The Twelve Traps in John Gardner`s Grendel

The Twelve Traps in John Gardner's Grendel
Author(s): Barry Fawcett and Elizabeth Jones
Reviewed work(s):
Source: American Literature, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Dec., 1990), pp. 634-647
Published by: Duke University Press
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TheTwelve
TrapsinJohn
Gardner's
Grendel
BARRY FAWCETT
DalhousieUniversity
ELIZABETH JONES
Dartmouth
HighSchool
Grendel
JohnGardner's
appearedin 1971 it wasgreeted
and readers.
bya chorusof praisefromreviewers,
critics,
Since thendiverseinterpretations
of thisfascinating
workhave
beenproposed.Whatindeedarewe meantto makeofGrendel,
Gardner'sreworking
of the monsterwho, in Beowulf,harries
King Hrothgarand his thanesfortwelveyearsuntilovercome
by the Geat hero,Beowulf?In variousinterviews
and in his
own writings
Gardnergavemanyindications
of whathe setout
to do when writingGrendel.On one levelGrendel,"creature
of twominds,"represents
conflicting
partsof Gardnerhimself:
"I was consciousthatwhat I was aboutto do (or dramatize,
or seek to get clear) was an annoyingsometimespainfuldisa conflictbetweena
harmonyin my own mentalexperience,
wish forcertainty,
a sortof timidand legalisticrationality,
on
theone hand,and,on theother,an inclination
towardchildish
whatI mightnow describeas an occasionalflickeroptimism,
ing affirmation
of all thatwas bestin myearlyexperienceof
Here we recognizethe basis forGrendel'spreChristianity."2
dicament:his stubbornclingingto skepticism
and cold, hard
with
reason,whileconstantly
tempted
bybelief.In an interview
JoyceRenwickand Howard Smith,Gardnermakesthe same
"The novel
oftheconflict:
at hisstructuring
pointwhilehinting
is
it
to
about
reason
and
faith.
Grendelis
Grendel, seems me,
in something
ofbelieving
againand againgiventheopportunity
has heldup as a value."3
whichwesterncivilization
On severaloccasionsGardnerenlargedon his structuring
of
thisconflict:
"WhatGrendeldoes is take,one byone,thegreat
W~THEN
1 Grendel(New York: Ballantine,197I), p. 95. Furtherreferences
to thistextare given
in parentheses.
2 On Becominga Novelist(New York: Harper and Row, I983), p. 6i.
3JohnGardner:An Interview(Dallas: New London Press, 1980), p. i8.
?
Literature,
Volume62, Number4, DecemberI990. Copyright
American
Duke UniversityPress. CCC 0002-983I/90/$I.50.
I990
bythe
Grendel
JohnGardner's
635
heroicidealsofmankindsincethebeginning
and makea casefor
thesevaluesbysetting
up alternatives
inan ironicsetofmonster
values.I hateexistentialism."4
And in anotherinterview
with
JoeDavid Bellamythisexchangeoccurs:
Gardner:In GrendelI wantedto go through
themainideasof West-
ern civilization-which seemed to me about . . . twelve?-and
go
through
themin thevoiceofthemonster
withthestoryalreadytaken
careof,withthevariousphilosophical
attitudes
(thoughwithSartre
in particular)
and see whatI coulddo, see ifI couldbreakout.That's
whatI meantto do.
Bellamy:Do yougo through
all twelvemajorideasin thatbook?
Gardner:It's got twelvechapters.
They'reall hookedto astrological
signs,forinstance,
and thatgivesyouniceeasyclues.5
Here it is obviousthatGardner'sintention
was to examineone
mainidea (heroicideal,value)in eachchapterwithan astrological signservingas a focusforthecontents
of thatchapter.
A passage that indicateseven more clearlywhat Gardner
meansby "mainidea" occursin hisArtof Fictionwhen he is
themodified
discussing
picaresqueplot:"Insteadofthecustomarypicaresquehero,[a writer]
mightuse somemonster
fromthe
fens-the monster
GrendelfromBeowuif,
forinstance-andinsteadof thecustomary
movement
throughthestrataof society,
he mightchoosea listof GreatIdeas of WesternCivilization
(love,heroism,the artisticideal,piety,and so forth)to which
one byone he introduces
hisskeptical
monster.
