Journal #5

Throughout the story of Grendel, by John Gardner, the main character, Grendel, becomes significantly more sophisticated in his language style. When the story begins, his language is entirely internal, as Grendel cannot communicate with the humans that he comes across. As the story progresses, however, his language becomes more understandable to humans, and Grendel’s use of punctuation, italics, and other writing techniques suggest to readers that Grendel is becoming more literate. When reading Grendel, by John Gardner, readers can sense Grendel going through a notable change in his writing style as well as auditory language.

When the story opens in Chapter one, Grendel is alone. He cannot communicate with anyone, and most of his monologues take place internally, as his speech is not advanced enough to speak coherently out loud. The majority of his writing in Chapters one and two comprise of simple sentences containing little punctuation and no quotes. In Chapter three, however, Grendel begins to use more punctuation and imagery in his writing. In addition, he also begins analyzing war culture and the government system that he observes in human communities. Once readers reach Chapter four, it is obvious that Grendel starts to believe that humans are more dangerous than what he has previously believed. His writing begins to contain kennings, more complex sentences, and quotes. Chapter five brings about lots of imagery, more advanced punctuation, and italics in Grendel’s writing. In addition, Grendel begins to follow the beliefs of nihilism after talking to the dragon.

Chapter six of Grendel brings about very notable changes in his writing style. Grendel is beginning to understand humans, and attempts to make a peace offering with them. However, the failing of this attempt prompts Grendel to become a deliberate enemy to the Danes. Irony is now used in Grendel’s writing, as well as even more advanced punctuation. His writing also reflects himself; he is becoming very self absorbed. Chapter seven of Grendel brings about a number of textual changes as well. Grendel’s writing suddenly contains italics, brackets, and bulleted lists. In addition, the way the text is organized on each page resembles that of a play rather than a novel. This changing of Grendel’s writing style reflects his evolvement throughout the story. In Chapter eight, Grendel’s writing begins to contain parentheses, blocked quotes, and italics. His style also shifts to a more narrative one, although still written in the style of a play. In this chapter, Grendel’s ideas about government shift to that of the beliefs of socialists, believing that political systems should benefit all of society. Chapter nine brings about another major feat for Grendel; he can now speak to humans, which is a distinction of his character. In Chapter ten, Grendel begins to believe that history has lost all of its meaning. His writing now contains more efficient communication. In Chapters eleven and twelve, Grendel is able to use his imagination, and a use of ellipses is more present in his writing. Grendel also begins to believe that he is trapped in a never ending loop of life.

When reading the story of Grendel, by John Gardner, it is obvious that Grendel goes through a number of significant changes in both his way of thinking and in the way that he writes and portrays his ideas to readers. The textual changes that are present throughout signify Grendel’s maturation and evolution from innocence to experience. This change is portrayed through Grendel’s actions as well. His understanding of governmental and societal problems plays a major part in his maturation process. By the end of the story of Grendel, the monster is most nearly a misunderstood beast, who is only trying to discover the meaning of life and find his place in society.