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| Grendel |
Society can be so quick to judge and ridicule someone in their first glance. Two creatures who experienced the harshness of society were the outsiders of their stories, Grendel and Shrek.
Grendel, the main character of John Gardner's novel titled Grendel was never given a chance. Grendel progressed through life as an isolated creature away from the human population until his fascination with observing the humans in the meadhall led to his chaotic and monstrous persona. Grendel did not want to be a villian, but the bigoted Danes who did not give Grendel a chance to be good caused for him to defend himself. Grendel was described as looking like a large bearlike monster, and his appearance, strength, and "monstrous" qualities led to his automatic rejection.
A character which experienced the harshness of society similar to Grendel was Shrek, from DreamWorks Animations's movie titled Shrek. Shrek was a green ogre that enjoyed the dirty and grimy atmosphere of his native swamp. Due to his isolated lifestyle and mysteriousness, people of the surrounding Kingdoms labeled him as an enemy. What they do not understand is that Shrek has no intentions of harming anyone because he possesses a kind heart under his tough exterior. The main struggle that Shrek experiences because of society's rejections is his difficulty in trying to marry Princess Fiona. Society and the King are very reluctant to allow for their courtship to proceed because of the judgements placed upon the green ogre. Due to his rejection, Shrek must face complications throughout his pursuit for love.
Altogether, these misunderstood creatures were both used by their persecutioners as a basis for what they are "better than." Throughout life, people search for someone or something which they can target and compare to themselves in order to make them feel better. This is a human tendency which has occured many instances throughout history. This tendency was the reason for the Holocaust, slavery, and prejudice of all sorts. I believe that the society's failure to understand the creatures before they judged them was terrible, however I consider this tendency as being realistic therefore making the stories more relatable to real life.
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| Shrek |