The structuring
of plotis likelyto be moreinteresting
or lessdependingon the
extentto whichthesequenceraisesquestionsinvolving
thewelfareof thecharacter,
each value,forinstance,
putting
increasing
on themonster's
pressure
skepticism."6
Two questionsnow arise.First,whatspecificheroicideal is
thefocalpointof each chapter?Whatare thetrapsthatattract
and repel the skepticalmonsterwho exclaims,"Twelve is, I
hope,a holynumber.Numberof escapesfromtraps"(p. 8o)?
This is a questionthathas neverbeen tackled.And second,
how exactlydoes theastrological
signin eachchapterpointto a
heroicideal? This,too,has notbeenfullyexplored.
4 "Backstagewith Esquire,"Esquire,October I97I, p. 56.
I The New Fiction: Interviewswith InnovativeAmericanWriters(Urbana: Univ. of
Illinois Press, I974), p. I79.
6 The Artof Fiction(New York: Knopf, I984), p. i66.
AmericanLiterature
636
The mainproblemis thatthezodiacalsigntakenby itselfis
by associclue. David Minughtakesus further
nota sufficient
atingeach signwithits rulingplanetand a house.7Following
theoldersystemof sevenplanets,he baseshis schemaon ConSign,planet,and
stance'shoroscopeas givenby WalterCurry.8
providea clusterof symbolsthatpointin
housetakentogether
in variousways,to theconand relateclosely,
variousdirections
forexample,we have
first
In
the
chapter,
the
chapter.
tentsof
Ariesthe Ram (springseason),ruledby Mars (god of war) in
thefirsthouse,thatof life,theindividualselfand itspotential.
Here Grendelobservesa lasciviousram(emblemof the proliferationof new life),deals out deathin his war withHrothgar,
hisdeath.
and faceshispotential:
bothmocksand pitieshimself,
of
cycle lifeand
He insiststhathe is caughtup in a meaningless
aboutMinugh's
death,yetlongsformeaning.Whatis satisfying
or
schemeis theease withwhichit fitsthetext.No straining
the contentsof each chapter
guessworkis needed to identify
One is, indeed,leftwitha
framework.
withinthe astrological
of
in his manipulation
ingenuity
Gardner's
at
wonder
senseof
in makingthemservethenarrative
at hisartistry
theseelements,
to themselves.
flowwithoutcallingattention
theheroicideal,thetrap
is
do
identify
to
fails
What Minugh
estabUnlessthisis firmly
thatis thefocalpointofeachchapter.
lished,we will be unableto see exactlyhowGardnerhas structuredGrendel'sstory,his progress(rake's?pilgrim's?)around
theexactnatureof his
the wheelof thezodiac,and appreciate
thatthevalues
Gardnerhintedin theBellamyinterview
conflict.
signs."And analysisshowsthat
too are "hookedto astrological
in each chapterthe heroicideal withwhichGrendelis conof the
significations
frontedis indeeddrawnfromwell-known
chapterit is not
associatedsign,planet,or house.So, in thisfirst
enoughto recognizethatGrendel,whilewishingformeaningin
to notewhatheroic
It is important
life,rejectsitas meaningless.
and howhe dealswithit.That valueis life,
idealhe encounters
of thecycleof lifeand death.
thecelebration
or moreprecisely
It requiresimagination
are
themselves
givens.
Life and death
7"John Gardner ConstructsGrendel's Universe,"StockholmStudies in English,46
(1978),
125-41.
8 Chaucerand theMedievalSciences(New York: Barnesand Noble, I960),
p. 176.
JohnGardner's
Grendel
637
and couragetoconnectthemand celebrate
thecycle.Whatpulls
thechaptertogether
is thefuneral
scene.Hrothgar's
people,crematingtheirdead, thevictimsof Grendel'swar,are celebrants
of thecycle.For theyraisetheirvoicesin a songthatbeginsas
a dirgeand then"swells,pushesthroughwoodsand sky,"and
drivesthe "sane"Grendel,ragingat suchlunacy,back intohis
cave(p. 9).
In the Bellamyinterview
Gardnerclaimedthatthe twelve
astrologicalsignsgive "nice easy clues" to his "twelvemajor
ideas."This is particularly
trueforcertainchapters.
