I love the second chapter even more than the first. The whole theme sort of silently compares Grendel to a neglected child. He’s shown as having the imagination, wonder, and urge to explore as any human child would, but Grendel also realizes in the chapter that his mother doesn’t really seem to care about him as a person, just as her offspring. When he is trapped and hurt by the bull, then attacked during his first encounter with men, she comes to his rescue as a bear to their cub. This also leads to his realizations of the world not as the imaginative wonders of the cave he explored as a kid, but a cold and uncaring canvas. “The mountains are what I define them as,” he says. The description is this chapter seems to be less than the first one, perhaps because this chapter is partly about Grendel losing his childhood innocence.
As a child, Grendel grew up full of the characteristic innocence which we see in human children. This is obviously Grendel's backstory and we will probably see this throughout the entire book leading up to the present unless I am mistaken. Anyway, Grendel explores his home and in perhaps somewhat of a cliché, finds the exit into the world. This is were we see this innocence fade. At first he is amazed and is in love with the forest, but one day he becomes trapped within two trees and is met by a bull. The bull rushes him again and again and as he dodges it he realizes that it is a mechanical, habitual response, centuries old and entrenched in the bull's DNA. He then realizes that this is the world, the stars rotate because do, the bulls rushes because it always has, the sun rises and the moon sets because it cannot, otherwise it would signify change, and that is exactly what Grendel is hoping for. Grendel not only begins his transformation into the grim monster he is but also discovers humans, a completely independent animal and seemingly contradictory to his former beliefs. However, the discovery of humans changes nothing because, as Grendel finds out and observes later, they to are somewhat mechanical. Humans kill things that frighten them, they build houses and communities because they not only have to but simply have the urge to. While they do create their own culture it is completely based off of what happens around them and since everything around them is mostly autonomous they to simply do rather than think or at least they think very little about big subjects.
In the beginning of this chapter, like all young boys, Grendel runs around exploring his surroundings and seeking out trouble. Though with his latest discovery, the world outside of his cave, it ultimately results in Grendel losing his childhood innocence. As Grendel is exploring this new world and chasing this young calf for a snack, Grendel accidently gets caught in between two trees and is unable to move. Scared, hungry, and alone, Grendel cries out for his mother like all young children do, but sadly he gets no response. Heart broken, Grendel believes that he is going to die and no one will ever miss him. With no optimism left, Grendel scans his surroundings hoping to find his mother; he instead finds an unfriendly bull. The bull, like all of the animals, found Grendel to be a threat, but instead of running away, the bull attacks. As Grendel is observing the bull he realizes the bull operates in a mechanical manner, it fights on instinct rather than intricate and intensive thought. By “playing” with this bull, Grendel understood and realized that the world was nothing. “…a mechanical chaos of nothing…we impose our hopes and fears…I alone exist…all the rest pushes me…or I push against it…I create the whole universe…” This means that besides Grendel, nothing else exists, we reflect our own thoughts and characteristics on everything around us, we create our own universe, and it, the universe, reacts to what we impose on it. The universe simply reacts to our actions and then we react to the universe’s reaction. Finally, Grendel ultimately realizes that, according the bull, striking low every time, and us, rebuilding the door to the mead hall the exact same way, we are all creatures of habit.
I found this chapter more captivating. the whole idea that Grendel wants to explore the human world. But then he realizes that human can hurt because they don't know who are what he is. When really he doesn't understand that he is different. When he meets the bull it attacks him i found this scene beautiful. Grendels realizes his mother isn't there for him. he bursts his childhood bubble when he enters the outside world. ~Oswald Osgood (pseudonym)
One night Grendel stays out late because he could smell the birth of a calf. On his way his foot gets caught in between a two tree stumps and he gets hurt. He notices that it’s a trap and he screams for his mama but she never goes and saves him. When a bull attacks Grendel multiple times he realizes that the bull isn’t doing this because he hates Grendel. The bull attacks because it’s an instinct. Grendel stops being scared and he laughs at the bull instead because he thinks the bull is dull and cluless.
