How we cite our quotes: (Page) Vintage Books, 1989
Quote #1
The sky says nothing, predictably. I make a face, uplift a defiant middle finger, and give an obscene little kick. The sky ignores me, forever unimpressed. Him too I hate, the same as I hate these brainless budding trees, those brattling birds. (6)
Grendel can't win: there's nothing in the world (or outside of it) that doesn't increase his misery. He gets no answer from any deity, no matter what the question. There's no purpose or end to his suffering and isolation. The brute beasts that exist without thinking, the endless changing of the seasons without the possibility of anything new—it's like living in a snow globe in the middle of a zoo with Kenny G piped in as your only entertainment.
Quote #2
I feel my anger coming back, building up like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up—as mechanical as anything else—fists clenched against my lack of will, my belly growling, mindless as wind, for blood. (9)
Self-hatred almost overshadows Grendel's disgust for humanity. He's the guy who stuffs himself on old ladies and little kids and then says, "See what you made me do?" That sense of being out of control, being driven by some unnamed thing (like the birds and the goats and the trees) makes Grendel's hatred that much stronger.
Quote #3
Behind my back, at the world's end, my pale slightly glowing fat mother sleeps on, old, sick at heart, in our dingy underground room. Life-bloated, baffled, long-suffering hag. Guilty, she imagines, of some unremembered, perhaps ancestral crime. (She must have some human in her.) Not that she thinks. Not that she dissects and ponders the dusty mechanical bits of her miserable life's curse. (11)
This is classic adolescent rejection of everything parental. In this case, though, Grendel may have a point. Mama really is a drag to hang around with, she can't keep house and she's really let herself go. What's worse? Grendel hates that she believes in the Shaper's version of their past—that they are a cursed race—and that she seems to feel bad about it. He also has a massive superiority complex when it comes to Mom, like he's the first kid who ever thought he was smarter than his parent.
Quote #4
The song rings up like greasy smoke and their faces shine with sweat and something that looks like joy. The song swells, pushes through woods and sky, and they're singing now as if by some lunatic theory they had won. I shake with rage. The red sun blinds me, churns up my belly to nausea, and the heat thrown out of the bone-fire burns my skin. I cringe, clawing my flesh, and flee for home. (14)
This is one of the many things that Grendel hates about human beings: they have a disgusting way of turning tragedy into triumph. Somehow, humans are always able to adapt their philosophies to suit the occasion and make them look good. In this case, it's a funeral pyre burning up the bits of people Grendel has left behind at the meadhall. Grendel knows that no matter how utterly destructive he's being, he can't really compete with these humans, who will always turn it to their advantage.
Quote #5
It wasn't because he threw that battle-ax that I turned on Hrothgar. That was mere midnight foolishness... It wasn't until later, when I was full-grown and Hrothgar was an old, old man, that I settled my soul on destroying him—slowly and cruelly. (30)
Think of this as a kind of manifesto for Grendel the serial killer. This is no mere childhood grudge he's carrying—it's a whole series of offensive and soul-killing behavior on the part of humanity. This is the crucial moment when Gardner makes us see that there might be more to Grendel's motivation than simple monstrosity.
Quote #6
All the bands did the same thing. In time I began to be more amused than revolted by what they threatened. It didn't matter to me what they did to each other. It was slightly ominous because of its strangeness—no wolf was so vicious to other wolves—but I half believed they weren't serious. (32)
And here's some of that despicable human behavior that drives Grendel's obsession and distaste for Hrothgar and his men. On the flipside, we're seeing something pretty scary about mankind: cruelty. Brute animals may not be able to reason and philosophize, but they seem to have more of a code of honor than humans do. It's pretty impressive when your behavior scandalizes a freaking monster.
Quote #7
She whimpered, scratched at the nipple I had not sucked in years. She was pitiful, foul, her smile a jagged white tear in the firelight: waste. (55)
Grendel has some seriously conflicted feelings about his next of kin, but as the story goes on, it's fairly clear that he wastes no tears on his Mama. Take a look at the strength of those adjectives. He's not merely bothered by her difference; he's downright disgusted.
Quote #8
I no longer remember exactly what he sang. I know only that it had a strange effect on me: it no longer filled me with doubt and distress, loneliness and shame. It enraged me. (77)
The Shaper's song has always made Grendel feel a bit funny inside, but after the visit to the dragon, it's like he's just had all the hope sucked out of him. Now he just feels rage at the Shaper, the symbol of all of Grendel's problems.
Quote #9
He lives on, bitter, feebly challenging my midnight raids from time to time (three times this summer), crazy with shame that he alone is always spared, and furiously jealous of the dead. (90)
Grendel hasn't cornered the market on hatred in this narrative—remember that we also have Unferth. Unferth has committed the major faux pas of killing his own brothers, and while he is somehow considered one of the best of the warriors in the meadhall, his peeps take every opportunity to make jokes at his expense. What he really needs is a solid heroic deed to bring him back into the fold (killing Grendel—or being killed by Grendel—would do), but Grendel won't play that game. And once he realizes that the monster won't even do him the favor of eating him, Unferth takes a turn for the worse. We guess you could say that Grendel is Unferth's "dragon" experience.
Quote #10
For the world is divided, experience teaches, into two parts: things to be murdered, and things that would hinder the murder of things: and the Geats might be defined either way. (158)
This is dragon philosophy in a nutshell—and Grendel has learned it well. As he assesses the situation with Beowulf, we can see that his worldview has narrowed considerably. Now he just cares about how to kill.
Quote #11
"Neither Breca nor you ever fought such battles," he said. "I don't boast much of that. Nevertheless, I don't recall hearing any glorious deeds of yours, except that you murdered your brothers. You'll prowl the stalagmites of hell for that, friend Unferth—clever though you are." (162)
In this moment, Beowulf has taken meadhall smack-talking to a new level. He's clearly not a political creature, and he doesn't feel he has to tiptoe around the elephant in the room (Unferth the kin-killer). Beowulf doesn't like the slimy thane. The Geatish "hero" is calling it as he sees it—and that totally raises all the stakes.
Quote #12
They watch on, evil, incredibly stupid, enjoying my destruction. "Poor Grendel's had an accident," I whisper. "So may you all." (174)
If you were waiting for a conversion experience or a change of heart for our sad "hero" at the end of the story, you're going to be sadly disappointed. Now that Grendel has reached the end of his seemingly pointless existence (and what a nasty end it is) he moves even closer to the bitterness of the dragon than ever before. His last words are not about repentance or regret (or even one last fantasy about the beautiful Queen Wealtheow)—they're a curse. And it covers every creature witnessing his death—even us. Creepy.