In chapter3
thesignis Gemini,theplanetMercury
in thehouseof kindred,
journeys,
and education.The associatedheroicideal is poetry,
art. Mercuryas inventor
of the lyrepointsto the Shaper,exponentof the artisticideal,who givesa senseof nobilityand
destinyto a band of thievesand rogues,all muchalike and so
peers,kindred.(Mercury,
an ambiguousgod,is also thepatron
of liarsand thieves.)In chapter6 thesignis Virgo,the planet
again Mercury,
thistimein his roleas messenger
of the gods,
in the houseof servants,
hardwork,sicknessand health.The
value featuredhereis heroism,to whichUnferth,
the untried
virgin,aspires.Servantof his lord,Hrothgar,he combatsthe
sicknessGrendel'sraidsbringto thekingdom.In chapter7 the
signis Libra,the planetVenusin thehouseof marriage,
partnership,
and,ironically,
enemies.Wealtheow,
undertheaegisof
Venus,becomes,by marriageto Hrothgar,
a pointof balance
betweenenemies,his peopleand hers,and so is the embodimentof self-sacrificial
love.In chapter9 thesignis Sagittarius,
theplanetJupiter
in thehouseofdreams,intellect,
and religion.
The chaptershowsGrendelat gripswithorganizedreligion,
listening
to a priestdiscourseon thenatureof the kingof the
gods. Grendelhimselfis hauntedby religionof anothersort:
dreams,omens,and particularly
the portentof the archerand
thehart.In chapteri i thesignis Aquarius,thehousethatof
friendship,
ideals,and worthycauses.The value is friendship.
Two planetsarefeatured
here:Saturn,deposedkingofthegods,
fromtheoldersystemof sevenplanets,and Uranusfrommodernastrology.
Beowulfcomesoverthewaterin friendship
to the
Danes, Uranusbeingtheplanetof altruismand brotherly
love,
to heraldthepassingoftheold order,Saturn.And in chapterI2
underthesignof theFish,a symbolforChristas savior,Gren-
638
AmericanLiterature
del encounters
Beowulf,championof faith.Here in the house
of privateenemiesand betrayals
Grendelsuffers
affliction.
Here
also two planetspreside:Jupiter
(sky-god)and Neptune(seawhilelooking"down
god). Afterclingingto theoak of Jupiter,
past stars,"Grendelfeelsa "darkpower[Neptune]movingin
him like an ocean current,"
and takesthe imaginative
leap of
faith(p. 152).
Here, as can be recognized,we have touchedon the most
obviousof the "clues."The othersrequirefullercommentary.
Chapter2 is underthesignofTaurus,ruledbytheplanetVenus
in thehouseof fortune
and possessions.
Grendel'smotheris an
her son, whose fortune,
uncouthVenus fiercely
protecting
or
is his existentialist
senseof beingan alien in the
misfortune,
world.But she is not the onlycreatureto care forhim. The
hereis a conservationist,
youngHrothgarpresented
concerned
aboutsavingtreesand horsesand havingGrendelfed.And his
"hairlessskinny"companion"witheyesliketwoholes"has the
to divinequitecorrectly
insightand imagination
not onlythat
Grendeleats pig but also thathe is in a "periodof transition"
in thischapter,
is practical,
(pp. I9-20). Love,thevaluefeatured
caringloveforlivingthings.
The sign Cancer,ruledby the Moon in the houseof trea-
sure,the home, one's roots,pointsto the value of civilization.In
chapter4 the home, the house of treasure,is Hrothgar'sgreat
meadhall,Hart, builtand adornedby craftsmendrawnfromfar
and wide. It is Hart that Cancer the crab symbolizes,for,as
Elizabeth Larsen pointsout, "craband itshome are synonymous
and medieval society,too, was synonymouswith its hall."9 But
Hart is more than a well-appointedhall. It is also "a sign of
gloryand justice,"the emblem of a great,generouscivilization.
Here Hrothgar"would sit and give all treasuresout, all wealth
but the lives of men and the people's land" (p. 40). But, set
under the sign of the inconstantmoon, thiscivilization,like all
others,will wane. And it has its own cancer within it: idyllic
to a man theyhave murdered
young lovers' casual indifference
in the forest.
