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John Gardener, in the story Grendel, explores how the infamous antagonist Grendel became who he was, through both nature and nurture. Nature vs nurture is the battle between a person's genetic predispositions' impact on human traits, and the influence of learning and one's environment. Both can be used to describe and explain why someone is the way they are. Gardener creates situations that highlight the complexity of Grendel's mind and the two forces in it, which helps develop the angsty tone. Grendel is described as part human and part monster. He is a descendant of Cain, who was human, he is also said to walk around, have shoulders, and have hands. But he is a monster because he has claws, and spikes and is huge.
Gardener wishes to highlight the complexity of what makes someone who they are and how that can change based on influences that they had or did not have. Grendel comes from long-line monsters. Assuming his father is also a monster, Grendel's genes are wired in a different way than the Danes. Aggression can be passed down through generations and can build up. It is in Grendel's genes that he is going to be aggressive, but those genes do not have to be acted on. Grendel is also a descendant of Cain, who is a part of one of the oldest myths in history. Cain was human, but he was also the very first symbol of true evil. Even though it seems like being evil is innately in him, Grendel could go his life with the evil inside him but never acted on it. Cain while also being viewed as a monster, was still a human and a direct descend of God. Cain was created in God's image and was holy, and then he turned violent.
The goodness that was in Cain, was still there, therefore it was passed down to all his ancestors, including Grendel. His mother remembers this distant “ancestral crime” (Gardener #). His mother was affected by this crime and passed down the mutated genes that have been affected. All of Cain’s descendants have had to hide away from society because they are outcasts, and they have become accustomed to this, altering their genes, similar to how natural selection changes humans. While most of Grendel's genes predisposed him to aggression and anger, it is a possibility that they also predisposed him to righteousness and goodness. Grendel is part human, even if it is distant. Humans have a psychological need to be liked and to be around others. Grendel from a young age was isolated, from his mother, from the Danes, and from everyone. He lived in a swamp and was isolated so much so that his shadow was his “only friend and comfort” (Gardner #). Being isolated can cause humans to become violent and angry. Harry Harlow, a psychologist, did a study on the effect isolation has on the development of monkeys, and found that the more isolated monkeys were more likely to have misdirected aggression. This helps explain Grendel's actions and feelings towards, the Danes, and why he blamed them for everything. When Grendel was young, he found a bird lying in the path, and Grendel “let[s] he lie” (Gardener #). Even if Grendel only did this so that when a wolf comes, they have easy access to food, Grendel still showed compassion and was not only thinking about himself, when he grows up, he becomes more concerned only about himself.
Grendel’s mother during his childhood was cruel and unresponsive during his upbringing. All living things need love and attention, especially in the first years when most brain development takes place. His mother never told him about the beauty of the world or the Danes or anything, allowing Grendel to explore and figure it entirely out for himself, which is dangerous. For example, when Grendel was a child and he was attacked by the bull, some humans found him lying by the tree, and when Grendel tried to ask them for a pig, the humans got scared and threw an ax at young Grendel that cut his shoulder. This is one of Grendel's first interactions with humans, and because Grendel had never learned about people, he assumes all humans are the same, which starts laying down the foundation for his hatred of the Danes. If Grendel had been taught about love and understanding, there is a possibility that he would not have reacted with an extreme amount of hatred. Grendel is constantly trying to fit the part he believes that he is meant to play. When the humans constantly talk down to him, that causes Grendel to start acting like their assumptions, because when everyone labels someone as one thing, they start to believe in that label and it soon becomes you. Due to Grendel’s isolation, unnurtured upbringing, and Dane’s constant fear of him, Grendel's aggression was bound to come out.
Humans are a combination of nature and nurture, and Gendel is no different. Two major themes in the novel are free will and fate, which contradict each other. Grendel constantly worries about free will and fate and which one will take over his life. Free will and fate are being used as a metaphor for nature and nurture. If everything was made and predetermined by genes, that would be fate, but if it was free will, then nurture would kick in and make Grendel a product of his life experiences. Both are important, but the human and monster sides of Grendel are both trying to be shown, and due to his circumstances and the way he was treated the monster side was highlighted. Gardner’s novel about free will and fate can be used to spread a larger message of anti-bullying. It is very important today that nobody feels isolated because this can cause them to become violent, and tragically there have been many far too many examples of this happening in recent years.
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