the seventh day or Sunday of the week while the two brothers were presenting religious offerings to the lord. Abels offering was of the firstlings of his flock and of the avoirdupois (Gen. 44), while Cains was of the fruit of the ground (Gen. 43). For Abels sacrifice, he gave the best he had and so his offering was respected by his elders while Cains offering was scorned and dismissed. It was for this reason Cain brood anger towards his kin the wo rst of which was focused on his younger brother Able. After his disgrace towards the lord and his family, Cains apathy towards his brother produced feelings of murderous intention and hatred.Sooner or later this desperate outrage led him to murder Able in raw uneventful hatred. For his sin he was expelled from Eden. From that day on he led the life of an exile, darned to be a fugitive and wanderer in the earth (Gen. 412) and denied the rights of a normal man, only to bare the take down of a sinner and warning to others. With this Cain walked into the land of Nod (unknown, evil, dark), only to leave a legacy felt by the generations of his offspring.When Cain killed Able, he ignited the eternal flame of a cursed family. From Cains blood came the curse of his exile and sprang ogres and elves and evil phantoms and the giants too (Beowulf. Pg. 35), darkness entailed is legacy and evil embodied his future. Grendel is a descendant of Cain, so he shares Cains exile from all that is good and light. Cain may have been thefirst displaced person later Adam and Eve, but he was not the last. Grendel shares his ancestors punishment, he is exiled not only from whatever land or wealth he would have had if he were human, but he is also abandoned by God and all who followed and indulge in his faith and grandeur. It is this forsaking that causes Grendel to destroy and murder. The treasure seat, he was kept from plan of attack he was the Lords outcast (Beowulf pg.36), since he cannot approach the throne of the Lord like the rest of mankind, he chooses to tone-beginning to destroy it.He has no love for God and his children if he can not be with them manus in hand. However, unlike Cain and his parents, Grendel is doomed from his creation by being conceived into a blood line stricken by an eternity of banishment from Gods light because of Cains sin against his brother. It is for this reason why Grendel kills. He can neer be in the light because he is constantly fighting a lonely war against God and all of his creations. Because of his expulsion from that which is good, he is moreover discarded by everything that follows in the wake of gods will (people, society, life, etc.). The school text refers to him as spurned and joyless (Beowulf pg. 47) it is no wonder why Grendel was considered so monstrous. He did not contain his banishment without fighting back.Like most people who are enraged and apathetic and then placed between a rock and a hard place he fought back insensible to fuss and human sorrow (Beowulf pg. 35) for those he murdered. The reason behind his actions is not because he is an unruly monster, but instead, he is overwhelmed by jealousy because he is not able to share in the spoils god has made handy to humanity. With this in mind, if Grendel can not step into the light and become part of the life as witnessed from the outside. so he will destroy it and leave it for no one. Just as Cain did before him, Grendel will neer be content wi th himself as long as he must bare witness to the celebrating of life and love enjoyed by all whom lavish in the glow of Gods hands.Whether it is Grendel or his ancestor Cain, they both accept from the agony of trying to survive in a world as cursed beings, forced to unwilling around in the outskirts of the cold night and the loneliness of a sun scorched day. After destroying the ideal image of a content person in the name of jealousy and anger, Cain forbidden to enter the known world forever,created a sphere of influence which played into the future of his children and his grandchildrens children and so on. Even though the mark of Cain is not evident on Grendels physical characteristics, the presence of his cursed nature is. He like Cain suffers from an abandonment of faith and humanity. As outcasts they both find resentment and hatred towards the things they want most, whether its acknowledgement by god and all that is good in the world or the ability to wander freely without f ear of poke fun and hostility.To humanity they pose a threat worse then the sum of most peoples fears. They represent all that is bad in the world and as a result find themselves rejected by everything good the world has to offer. It is circumstances like these that have proven to bring out the worst in a person, such as they did in Cain and his later ancestor Grendel. What would you expect from those forced to live among the displaced in a world resentful of there existence. Instead of being accepted for there misfortunes and forgiven for there sins, they where rejected for what they where and what they had become, resulting in a creature motivated by pain and apathy inflicted by the keeper of there being and the audience of there lives.