9 "The CreativeAct: An Analysisof Systemsin Grendel,"in JohnGardner:TrueArt,
Moral Art,ed. BeatriceMendez-Egle (Edinburgh,Tex.: Pan AmericanUniv. School of
Humanities,I983), p. 45.
Grendel
JohnGardner's
639
horriddragon,jealouslyguardinghis treaThe marvellously
chapter.The sign is Leo ruled
sure,appearsin the following
of
children
and childbirth,
hobbies,
by the Sun in the house
the illuminaThe value,knowledge,is particularly
creativity.
tionacquiredfroman oracle,seer,or mentor.Like Odysseus
foradvice but,
and Aeneas,Grendelgoes to the underworld
returns
armoredwithdespairrather
in a chapterof inversions,
thanbewildered
childseekthanhope.Here he is lessmonster
knowledge.But the sun he encountersis
ing enlightenment,
the "blacksun" he sees deep within
a terrifying
nothingness,
the dragon'seye. For, thoughgoldenand fieryas a lion, the
dragon,withhis crackedvoiceand debauchedleer,has none
he is a
of the energyof a trueLeo. (As a character,
however,
embodiment
of evil,themostvividcharacter
Grenwonderful
A nihilist,claimingomniscience,
he sneersat
del encounters.)
of philosophy
theirsystems
thatwill
men's "crackpot
theories,"
neverembrace"total reality"(pp. 55-56). All quests forknowledge are meaninglesssince in the end nothingwill remainbut
a "silentuniverse"(p. 6i). The onlyadvice the dragoncan offer
is: "Know how much you've got and beware of strangers!"
a cynicaldistortionof the Delphic oracle's injunctionto "know
thyself"(p. 63). But how, we may ask in the light,or darkness,
of all this,can pursuitof knowledgebe seen as a value? The
answer lies in the dragon'sattemptto impressGrendel with a
discourseon Time and Space, which,as Craig J.Strommepoints
out,'0consistsof lengthyextractsfromA. N. Whitehead'sModes
of Thought."These passages emphasize processand connecteddismissesas nonsense.
ness,ideas thatthe dragonfundamentally
Gardnerhimself,however,as he told Marshall L. Harvey in an
interview,delightedin Whitehead'sphilosophyand considered
him his mentor,thoughfindinghis styledry.'2So, by havinghis
devil quote scripture,he slylygets in the good word.
The Scorpio episode is anotherthatworks both directlyand
by means of inversion.This sign is ruled by Mars in the older
astrology,by Pluto in the modern system.Mars signifiesvio10 "The Twelve Chaptersof Grendel,"Critique:Studiesin ModernFiction,20, No.i
(1978), 86-87.
11Modesof Thought(New York: Macmillan,1938),pp. 192-94, I19, 28-30, 40.
12 "Where Philosophyand Fiction Meet: An Interviewwith JohnGardner,"Chicago
Review,29 (Spring 1978),74-75.
Literature
Amer-ican
640
lence, while among Pluto's spheresof influenceis the will to
exercisepower and influencethe masses.The house is the inauspicious eighthhouse of fear,death,and inheritances.The value
is loyalty.Hrothgar'streacherousnephewHrothulf,"sweetscorpion" (p. 98), plots to inheritthe kingdomby means of violence
and demagoguery.In sharpcontrastto such treacheryis Hrothgar's loyaltyto his dangerousward and Wealtheow'sloyaltyto
Hrothgar.
Hope is the heroic ideal encounteredin the depths of winter when Saturn reigns.Ruling the sign Capricorn,the planet
moves in the house of kings,career,and conductof life.A goat,
stubbornlycontinuingto climb towardGrendel's mere though
his skull has been split and his mouth smashed by the stones
Grendel hurls at him, is, in his perseverance,a vivid symbol
of hope. He is also a figureforthe Shaper who even in death
provesto be an incorrigiblevisionary-a figure,too, forHrothgar's kingdom, weakened by Grendel's raids. Saturn signifies
that this is the "end of an epoch" (p. I30), while the Shaper's
assistant,singingof the careersof past kings,anticipatesa new
era: "Spring rain dripsdown throughrafters"(p. 129). And, as
Hrothgar'speople perseverein theirdaily tasks,an old woman
predictsto childrenthe coming of Beowulf and so holds out
hope forthe future.
