Summing Up The Monsters

Throughout this course, we have covered different types of monsters. We have looked at Grendel and his mother, Dracula and his vampiresses, and the Dead Until Dark vampires from various pieces of literature. All of these monsters can fall under the categories of either being "overt" or being "subtle" monsters. Overt monsters are clearly monstrous in their actions, personality, appearance, or any combination of the three. Zombies, ogres, wyverns, cockatrices, and griffins are typical examples of overt monsters as the treat they pose is direct and confrontational. Subtle monsters have their true nature hidden by some mechanism such as a charismatic nature or supernatural ability. Creatures like vampires, hone-onna, werewolves, sirens, and changelings are all subtle monsters because their modus operandi or their powers have them remain hidden from humans. The monsters we have looked at in our class all fall under one or both of these categories.

From Beowulf, we have Grendel and Grendel's mother. Grendel is very clearly an overt monster. He invades Heirot multiple times without much regard to stealth and kills many of the inhabitants of Hrothgar's lands. He additionally lacks any ability to change what the humans perception of him is, therefore making him unqualified for being a subtle monster. His mother differs from him in this regard, as she displays the qualities of both overt and subtle monsters. She is capable of nearly overpowering Beowulf and does not use any sort of supernatural ability to combat him, qualifying her for being an overt monster. However, she utilizes stealth in order to infiltrate Heirot, so she also can be considered a subtle monster. This dual-nature she has can also be seen in the vampires we read about.

Vampires, while primarily subtle, can be simultaneously considered as overt monsters depending on the individual. Dracula, for instance, is both overt and subtle as he is capable of feats of superhuman strength and physically attack the Van Helsing group while also suddenly disappearing and reappearing through various means and influencing the minds of humans. These abilities also are shown by the other vampires in the novel. Dracula himself displays an interesting shift throughout the titular novel as he starts out being an overt monster and then shifts into a mix of an over and a subtle monster when he arrives in England, which is followed by him becoming a subtle monster as he is fleeing back to his castle only to revert into being a mix during his final hours. In contrast, the vampires of the Dead Until Dark universe are primarily subtle, as their "glamour" ability allows them to manipulate the minds of people and that they are virtually physically indistinguishable from humans. There are instances were these vampires are overt, as seen with various instances of superhuman feats from characters like Bill, but these instances are only situational.

While there are monsters that are explicitly in either the overt or subtle categories, there are also certain monsters and individuals that fall into both categories. This ambivalence reflects the duality of the monstrous characters we have viewed, as it follows the "There are two sides to every coin" idiom.

Mommy Dearest - Haley Aguilar

 Grendel and his mother’s relationship is clearly one of staggering co-dependence. Early in the novel, the audience is able to see Grendel’s childlike love and dependence for his mom. When he is stuck in the tree with the bull charging at him his first instinct is to call out to his mother he sobs “Mama! Waa! Waa!” (Gardner 18). His innocence is shattered when she doesn’t come immediately to his aid and his perception of his mother begins to change. Because he is telling his story from a narrator’s perspective the audience is able to see how he perceived his own actions and describes his progression from child to adolescent to young adult. Grendel is an intelligent being telling a story with hindsight which as the saying goes is 20/20. He looks back at times of vulnerability, both physical and emotional and adds a tone of insincerity to every emotion and compromising position he finds himself in. this is a way of preserving his image to the outside world because no revered monster shows a weakness of any kind.

   The way that Grendel describes his mother even when remembering a time that he loved her with his whole heart, is demeaning.  He describes her in a way that if it was applied to humans, even in a textual form would receive heavy backlash, but because she is a monster people pose no argument. Describing monsters can go multiple ways, they can be outstandingly beautiful and charming or they can be disgusting and vile and either way, it is accepted that they are a monster. Considering this, why did Grendel’s mother have to be made into a horrendous, dirty being when in the original Beowulf poem, she is not described in such awful ways? It is easier to hate a monster that is perceived to be the very definition of the word in appearance rather than just another average looking creature who falls into the category because of their actions.

  How much of this is actually Grendel compared to the influence of the author and his misogynistic views? Because of the 1970s influence, it is easy to assume that Gardner had his own set of views that influenced Grendel’s perspectives. His demeaning views of women could have been passed from himself to his monster. It is easy for influence to creep into writing, especially when the influence is so predominant in that culture.