In this chapter we go back into the past where Grendel is exposed for the first time to the human world. Grendel comes realize that the strangers and animals look right past him without paying any attention to him, with the only exception of his mother who truly looks at him. One day as Grendel is lured by a calf, gets stuck in the middle of a tree. He is trapped and tries yelling for help from his mother, but does not get any response or help. Then, a bull appears who charges painfully at Grendel multiple times and eventually ripping his leg up to the knee. He realizes that the bull aims to low because it is not trying to hurt Grendel on purpose, rather it is a blind instinct. This helps Grendel understand that, “the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and dreams”. As the bull continues to attack, it no longer worries Grendel, and he eventually falls asleep.
Dear Amy, In Chapter, we find Grendel roaming the forest and looking to prey on young calves he had scented. All of a sudden, Grendel gets his foot caught in a crack where the old tree trunks joined. While stuck, Grendel wails for his mom, but his mom is not there for him. And Grendel grieves because he thinks he is gonna die, and no one will care or miss him. When Grendel sees a bull, Grendel tries to scare, but only getting frustrated at the bull for not fearing him. Grendel learns and states in the book that bulls do such things, to defend the calves, so basically the bull arrived to protect the calves from Grendel. In the chapter, the bull who was unafraid of Grendel charged at Grendel nearly tearing off the foot of Grendel. Grendel shows that he is afraid and shows his own fear even to another animal. This shows the readers, that Grendel is not as scary as you think he is, and that he is more scared than he acts scary. As the bull struck again at Grendel, and charged at him again, Grendel laughs at the bull for thinking it could kill Grendel. And as time passed, Grendel is able to tolerate the pain even more. While Grendel is knocked unconsciously by the bull's charge, Grendel wakes up to hear the voices of men. These men at first who see him, think he is a spirit. And for some reason the men think they must feed the hungry spirit. However, Grendel's own bellowing scares the men and causing them to surround Grendel and attack them. Finally, Grendel's own mother arrives and scares away the humans. When Grendel wakes up, he finds himself in a different place where it is more safer from the humans. Grendel shares his observation to the world to his mother, but however Grendel's mother doesn't say a thing. And for some reason, Grendel's mother attempts to suffocate Grendel as punishment for having unreasonable hope. This concludes that Grendel's life may not have been easy in his childhood, with his mother neglecting him and being isolated, perhaps Grendel became the monster he is because of the past.
In this chapter, we find out about Grendel’s childhood experiences. Grendel, curious, decides to explore outside his cave, going farther and farther out each night. While outside of his cave he plays childhood games similar to what a human child would play. While chasing a calf deep into the forest, Grendel gets his foot caught between two oak trees. Frightened, he bellows for his mother. After his mother does not show up he is overcome with emotion and starts wailing, “I’m going to die.” “Poor Grendel!” After a while of being stuck in-between the oak trees Grendel encounters a bull that had showed up to protect the calf. The bull then begins to charge Grendel. Stricken with terror, Grendel yells at it to go away and starts to tremble. After the bull strikes the tree, it’s horns cutting Grendel’s leg open Grendel realized that the ram struck to low and would every time, since fighting was mechanical and an instinct for the bull rather that something the bull deeply thought about. He laughed at this. Then he goes on to realize that the whole world is mechanical. Finally when Grendel encounters humans, who also attack him, his mother responds. She rushes out to the forest bellowing, making the men ride off on their horses and making trees fall, including the trees Grendel was stuck between. Grendel describes how his experience in the forest made him loose his innocence and discover the mechanics of the world.