It should be emphasized that the precedingskeletal outline
can only hintat the varied,complex,and subtleways in which
in each chapterto
Gardnerdeploysthe astrologicalsignifications
indicateand explore a heroicideal. But Gardnerachievesmore
than a remarkabletour de force.By associatingheroic ideals
he
withsun, moon, planetsnamed aftergods, and constellations,
gives them an archetypal,mythic,cosmicdimension.For Gardner wants us to apprehendthese ideals as pertainingnot just to
a particulartime and place but to all cyclesof human life.
With the twelvevalues or trapsestablished,we are now in a
betterpositionto appreciateagainstwhat forcesGardnerpitshis
statesto Harvey
monster.Since Gardnerspecifically
existentialist
that he wanted "to presentthe Beowuif monsteras Jean-Paul
Sartre" and that "everythingthat Grendel says Sartre in one
mood or anotherhas said,"'3 some commenton Sartreanexis13
Harvey,p- 75.
JohnGardner's
Grendel
641
Sartreseesthehumanbeingas
tentialism
is calledfor.Basically,
individualconsciousness,
separated,
byvirtueof
being-for-itself,
frombeing-in-itself,
thesolid,non-conscious,
itsconsciousness,
accidentalworld in which being-for-itself
purelycontingent,
experiencesa
being-for-itself
exists.Awareof this separation,
to denyor disguisethe
senseof lack,anguish,butanyattempt
set values and so
individual'sbasic alienationby establishing
givingmana placeand purposein theuniverseis self-delusion,
bad faith.Man is condemnedto be freeto choose his own
force,or
values.To acceptvaluesimposedon himby tradition,
persuasionis to allow himselfto be suckedintoinauthenticity.
anothercan regard
One individualconsciousness
encountering
theotheronlyas an obstacle:"Hell is others."Humanityhas no
In his lack and anguishwhatman longsformost
community.
is to experience
himselfas bothconsciousflowof existenceand
non-conscious
fullnessof being.His desireis, as Hazel Barnes
This is, in
explains,"to be at once a Being-in-itself-for-itself."
effect,
"thedesireto be God,"notmerely"findan existingGod
Butthisis futile.For"God doesnotexist..
outsideourselves."
is
a
useless
'Man
passion.'"14
by Sartre,Gardnerwas repelledby his
Though fascinated
produced by
philosophy.In a PBS televisiondocumentary
Richard.0. Moore,he describedSartre'sphilosophy
as "paraAn episodethat
and egoistic."15
noid and lovelessand faithless
thetensionGardnercreatesbetweenexisperfectly
exemplifies
tentialist
attitudesand heroicidealsoccursearlyin the novel.
Attackedbya bull,theyoungGrendelmakesthebasicexisten"I understood
thatI aloneexist.All therestis
tialistdiscovery:
I create
merelywhatpushesme,or whatI pushagainst,blindly.
afterthis
thewholeuniverse,
blinkbyblink"(p. i6). It is shortly
firstmeets
thatGrendel,alone,loveless,and faithless,
discovery
a community
of men,Hrothgarand his band. They,like soto thenaturalworld.They
calledprimitive
people,areattentive
can divinea spiritin what looks like fungusand tryto take
care of it. To Grendel,alienatedby his paranoia,thisis sheer
his mockinglaughteras hostility
insanity.
Hrothgarinterprets
and respondsby flinging
an ax at him.What is important
in
14Sartre (London: QuartetBooks, 1974), p. 45.
-5The Originals:The Writer
in America,3 AprilI978.
642
AmericanLiterature
thisepisode is the contrastbetweenthe monster's
existentialist egoismand the capacityof humanbeings,althoughflawed
and limited,to makeimaginative
connections.
Recognizing
that
Grendelwantspig,the skinnyman smiles"as if a holyvision
had explodedin his head"(p. 20).