  Grendel and his mother have a desperate connection that is facing the precipice of disaster due to his mother's lack of speech but undying want for her and Grendel to be together. It is her sense of loyalty that ensures that Grendel keeps coming back despite his growing hatred for his mother. He sees her as not a monster, rather as a disgusting being that he feels responsible for which is illuminated in the way that he describes her as a childlike creature, he sees her for all of her weaknesses. What began as idle indifference is slowly becoming silent hatred because Grendel feels like his mom is an anchor that reminds him of the worst parts of himself.

Women Have Periods?

I have decided to share a fun and unknown fact with everyone- Women. Have. Periods. I know, truly a shocker.

From Grendel, we know that women have always had these dreaded things known as periods. Towards the end of the novel, we see Grendel open the legs of Wealtheow and place her over a fire, but he immediately notices the "ugly hole" between her legs and releases her. You would think that this would no long be a problem now, and no one is no longer disgusted by the natural processes of all women. Wrong. To this day many men STILL can not handle the idea of a period. So have we actually changed? I have chosen to compare the way women’s bodies are described in Grendel versus the way society reacts to them today.

In Grendel, the first woman described is Grendel’s own mother. But it is far from a pleasant description. He often uses words such as pitiful, confused, ugly, and fat. However, he completely relies on this women. When he is close to death or when he is attacked in a tree, he calls out for her. He despises her, but fully understands her power and love for him. This is then contrasted with Wealtheow, who in my opinion is Grendel’s secret crush. He falls for her upon first sight. Attracted by her red hair and ability to dominate the room, Grendel goes out into the night and searches for her. This is all destroyed when he finds out she has periods. After that moment, Grendel never returns to her bedside and stops describing her physical attributes. How could he ever like a woman who BLEEDS?

Unfortunately, this is extremely similar to today’s world. As we discussed in class, even in advertisement that promote feminine hygiene, red liquid is not used. God forbid we actually use a fluid that resembles what the product is used for. We must make sure that men are unaware that the average woman bleeds once a month. It is also important to note that in films or novels, the idea of a period is rarely brought up if at all. Unless the character is potentially pregnant, then we ignore the fact that periods even exist. In many novels and movies, women now only serve one role. Sex. Let’s talk about Angelina Jolie. After reading both Beowulf and Grendel, I can honestly say I would have never pictured Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother. But there she is. In fully sexual glory.

Do you think this woman has periods? She seems too perfect to have such a terrible thing happen to her. But yet, she is still a woman.

The view towards natural processes of a women haven’t changed. I would love to announce that we live in a world where we no longer hide the fact that we bleed and can use red liquid in a commercial, but I can not. So, while the time of Grendel and Beowulf appear to be extremely different than today’s world, we must ask- is it really?

From Horrible Beast to Tragic Upbringing by Habib Oulahna

            Monsters have always existed since the beginning of Human history. Even today, monsters can play a critical role in the way a story is shaped and develop. Yet one thing has changed of the course of history in our depictions of monsters, where before they were nothing more then mindless beasts that did evil for evils sake, or simply being demons, monster in our modern context have become more sympathetic figures in recent literature, films, and other media.

            In Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as nothing more then a hellish beast that seeks to eat men for no reason given other than that he is a monster. Grendel in Beowulf simply kills men and then dies, without the reader every knowing what made him kill these men. In John Gardner’s Grendel, released in 1971, we are given a better understanding of where Grendel came from. His lack of communication with anyone and how it has made him feel lonely, how he speaks with the dragon and Grendel develops this world view of everything being nothing but chaos. With the context from the novel, Grendel becomes a more understandable, and in a way, sympathetic character.

            In the film Aliens, the monsters only have one collective goal, to breed and spread their species. What makes the aliens scary is how they have no sympathy or empathy for any other being, they are all a hive-mind that have one singular goal. Aliens in the early eras of sci-fi novels, and films often had no ulterior motive other than to invade or control us humans, however recent films and books have began to portray aliens like us. E.T, portrays the alien as a simple child like being that just want to learn via his experiences and surroundings and return home, he has no ulterior motives to conquer and enslave humanity, he just wants to go home. E.T’s simple goal helps to build a relatable and sympathetic character, as everyone can relate to the goal of going home, to be with your family again. Another example is Avatar, with the Navi. IN the beginning of the film we focus on the human perspective, with the goal of being to cut down a tree to gather valuable resources, with the Navi being portrayed as savages and murderers for the first portion of the film. However, later the focus shifts to the Navi perspective and we see why they protect the tree, they have reasons other than being simple Hollywood alien monsters. They are shown as a simple people that just want there home to be left alone and to live on in peace. The message of environmental protectors also plays a role in our modern society as more and more people became concerned with the future of the environment on earth, like how the Navi wish to protect their natural environment from massive de-logging and mineral extraction.