In this chapter, Grendel is proven how lonely he really is. He recalls bad experiences from his past and from the starting point of where his grieving really began. When his foot got stuck on tree stumps and he called out for his mother, the only one he thought he could rely on, wasn’t responding he automatically became depressed. His self esteem was the lowest it’s been and he learned he was on his own and thought his live made no difference anywhere. Grendel becomes upset at the bull for not fearing him like he thought he would and felt ignored and deprived. The bull charged at Grendel and hurt him, his mother finally came and helped him. This chapter is to show Grendel grew up living a depressed life and thought he couldn't count on anyone. Stephanie Medina
In Chapter 2, Grendel learns about the way the world function (Mechanism). The bull was trying to protect her baby by ramming the tree. Grendel was stuck in between the tree and the bull would injure him a little bit. This chapter shows how he sensitive and lonely he can be. When the men came and observed him, Grendel was confused who they were and what language they speak. They were going to get him some food until Grendel did something that made them think he was angry at them. They decided to attack, but ran after Grendel's mother came after them. This shows that Grendel does not know how to communicate with other people. Also, he is does not know how to take responsibility for himself. If he ever gets in trouble or in a situation he needs help in, he cries for his mom. Grendel does not know about these aspects because he was raised alone and no one taught him how to "fix" himself.
This book is very good and has so far not disappointed. I feel sorry for Grendel because I see even as a monster, he still relies on his mother’s protection from things out of his comfort zone, which could also be his downfall, so he needs to lear how to toughen his skin and defend himself when the time arises when his mother isn't their to help him.. I could felt his terror and sorrow when the bull rushed him. I really enjoy this writes take on Grendel’s emotions when he is trapped and calling for his mother. He calls to her such as a child would call to a parent asking desperately for attention. Sadly, his mother did not hear his cries for help and he hung in that tree for a long time, having blood slowly trickle down his leg and his life force being slowly drained away. The bull rams her head into the tree in order to exterminate the threat posed the her and her child. He is also shown with the knowledge to communicate which really surprise me! He understands everything they say, but can only reply with a groan and a growl much like the animal he is trying not to become. ~Ben Moseley
In this chapter, Grendel finds himself trapped between two trees, for days at a time. He first meets with a bull, and then humans, all the while he calls out to his mother who does not come until the very last second.
The bull attacks Grendel relentlessly, tearing his leg on several occasions, until finally Grendel learns how to defend himself. He laughs it off, falls asleep in the middle of the attack, and wakes up to find the bull gone.
Between these attacks and the absence of his mother, he learns the lesson that everyone has to mature from their childhood and learn to fend for themselves at some point in their lives, whether they like it or not. He reaches this point in his life when he realizes that his mother is not coming to his rescue and he is on his own to face the bull.
In Chapter two of “Grendel”, Grendel stays up past his curfew while chasing a calf in the forest. While doing so, Grendel gets his foot caught between the trunks of two oak trees, and ends up being flipped over and hanging upside-down. The father of the calf, a bull, follows Grendel to this spot in attempt to defend his calf. The bull charges repeatedly, but by instinct it aims to low to make full contact with Grendel’s leg, stuck between the two trees. Instead the bull hits his head against the trunk of one of the oak trees, while slightly wounding the side of Grendel’s leg with his horn. Realizing this, Grendel is able to shift and twist the position of his leg away while being stuck in order to avoid the tip of the bull’s horn. Upon “outfoxing” the bull in this way, he comes to realize the mechanical aspect of instinct-driven animals such as bulls, which cannot look into alternative perceptions or concepts. He applies this idea to the greater world, concluding that everything in his own life is simply a mechanical version of whatever he chooses to perceive it as. Each particular, mechanical thing he creates in own his mind is what drives him forward into the next chapter of his life. -David (I spelled my name right this timeXD)
In this chapter, Grendel finds himself stuck in a tree, forced to find out the nature of the seemingly stupid animal attacking him. This animal is a bull. While Grendel is stuck in the tree, the bull will aggressively charge at Grendel, missing, then repeat. Grendel notices how stupid this poor animal is and refers to it as being outdated. He watches and dodges the animal charge until it disappeared when Grendel fell asleep. After he awakes, he finds, for the first time, humans. He describes them as strange and awkward, and implies that their beliefs match their physique. They debate over why Grendel is stuck in the tree and what he is. At this point, Grendel is unable to speak to them and simply must watch them attempt to make sense of something that they will not understand. This chapter may be seen as an explanation for the first chapter and the base for his beliefs about the creatures that he has contact with.