It is thisabilityto make imaginative
connections
thatis at
the core of all twelveof the heroicideals.For each involvesa
generousmovement
beyondthe self,the individualconsciousness,towardsomeoneor something
else. (The medievalselfimprovement
virtuesofchastity,
poverty,
andobedience,and the
puritanical
self-improvement
virtuesofhygiene,
thrift,
and diligencedo not figurein Gardner'slist.)Generosity,
as we have
seen,is a vitalelementin Hrothgar's
dreamof a gloriouscivilization.Hope is an imaginative
out towardthefuture.
reaching
True knowledge,as exemplified
forGardnerby Whitehead's
philosophy,
emphasizesa connectedness
betweenthe worldas
one and the worldas many:"Importance
is derivedfromthe
immanenceof infinitude
in the finite"(p. 58). If Unferthis
a lesserherothanBeowulfit is becauseUnferthis concerned
about himself,his heroicposture,how he looks to himselfas
hero,whereasBeowulfis a heroforothers.The veryessence
of artisticendeavoris the makingof imaginative
connections.
Inspiring,
sustaining,
all heroicidealsis the Shaper,
celebrating
Beowulf'sscop,who has a Blakeancapacityforholyvision.For
he is "moved by somethingbeyond his power,"so his "words
madea visionwithoutseams,an imageof himselfyetnothimself" (p. 42). It is thisvisionof connectedness
thatGrendel,
as Sartreanexistentialist,
his
thrusting individualconsciousness
againsttheopacityof theworldand others,cannotaccept.
is no meremouthpiece
Grendel,however,
forSartreanexistentialism
and certainly
notfornihilism.(Here we shouldnote
that,in Gardner'sview,Sartre'scontention
thatmanis a useless
passion-and thisis thegistof thedragon'smessage-leads to
nihilism.)
Thoughone partofGrendelseesheroicidealsas traps
setto catchhis individualconsciousness,
anotherpartof himis
stirredby the imaginative
visionof the selfas connectedwith
otherand largerthantheself.This innerconflict
something
is
sustainedrightto theend of thenovel.Evenafterhis interview
withthe dragon,Grendel,in spiteof his doubts,continuesto
be particularly
to Wealtheowand the Shaper.He
susceptible
Grendel
JohnGardner's
643
does notcommit"theultimate
actofnihilism."
He does notkill
the queen (p. 8i). Nor does he kill theShaper,thoughgrowlthathe shouldhavedone so. And he spares
ing in retrospect
the womanthe Shaperhas loved,an olderand less beautiful
Wealtheowfigure.So Grendelleaveslove intact.And poetry,
as Susan Strehlehas shown,he himselfbeginsto practice.'6
All
chaptersfromchapter7 on, withone exception,
containsome
exampleof Grendel'spoetictalent.To Strehle'sobservations
mightbe added the pointthat"brachiating
witha hoot from
rhymeto rhyme,"
Grendelconsciously,
thoughwithaccustomed
irony,reachesout to elementsin naturethathe,as a practicing
existentialist,
wouldregardas inanimate:
0 hearme,
You imagineI tell
rocksand trees,loud waterfalls!
you thesethingsto hearmyself
speak?A little
and sisters!(P. 97)
respectthere,brothers
His cynicismundercutby desireforbelief,Grendelsuffers
the anguishof being"two-headed"
(p. 37). The linesthatbest
exemplify
thisambivalence
occurat thebeginning
of chapter7
(Libra), where,halfwaythroughthe zodiacal cycle,halfway
throughGrendel'snarration,
midwaythroughthe twelfth
year
ofhiswar,we areat a pointofbalance."Balance,"he announces,
is everything,
ridingouttimelikea helmlesssheepboat,
keelto
hellward,mastuprearedto prickout heaven'seye."He follows
thiswith"He he!" to showthathe is quiteawarethathe has
tippedthebalancein favorofnihilism,
thenqualifieshiscynical
cacklewith"(Sigh)"(p. 79).
This ambivalenceis maintained
througheverychaptereven
when Grendelis at his mostmockingor vicious.Unferth,
the
would-behero,is easyprey,butGrendelsuspectseven
braggart
him of beingcapableof laughing"at thebottomless
depthsof
mystupidity"
(p. 76).Whileviciously
rejoicing
in Hrothulf'sintendedtreachery,
he also,through
hiscompassionate
albeitironic
of himselfwithHrothgar,
identification
showsan understandingof loyalty.
Thoughcontemptuous
of priestsas functionaries
of organizedreligion,
Grendelexperiences
a certainawe at old
16 "JohnGardner's Novels: Affirmation
and the Alien," Critique:Studiesin Modern
Fiction,I8, No. 2 (1976), 93.
644
AmericanLiterature
utterances.