            Monsters in modern film and literature have changed to be sympathetic, but the main question is why. I believe it is because of the growth of humanity and its world view. Grendel served as a perfect monster for the time, where humanity lived in small areas and as small tribes, but as we have become more and more connected we release that all problems could be solved of we work to aid our fellow human. Another reason is that our literature skills have grown, and monsters that are evil for evils sake don’t really elicit a reaction anymore. Now monsters and villains need to be rounded and have proper motivation otherwise the story is simply boring.

Gabby Walley Blog 1

Gabby Walley Blog 1

Growing up, my sister and I would hear my parents audibly fighting all throughout the day every day; I did not think anything of it, however, since it was the only family situation I had ever known. The first time I found out that not all families fight like mine was when a friend came over and mentioned how weird it was that my parents were fighting in public. The problem was that I had never known anything different so fighting was my normal. Much like this, Grendel was raised on the idea that violence and killing were normal, since his mother took part in such practices, so he had no reason to believe that he was wrong in his actions. The book eludes to the idea that Grendel might have human-like emotions, they just do not function the way we would think. Grendel talks about how after he began his mass raids of mead-halls he laughed on the outside but still felt trapped inside of himself, “hollow as a rotten tree” (Gardner 81). It’s almost as if Grendel has two personalities battling inside of him. Much like a devil and an angel on his shoulder, Grendel’s instincts and subconscious are telling him to kill, but his emotions and mind are telling him killing and hurting people is wrong. After this, we watched Grendel evolve over the course of the book to become more aware of his actions and how they may, in fact, be wrong. For example, when Grendel was thinking about raiding the mead-hall the idea of how people would shriek when they saw him made him smile, but he held back. When he did not raid the mead-hall, however, he felt himself “tightening, cross, growing restless for no reason” because he had never been aware enough of what he was doing to stop himself (Gardner 50). Grendel faces an internal battle between the angel and the devil on his shoulder throughout the rest of the novel. Since this sense of right and wrong are new found, Grendel is apt to believe that it is a bad thing. Much like anyone, Grendel is not open to change at the beginning, and he ignores his emotions and kills people anyway. 

In addition, Grendel is depicted as an ugly merciless killer, in the novel Beowulf, and so the reader is inclined to dislike Grendel and all he stands for. In this version of the story, however, Grendel is a much easier character to identify with and root for because he is given human emotions. People, whether they like it or not, identify with characters that they feel embody and resemble them. With the story being told from Grendel’s perspective where we can understand his motives and emotions, we as readers are more apt to sympathize with him. Also, the fact that Grendel has human-like emotions leads the reader to believe he is more like “us” and that we should trust him. Even though Grendel portrays the worst aspects of humans, those aspects are still there and that is what the reader focuses on. 

Monsters and their Sympahties -- Meda Wright

In older texts, monsters are just monsters. They don't have complex motivations, they just do things mindlessly, like a wolf hunting a deer. The wolf isn't malicious towards the deer, or has any kind of ulterior motive for killing the deer--he needs to eat, and the deer is prey. Much is the same for monsters and humans--the monster kills the human because he is a monster and they are a human, not out of any sort of revenge. However, one-dimensional villains like this can be...boring. Sure yes, they're killing people--oh no! But modern audiences want to know why they're killing people. "It's their nature" is no longer a viable reason.

                Beowulf, one of the oldest stories written down in the English language, has monsters that are monsters for the sake of being monsters. Grendel, the first monster, has no real motive to kill the inhabitants of Herot than “they’re loud”. His mother has a more compelling reason to kill the people, being that they killed her son. But she was killing people long before they killed her son—the death of Grendel was just a reason to invade the hall itself. The dragon, the very last monster fought, was only doing typical dragon things. Protecting its hoard, stealing, and burning down towns. He doesn’t have complex motivations for what he does. It all really boils down to “he’s a dragon.” Dragons hoard things, and don’t appreciate being stolen from. They kill people much the same as a person kills a mosquito—they’re annoying pests that are better off dead.