In this chapter I really got the feeling of the relationship John Gardner conveys between Grendel and his mother. While Grendel is trapped in the bowl of the oak he repetitively hollers for his mother to save him, as you can imagine she doesn’t come. As I said, before in chapter one, you really get the sense of the constant conflict going on in Grendel’s mind. The book even states at one point that Grendel thinks of other animals as lucky for not having to think and having nature’s mechanical instincts set their course of life. When the young bull comes to protect the calf, Grendel once again observes the mechanical-like actions of the dumb beast. When the humans come upon Grendel, they first believe he is a growth on the tree and then later draw the conclusion that he is an angry, hungry tree spirit. When Grendel roars and the men attack, Grendel realizes he is dealing with thinking, unmechanical creatures. At the end of the chapter when Grendel’s mother finally comes to the rescue, they are reunited and Grendel ponders the idea that his mother might at one point been able to speak.
In the beginning of this chapter Grendel finds himself caught in a tree. This becomes a problem for him not only because he has been encountered by a bull that won't stop ramming his head into the trunk of the tree but also because he meets humans that at first try to help him but then afterwards take advantage of the moment and attempt to kill him. Fortunately, this only leads to the release of Grendel where he then goes back to his cave and sleeps.
Throughout this chapter Grendel gets stuck In a tree and charged by a bull. First of all, Grendel, get out of the tree, your like a ten foot monster, you can get out of a tree wimp. Second of all, throughout this chapter Grendel really feels the weight of loneliness and the philosophy of the world being a machine of endless boredom and uselessness (in Grendel's case). The example given is a bull who charges Grendel until he....leaves. The bull is like a machine, it does the same thing over and over again until it doesn't want to do that particular thing anymore. Grendel remarks on how stupid it is which is hilarious by the way because on the other hand he can't get his foot out of a tree.
I love the second chapter even more than the first. The whole theme sort of silently compares Grendel to a neglected child. He’s shown as having the imagination, wonder, and urge to explore as any human child would, but Grendel also realizes in the chapter that his mother doesn’t really seem to care about him as a person, just as her offspring. When he is trapped and hurt by the bull, then attacked during his first encounter with men, she comes to his rescue as a bear to their cub. This also leads to his realizations of the world not as the imaginative wonders of the cave he explored as a kid, but a cold and uncaring canvas. “The mountains are what I define them as,” he says. The description is this chapter seems to be less than the first one, perhaps because this chapter is partly about Grendel losing his childhood innocence.
ReplyDelete-George
As a child, Grendel grew up full of the characteristic innocence which we see in human children. This is obviously Grendel's backstory and we will probably see this throughout the entire book leading up to the present unless I am mistaken. Anyway, Grendel explores his home and in perhaps somewhat of a cliché, finds the exit into the world. This is were we see this innocence fade. At first he is amazed and is in love with the forest, but one day he becomes trapped within two trees and is met by a bull. The bull rushes him again and again and as he dodges it he realizes that it is a mechanical, habitual response, centuries old and entrenched in the bull's DNA. He then realizes that this is the world, the stars rotate because do, the bulls rushes because it always has, the sun rises and the moon sets because it cannot, otherwise it would signify change, and that is exactly what Grendel is hoping for. Grendel not only begins his transformation into the grim monster he is but also discovers humans, a completely independent animal and seemingly contradictory to his former beliefs. However, the discovery of humans changes nothing because, as Grendel finds out and observes later, they to are somewhat mechanical. Humans kill things that frighten them, they build houses and communities because they not only have to but simply have the urge to. While they do create their own culture it is completely based off of what happens around them and since everything around them is mostly autonomous they to simply do rather than think or at least they think very little about big subjects.