Ork's depthof feelingas he keenshis neo-Platonic
And he himselfis awareof thingsin theexternalworldas sigtheangelwingsthechilbeyondthemselves:
something
nifying
drenmakein thesnow,thehart'santlers"likewings,filledwith
light"(p. i io). Thoughhe maydefyhopebystonotherworldly
continues
to heeddreams
ingthegoatto death,Grendelhimself
forsomething
expectation"
waiting"withrestless
and portents,
not
existentialist
awareness,
tells
Intuition,
130).
to happen(p.
it"
himthat"theonlywayoutofthedreamis downand through
with
(p. I09). Whathe is waitingforis,ofcourse,theencounter
topithis"I aloneexist"(p. 138) against
Beowulf,theopportunity
the "lunaticvision"of a championof faith.Finally,defeated
in himclaims,stubbornly
as theexistentialist
by an "accident,"
thatdarknessis the
maintaining
defiantly
clingingto skepticism,
he does, however,at the
onlyrealityhe has everunderstood,
visionofconnectedness,
verypointofdeath,havean imaginative
greaterthan
himselfas himselfbutalso something
experiences
feeling
blackness,
himself:"I look down,down,intobottomless
some
monin
me
like
an
ocean
current,
thedarkpowermoving
sterinsideme, deep sea wonder,dreadnightmonarchastirin
tumbleintodeath"
his cave,movingme slowlyto myvoluntary
words:
"Grendelbeginsto ap(p. I52).'7 And so, in Gardner's
lifeand death,hisowndeath"and
prehendthewholeuniverse:
becomestheShaper's"realsuccessor."'8
thatGrendelhas a mystiIt is notjustat hisdeath,however,
cal experience.In thefirstchapterwe see himpoisedabovean
byhisown
defianceat thechasmsand startled
abyss,screaming
at thesoundof myown hugevoicein
defiance:"I am terrified
thedarkness.I standthereshakingfromheadto foot,movedto
thedeep-seadepthsof mybeing,likea creaturewho has been
(p. 5). Here too he has the
thrownintoaudiencewiththunder"
himself
and more
ofbeing,paradoxically,
experience
imaginative
all in
Leviathan
of
and
thinks
Job,
Jehovah,
thanhimself-one
and fullone. In Grendel'ssenseofbeingbothflowofexistence
in thefirst
nessofbeing,especially
passagequoted,we recognize
of
Gardner'sresponseto Sartre'sclaimas to the impossibility
achievingBeing-in-itself-for-itself.
17
18
Gardnerelaborateson thispassage in On Becominga Novelist,pp.
Bellamy,pp. I79-80.
57-60.
Grendel
JohnGardner's
645
visionuntil
Grendeldoesnotyieldtoimaginative
If,however,
the momentof his death,it is not onlybecausehe, earlyin
stanceand was therefore
particulife,adoptedan existentialist
to thedragon.It is also becausehis experience
larlysusceptible
theriseand fallof Hrothof a cycleof history,
and observation
him
to
lead
questionheroicideals.Or, to put it
gar'skingdom,
to
makehimreluctant
and observation
anotherway,experience
and nihilism.
abandonexistentialism
love,maybe
self-sacrificial
Love,he notes,evenWealtheow's
on creaturesforthe
imprinted
seen as merebiologicalinstinct
of thespecies.The bullin chapter2 attacksGrenpreservation
del in defenseof a calfthatmaynotevenbe his.And Grendel
drawsa "grimparallel"betweenWealtheowand his
expressly
creature,
eyeson
carp-toothed
humpbacked,
"horrible,
mother,
firewithuseless,mindlesslove"(p. 88). Also kithand kinmay
oftheself:"even
butas extensions
be valuednotforthemselves
my mama lovesme, not formyselfbut formy son-ness,my
of air as visibleproofof her
my displacement
possessedness,
power"(p. 138). Hrothgar's
be conservationbandmayinitially
and viciously
ists,butit is notlongbeforewe see themwantonly
forest
and animals.It is bymeansofsuchdestruction
destroying
is built:"The moorstheiraxes had
civilization
thatHrothgar's
trees
silver
in themoonlight,
and theyellow
glowed
strippedof
jewelson the ravenlightsof peasanthutswerelike scattered
dark cloak of a king"(p. 37). Turningviolentdeeds to golden
of Hrothphrases,the Shaperindeedlies. And his celebration
gar'scivilizationat harvesttimeis merecomplacentjingoism:
"Here alone in all the worldmen werefreeand heroeswere
braveand virginswerevirgins"(p. 67). Is thereanydisproving
thedragon'scontention
thatall humanendeavoris onlya "brief
(p. 63)?
