My initial thoughts about chapter 5 in John Gardner's novel Grendel- when he goes on his trip to meet the dragon. I had to put down my tea and set aside my shortbread cookies while reading this one.
First off, Grendel is woken from his slumber by some sort of mysterious presence, sort of like a call to adventure in a hero's journey, and he comes upon a fright-inducing, seemingly insane dragon. The fierce description, including "eyes not firey but cold as the memory of family deaths" , would make anyone tremble- and the self- pitying, despair bringing beast Grendel is no exception (57 Gardner). He stands frightened with his hands in front of him like a rabbit, forced to listen to the dragon's malicious laughter and what seems to be a madman's ramblings.
This chapter can be very confusing and I spent a long while trying to figure out what the dragon was saying to Grendel in his long wordy paragraphs- but then the thought occurred to me: "what if we're not supposed to understand?" I stopped and pondered. Isn't that the whole point then- That the dragon's understanding surpasses our own; therefore, our minds are not fully able to grasp the concepts which it is spurting out?
This allows a connection to be made between the dragon and some sort of all-seeing all-knowing deity. This could be an allusion to the Bible, which says in Revelation 1:8, "'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty'". And then the concept of free will is brought up- in which the dragon seems frustrated by others' inability to grasp the concept that he does not interfere. He states that his "knowledge of the future does not cause the future. It merely sees it, exactly as creatures at your low level recall things past" (63). It seems a lot like an omnipotent god- yet the dragon's nature and demeaning attitude is very dark. So is the dragon the god? Or is it evil? And if it is evil, then why would it call out to Grendel, give him some long speech and get frustrated by his lack of understanding (even though he can see the future and knew that would happen), and later let Grendel go free, more confused than ever?
This chapter was brain twisting and thought inducing, but the one thing it was not is boring. Meeting the dragon, who had a superior and haughty attitude similar to Grendel and Beowulf, was quite the experience. He was terrifying and more than slightly crazy, like a clichéd mad scientist, yet I still kind of like it- it didn't seem to be completely detestable. I don't fully understand what it all means, and am still perplexed about the overall role of the dragon, but I do not think it is something to worry about, since our minds are not capable of really grasping all that the dragon had to say. But then again... What if they are?
I thought your description of Grendel's confrontation with the dragon was really good, especially the part about how the reader isn't exactly supposed to understand everything that the dragon is telling Grendel, but how we're supposed to be just as confused and bewildered as he is! I also thought your tie-in to the Bible was good, specifically the part about whether or not the dragon is an embodiment of God or the Devil. Personally, I see the Dragon more as the Devil and this entire chapter to be the formation of a Faustian pact between the knowledge-seeking Grendel and the "all-knowledgeable" dragon. It is also only natural that Garnder uses a reptilian creature to represent the Devil, very much like the slithery serpent that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Like the serpent, the dragon tempts Grendel with the enticing pleasure of figuring out the true meaning of the universe and ultimately what his place in it is. Just like Adam and Eve, Grendel bites into the fruit of knowledge of good and evil out of curiosity and intrigue and awaiting a glorious moment of realization. But just like the original sinners, Grendel finds that the deal he has made has not brought him the satisfaction that he felt it would, as the dragon instead preaches about the dreaded existential truth of reality and proclaims the universe to be "a swirl in the stream of time. A temporary gathering of bits, a few random dust specks" (70). Now exposed to the "enlightening truth", Grendel finds himself both perplexed and essentially trying to refuted in his mind what the dragon is telling him to be true. But with every exclamation of doubt that Grendel proclaims against the dragon, it only seems to solidify both the truth in what is has been told and the falsehood of everything that he has once been told is true. Yet despite the overbearing knowledge of the lack of meaning the world has to offer, through that the dragon defines who Grendel really is. He tells the frustrated and befuddled monster, "You improve them...you make them think and scheme...You drive them to poetry, science, religion...the brute by which they learn to define themselves" (72-73). In the gloom of the dark reality of the universe, the dragon has called Grendel to take on the role that he says he was destined for, which is to torment Hrothgar's people to perform great deeds and tasks which they believe to be so great but ultimately do not matter at all. He is now what people use to develop religion, as the people believe there to be some grand design or purpose behind the torment that they are forced to undergo with Grendel, but in reality it has no purpose. In short, the dragon-devil calls upon his new servant Grendel to torture the people in every conceivable way possible by allowing them to build up lies as the foundation of their existence, only to know that none of them really matter. While he is not too enthusiastic about it now, in time, he will learn to take great joy in his new role.
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