ReplyDelete-Cameron
DeleteIn the beginning of this chapter, like all young boys, Grendel runs around exploring his surroundings and seeking out trouble. Though with his latest discovery, the world outside of his cave, it ultimately results in Grendel losing his childhood innocence. As Grendel is exploring this new world and chasing this young calf for a snack, Grendel accidently gets caught in between two trees and is unable to move. Scared, hungry, and alone, Grendel cries out for his mother like all young children do, but sadly he gets no response. Heart broken, Grendel believes that he is going to die and no one will ever miss him. With no optimism left, Grendel scans his surroundings hoping to find his mother; he instead finds an unfriendly bull. The bull, like all of the animals, found Grendel to be a threat, but instead of running away, the bull attacks. As Grendel is observing the bull he realizes the bull operates in a mechanical manner, it fights on instinct rather than intricate and intensive thought. By “playing” with this bull, Grendel understood and realized that the world was nothing. “…a mechanical chaos of nothing…we impose our hopes and fears…I alone exist…all the rest pushes me…or I push against it…I create the whole universe…” This means that besides Grendel, nothing else exists, we reflect our own thoughts and characteristics on everything around us, we create our own universe, and it, the universe, reacts to what we impose on it. The universe simply reacts to our actions and then we react to the universe’s reaction. Finally, Grendel ultimately realizes that, according the bull, striking low every time, and us, rebuilding the door to the mead hall the exact same way, we are all creatures of habit.
ReplyDelete~Shelby
I found this chapter more captivating. the whole idea that Grendel wants to explore the human world. But then he realizes that human can hurt because they don't know who are what he is. When really he doesn't understand that he is different. When he meets the bull it attacks him i found this scene beautiful. Grendels realizes his mother isn't there for him. he bursts his childhood bubble when he enters the outside world.
ReplyDelete~Oswald Osgood (pseudonym)
One night Grendel stays out late because he could smell the birth of a calf. On his way his foot gets caught in between a two tree stumps and he gets hurt. He notices that it’s a trap and he screams for his mama but she never goes and saves him. When a bull attacks Grendel multiple times he realizes that the bull isn’t doing this because he hates Grendel. The bull attacks because it’s an instinct. Grendel stops being scared and he laughs at the bull instead because he thinks the bull is dull and cluless.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter we go back into the past where Grendel is exposed for the first time to the human world. Grendel comes realize that the strangers and animals look right past him without paying any attention to him, with the only exception of his mother who truly looks at him. One day as Grendel is lured by a calf, gets stuck in the middle of a tree. He is trapped and tries yelling for help from his mother, but does not get any response or help. Then, a bull appears who charges painfully at Grendel multiple times and eventually ripping his leg up to the knee. He realizes that the bull aims to low because it is not trying to hurt Grendel on purpose, rather it is a blind instinct. This helps Grendel understand that, “the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and dreams”. As the bull continues to attack, it no longer worries Grendel, and he eventually falls asleep.
ReplyDelete- Metztli
comes to realize *
Delete-Metztli
Dear Amy,
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter, we find Grendel roaming the forest and looking to prey on young calves he had scented. All of a sudden, Grendel gets his foot caught in a crack where the old tree trunks joined. While stuck, Grendel wails for his mom, but his mom is not there for him. And Grendel grieves because he thinks he is gonna die, and no one will care or miss him. When Grendel sees a bull, Grendel tries to scare, but only getting frustrated at the bull for not fearing him. Grendel learns and states in the book that bulls do such things, to defend the calves, so basically the bull arrived to protect the calves from Grendel. In the chapter, the bull who was unafraid of Grendel charged at Grendel nearly tearing off the foot of Grendel. Grendel shows that he is afraid and shows his own fear even to another animal. This shows the readers, that Grendel is not as scary as you think he is, and that he is more scared than he acts scary. As the bull struck again at Grendel, and charged at him again, Grendel laughs at the bull for thinking it could kill Grendel. And as time passed, Grendel is able to tolerate the pain even more. While Grendel is knocked unconsciously by the bull's charge, Grendel wakes up to hear the voices of men. These men at first who see him, think he is a spirit. And for some reason the men think they must feed the hungry spirit. However, Grendel's own bellowing scares the men and causing them to surround Grendel and attack them. Finally, Grendel's own mother arrives and scares away the humans. When Grendel wakes up, he finds himself in a different place where it is more safer from the humans. Grendel shares his observation to the world to his mother, but however Grendel's mother doesn't say a thing. And for some reason, Grendel's mother attempts to suffocate Grendel as punishment for having unreasonable hope. This concludes that Grendel's life may not have been easy in his childhood, with his mother neglecting him and being isolated, perhaps Grendel became the monster he is because of the past.