pulsationin theblackholeofeternity"
Heroismis arguablyall vainglorious
strutand posture,conto serve.By
cernedwithitselfratherthanthepeopleit purports
exposes
her
Grendel
legs
apart,
seizingWealtheowand pulling
heras merelya bare,forkedanimal,theSartrein himgloating
withdisgustovertheobscenity
oftheflesh.Love is justanother
may
instinct:sexuality.Hrothulf'smain motivefordisloyalty
can also spellunthinkbe personalambition.But surelyloyalty
ing acceptanceof an unjustregime?Religionis mostlyempty
selfhypocritical,
the preserveof narrow-minded,
convention,
646
Amer-ican
Literature
of an
gush,the"sweetfantasy"
regarding
clerics,or sentimental
"overflowing
withmeadbowljoy"(p. i I 8). Can mindenthusiast
to climb,
or habit,the goat'sblinddetermination
less instinct
peoplegoingon withtheirdailylivesbe valuedas hope? And
the Danes thawingto
be mereexpediency,
cannotfriendship
Again and again
Beowulfand the Geats out of self-interest?
alliancesare depictedas expedientand fragile.In the lightof
of
Grendel'sand ours,faithand celebration
such experiences,
withabsurdities.
To bethecycleof lifeand deathare fraught
to fosterillusion,or,in
lievein heroicidealsis to be dishonest,
Sartreanterms,to be guiltyofbad faith.
traditional
idealsas thesaving
Gardner'svervein presenting
who hypocritically
procreatures,
fictionsof pattern-making
when
themselves
they
largerthan
claimallegianceto something
or greed,is suchthatGrendelhas
are actuallydrivenbyinstinct
oftenbeen readas an attackon thevalueshe wishedto affirm.
it is becauseGardnergives
But iffinallythenovelhas validity,
and evil. Thus the
fullweightto our experienceof absurdity
youngpriestwho squeals: "The godsmadethisworldfor our
becausehe has notfacedup to the
joy!" (p. I2 I) lacksauthority
historical
and dailyevidencethatchallengeshis facile
sickening
of joy
optimism.If Grendelfinallycomesto an understanding
terrible
as partofsomething
and
in theapprehension
of himself
withgood reason,theblackest
holy,it is onlyafterexperiencing,
pessimism.
What Gardnerachievesthenis to presentwithinthe frameworkof theever-recurring
zodiacalcyclewithitsmythicresoof
modern
man,consciousof the past.
nancesthe predicament
to manyof thephiloFor in Grendelallusionsabound,pointing
the
and politicalideas thathaveinfluenced
sophical,religious,
theriseand fallofHrothWitnessing
courseofWestern
history.
theRomanEmwe thinkof Greekcivilization,
gar'skingdom,
and do not
Republic,
pire,theBritishEmpire,and theAmerican
alwaysrejoice.Againandagainheroicidealshavebeenbetrayed.
in the nameof
Such a multitudeof sinshavebeen committed
in particular,
thatwe havebegunto relish
loyaltyand religion,
of piouslypreachedtraditional
cynicalnihilism,thedebunking
whichviewstheseidealsas hypoideals.Sartreanexistentialism,
and
individualconsciousness,
criticalconventions
trammelling
whichinsistson our freedomto createour own values,appeals
Grendel
JohnGardner's
647
to the individualist
in us all. But forall thatwe cannotdeny
whatIris Murdochcalls "thepowerof our inherited
collective
view of the world."'9Somewherein our cavernousheartsthe
old heroicidealscontinueto hauntand illumineus. Grendel's
conflict,
as he holdsfastto skepticism
yetswaystowardvision,
turning
and twisting
betweenmockery
and anguish,poetryand
black humor,continually
ironizinghis ironies,is our own as
inhabitants
of thetwentieth
century.
19Sartre:RomanticRationalist(New York:Viking,}987), p. i28.