                It’s no wonder that in modern adaptations of Beowulf, with audiences’ changing expectations of monsters, they changed up the motivations of the monsters in the ancient story. Grendel’s mother has an interesting bastardization—in two separate film adaptations, she’s turned into a strangely sexy antagonist, seducing the heroes as they attempt to kill her. In the two film adaptations we covered in class, she had seduced Hrothgrar, and Grendel was their son. I suppose it was something added for shock value, to make the story seem more fleshed out. It really only served as a “???” moment, but was certainly a surprise. In these stories, she’s a dangerous seductress, breeding monsters and influencing kings. In John Gardner’s Grendel, however, she is nearly the opposite. A speechless creature, the only real things she says are “dool-dool” and “warovvish”. She has any real power stripped away from her, and Grendel himself compares her to a child.

                Grendel himself has his motivations changed, as well. In the animated film, his motivations are much the same as the original story—he has sensitive ears, and the loud sounds of the mead hall aggravate them. He is still a monster in a sense, and it his mother who becomes the dangerous seductress. In the Gardner novel, however, he has a significant change of character. He isn’t a mindless beast, acting on impulse to destroy the noise that’s bothering him. He is intentionally malicious—edged on by the dragon, he becomes the monster the humans see him as.

Guardian Dragons

Guardian Dragons by Griffin Cadigan

In Grendel by John Gardner, the Dragon that Grendel encounters is found in a large cave full of treasure. The Dragon converses with Grendel in an attempt to convince the smaller monster to follow the dragon's ideology. This portrayal of the Dragon reflects a common motifs of dragons picking a location and guarding something valuable while there and of dragons conversing with those who enter their lair. Some of the more prominent examples that come to mind are Smaug from the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Fafnir in Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelungs, and Durnehviir from Bethesda Game Studios' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dawnguard. All four dragons guard something of great value and all aid the protagonist in their conversations.

Smaug is the primary antagonist in The Hobbit, as his occupancy in Erebor is what drives the dwarven company to venture into the Lonely Mountain to take back their kingdom. When Smaug appears to Bilbo Baggins, he is lazing about in his stolen treasure. When the hobbit accidentally awakens the drake, Smaug engages in conversation with Bilbo while trying to find the burglar. In doing so, he is able to figure out Bilbo's purpose and flies off to destroy the neighboring Lake-town in a furious rage. Smaug is shown to be closely guarding his horde of treasure, including the Arkenstone, in a manner similar to the Dragon in Grendel. Both are well-spoken and intelligent, as seen in their dialogue, and are very powerful. They both also are guarding a hoard of treasure that they collected from their conquests. While the Dragon talks of nihilism and a fatalistic point of view while remaining casual with Grendel, Smaug arrogantly boasts of his deeds and strength while maintaining a somewhat formal tone with Bilbo. Smaug in the film also mentions the corrupting influence the wealth has, which foreshadows to Bilbo the greed that Thorin would be overcome near the end of the film trilogy.

Fafnir in Der Ring des Nibelungen, specifically the Siegfried portion, is characterized by his immense greed and ferocity that he guards his treasure with. Here, there is a similarity between Fafnir and Smaug. Fafnir's greed was so great that he slew his own brother in order to horde the treasure that was given to the two by the gods. While he does converse with Siegfried after the son of Sigmund has defeated him, Fafnir only tells him that Siegfried should beware of betrayal before dying. These final words reflect not only what Siegfried will encounter shortly after slaying Fafnir, but also the fate will eventually befall the warrior.

Durnehviir from The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim is much different than the above-mentioned examples. This dragon is found in a place called the Soul Cairn, a plane filled with captured souls. In the past, Durnehviir struck a deal with the rulers of the Soul Cairn in order to gain necromantic magic in order to prove his superiority over other dragons. However, his greediness over maintaining his territory and strength led to his downfall as he had been tricked by the Ideal Masters, the Soul Cairn's rulers; being forced into servitude under them. The only way to be released from his service was to kill Valerica, a woman who who sought shelter in the Soul Cairn. Valerica, however, is a vampire, and therefore was not alive to begin with. Forced to be the vampiress' jailer, Durnehviir eventually is bound to the realm and can no longer return to Tamriel for extended periods of time. Durnehviir is respectful to the Dragonborn after being bested in combat by them during the latter's quest to retrieve a scroll from Valerica and offers to teach them a magical shout in exchange for temporarily summoning the dragon to aid in battle. Durnehviir is interesting to compare and contrast with the other dragons. Like the Dragon and Smaug to an extent, he is affable to the protagonist. He also guards something valuable in the story. However, unlike the other examples, Durnehviir does not want to guard the Soul Cairn, he wants to be free of his burden and be able to fly in the skies of Tamriel once more.