Sincerely,
ReplyDeleteyour student
Dylan Tsung
In this chapter, we find out about Grendel’s childhood experiences. Grendel, curious, decides to explore outside his cave, going farther and farther out each night. While outside of his cave he plays childhood games similar to what a human child would play. While chasing a calf deep into the forest, Grendel gets his foot caught between two oak trees. Frightened, he bellows for his mother. After his mother does not show up he is overcome with emotion and starts wailing, “I’m going to die.” “Poor Grendel!” After a while of being stuck in-between the oak trees Grendel encounters a bull that had showed up to protect the calf. The bull then begins to charge Grendel. Stricken with terror, Grendel yells at it to go away and starts to tremble. After the bull strikes the tree, it’s horns cutting Grendel’s leg open Grendel realized that the ram struck to low and would every time, since fighting was mechanical and an instinct for the bull rather that something the bull deeply thought about. He laughed at this. Then he goes on to realize that the whole world is mechanical. Finally when Grendel encounters humans, who also attack him, his mother responds. She rushes out to the forest bellowing, making the men ride off on their horses and making trees fall, including the trees Grendel was stuck between. Grendel describes how his experience in the forest made him loose his innocence and discover the mechanics of the world.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter, Grendel is proven how lonely he really is. He recalls bad experiences from his past and from the starting point of where his grieving really began. When his foot got stuck on tree stumps and he called out for his mother, the only one he thought he could rely on, wasn’t responding he automatically became depressed. His self esteem was the lowest it’s been and he learned he was on his own and thought his live made no difference anywhere. Grendel becomes upset at the bull for not fearing him like he thought he would and felt ignored and deprived. The bull charged at Grendel and hurt him, his mother finally came and helped him. This chapter is to show Grendel grew up living a depressed life and thought he couldn't count on anyone.
ReplyDeleteStephanie Medina
In Chapter 2, Grendel learns about the way the world function (Mechanism). The bull was trying to protect her baby by ramming the tree. Grendel was stuck in between the tree and the bull would injure him a little bit. This chapter shows how he sensitive and lonely he can be. When the men came and observed him, Grendel was confused who they were and what language they speak. They were going to get him some food until Grendel did something that made them think he was angry at them. They decided to attack, but ran after Grendel's mother came after them. This shows that Grendel does not know how to communicate with other people. Also, he is does not know how to take responsibility for himself. If he ever gets in trouble or in a situation he needs help in, he cries for his mom. Grendel does not know about these aspects because he was raised alone and no one taught him how to "fix" himself.
ReplyDeleteThis book is very good and has so far not disappointed. I feel sorry for Grendel because I see even as a monster, he still relies on his mother’s protection from things out of his comfort zone, which could also be his downfall, so he needs to lear how to toughen his skin and defend himself when the time arises when his mother isn't their to help him.. I could felt his terror and sorrow when the bull rushed him. I really enjoy this writes take on Grendel’s emotions when he is trapped and calling for his mother. He calls to her such as a child would call to a parent asking desperately for attention. Sadly, his mother did not hear his cries for help and he hung in that tree for a long time, having blood slowly trickle down his leg and his life force being slowly drained away. The bull rams her head into the tree in order to exterminate the threat posed the her and her child. He is also shown with the knowledge to communicate which really surprise me! He understands everything they say, but can only reply with a groan and a growl much like the animal he is trying not to become.
ReplyDelete~Ben Moseley
In this chapter, Grendel finds himself trapped between two trees, for days at a time. He first meets with a bull, and then humans, all the while he calls out to his mother who does not come until the very last second.
ReplyDeleteThe bull attacks Grendel relentlessly, tearing his leg on several occasions, until finally Grendel learns how to defend himself. He laughs it off, falls asleep in the middle of the attack, and wakes up to find the bull gone.
Between these attacks and the absence of his mother, he learns the lesson that everyone has to mature from their childhood and learn to fend for themselves at some point in their lives, whether they like it or not. He reaches this point in his life when he realizes that his mother is not coming to his rescue and he is on his own to face the bull.
