Another theme in this story is the theme of men versus monsters. This theme comes to light when Grendel is described. Even in Chapter 1, it is made known that Grendel is going to be a monster. He is called the “enemy of mankind” (29) and rightly so. That automatically makes the reader see him as a completely evil character.
I personally believed that Creon had the most moral conflict. He was very cruel and selfish. Ismene and Antigone’s conflict fell more towards whether it was right or wrong to follow the god’s word or the ruler’s word. On pages 1070 and 1071 in our textbook, Antigone and Ismene discuss burying their brother that Creon has sworn no one should bury him. That is the beginning of all the moral conflict throughout this entire story.
Cain related back to hell and all that is evil, so immediately one may think that Grendel is this evil character due to his heritage. However, he is a misunderstood character who was not given the benefit of the doubt. In the eyes of man, Grendel is an evil monster banished from man’s society, who is now forced to live and see the world in a different perspective. Grendel attempted to fit into man’s world. Though, man’s world is a harsh and judgmental society.
Another aspect that is interesting is the turn in behavior for the monster. Perhaps the best quote to represent this idea comes from the actualization of the monster to himself in front of Victor’s dead body “My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love...it did not endure the violence of change without torture” showing how evil nature overcomes the good nature in human beings (Shelly, 158). Initially the monster is very amicable, however, due to continuous rejection, he seeks revenge upon all human beings. Is Shelly saying that even though even nature is good, evil eventually overcomes this good nature? Or Is Shelly saying that human nature is bad and full of rejection and isolation?
In fact, it could be said that he in fact is a tabular rasa with which Shelley encourages the deliberation on the established order inherently flawed from within. He calls it ‘the strange system of human society’ where a ‘man so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent’ can become ‘yet so vicious and base.’ This defined as ‘Monster’ is so far from ethically repugnant and psychologically revolting that he ‘could not conceive how one man could go forth to murder his fellow.’ It could also be argued that there isn’t really an answer. The bizarre connexion between Frankenstein and his creation has been given the term a ‘doppelganger effect’, where
“Am I to be thought the only criminal when all human kind has sinned against me?” As a creator, Victor Frankenstein abandons his creature, and neglects him in ways a creator shouldn’t. This shapes his identity and shows that he is in fact monstrous in the way he acts towards the creature. He quotes in the book “He showed unparalleled malignity and selfishness in evil”; this is quiet an ironic quote Mary Shelley has used, as Victor is in fact the evil and egotistical being between the two. The use of emotive language as the Creature tells his story, allows the reader to feel sympathy for the creature. We begin to realize the true identity of the creature, and how it is more humane then humanity itself.
In contrasr to Beowulf, Grendel is envious, resentful, and angry toward all human kind for the fact that he feels as thou God blesses all b ut the ogre he is, and thinks he could never be blessed. Although Grendel's feautures are like a common man having two arms, two legs, one head, etc. he is very much larger than an average male and can defeat many at a time. His magic charm is his source of protection from weapons. After a defeated battle Grendel is known for devouring the deceased body off the spot or carries others back to where he resides and shares feast with his mother.
But have you ever thought of an evil doer to be just someone who messes with your thoughts and emotions? Most of us would answer no, but by reading the Scarlet Letter we see a truly evil man. His name is Chillingworth. He is an example of how one can be truly dastardly without physically harming somebody personally. From the beginning of the story we sense that Hawthorne emphasizes the deformed man in the crowd.
They never really got along, however he continues in the text saying that after his father’s death he began to contemplate and wonder why this was. He came to the retaliation that his father was very paranoid even with his own family. Before his death, he stopped eating food from his family because he believed they were trying to poison him. The rest of his essay speaks of the harsh society during the era of the civil rights movement. His father despised white people and barely ever trusted any of them, which was the stem of his paranoia.
He kills for the pleasure of killing, with no respect for human life. He is a tyrant because of his bullying ways, and want for power. He conquers whenever possible, and crushes his enemies beneath his feet. He holds all power in his hands. Prince Humperdinck is not someone mess with.