—Haven
In Chapter two of “Grendel”, Grendel stays up past his curfew while chasing a calf in the forest. While doing so, Grendel gets his foot caught between the trunks of two oak trees, and ends up being flipped over and hanging upside-down. The father of the calf, a bull, follows Grendel to this spot in attempt to defend his calf. The bull charges repeatedly, but by instinct it aims to low to make full contact with Grendel’s leg, stuck between the two trees. Instead the bull hits his head against the trunk of one of the oak trees, while slightly wounding the side of Grendel’s leg with his horn. Realizing this, Grendel is able to shift and twist the position of his leg away while being stuck in order to avoid the tip of the bull’s horn. Upon “outfoxing” the bull in this way, he comes to realize the mechanical aspect of instinct-driven animals such as bulls, which cannot look into alternative perceptions or concepts. He applies this idea to the greater world, concluding that everything in his own life is simply a mechanical version of whatever he chooses to perceive it as. Each particular, mechanical thing he creates in own his mind is what drives him forward into the next chapter of his life. -David (I spelled my name right this timeXD)
ReplyDeleteGrendal discovers humans and how they are intelligent (and dangerous) compared to most creatures. He becomes interested in them.
ReplyDelete-Evan N.
In this chapter, Grendel finds himself stuck in a tree, forced to find out the nature of the seemingly stupid animal attacking him. This animal is a bull. While Grendel is stuck in the tree, the bull will aggressively charge at Grendel, missing, then repeat. Grendel notices how stupid this poor animal is and refers to it as being outdated. He watches and dodges the animal charge until it disappeared when Grendel fell asleep. After he awakes, he finds, for the first time, humans. He describes them as strange and awkward, and implies that their beliefs match their physique. They debate over why Grendel is stuck in the tree and what he is. At this point, Grendel is unable to speak to them and simply must watch them attempt to make sense of something that they will not understand. This chapter may be seen as an explanation for the first chapter and the base for his beliefs about the creatures that he has contact with.
ReplyDelete-Adam Sheldon
In this chapter I really got the feeling of the relationship John Gardner conveys between Grendel and his mother. While Grendel is trapped in the bowl of the oak he repetitively hollers for his mother to save him, as you can imagine she doesn’t come. As I said, before in chapter one, you really get the sense of the constant conflict going on in Grendel’s mind. The book even states at one point that Grendel thinks of other animals as lucky for not having to think and having nature’s mechanical instincts set their course of life. When the young bull comes to protect the calf, Grendel once again observes the mechanical-like actions of the dumb beast. When the humans come upon Grendel, they first believe he is a growth on the tree and then later draw the conclusion that he is an angry, hungry tree spirit. When Grendel roars and the men attack, Grendel realizes he is dealing with thinking, unmechanical creatures. At the end of the chapter when Grendel’s mother finally comes to the rescue, they are reunited and Grendel ponders the idea that his mother might at one point been able to speak.
ReplyDelete~Malcolm
In the beginning of this chapter Grendel finds himself caught in a tree. This becomes a problem for him not only because he has been encountered by a bull that won't stop ramming his head into the trunk of the tree but also because he meets humans that at first try to help him but then afterwards take advantage of the moment and attempt to kill him. Fortunately, this only leads to the release of Grendel where he then goes back to his cave and sleeps.
ReplyDeleteO.O I take it back, Grendel is not so quirky.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this chapter Grendel gets stuck In a tree and charged by a bull. First of all, Grendel, get out of the tree, your like a ten foot monster, you can get out of a tree wimp. Second of all, throughout this chapter Grendel really feels the weight of loneliness and the philosophy of the world being a machine of endless boredom and uselessness (in Grendel's case). The example given is a bull who charges Grendel until he....leaves. The bull is like a machine, it does the same thing over and over again until it doesn't want to do that particular thing anymore. Grendel remarks on how stupid it is which is hilarious by the way because on the other hand he can't get his foot out of a tree.
I'm done, let me cough on you :)
-xela wrote this
Delete