Of Monsters and Men: How Humanity Incites Monstrousness in Grendel and Frankenstein All too often on a daily basis do people judge others based on their physical appearance or other superficial criteria. Generally, close-minded individuals perceive anything foreign or a deviation from the norm as offensive or even as a threat. We would like to think that we are not prone to such a fault, but this foible is ingrained in human nature. Literature has examined this aspect of humanity on a magnified scale by using monsters as a metaphor for those we judge; the novels Grendel by John Gardner and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley are as much character studies on humanity as they are stories about monstrousness itself. The monsters in each novel certainly …show more content…
After two years of watching over the family in the cabin and gaining the courage to introduce himself, he expresses to De Lacey, “‘How can I thank you, my best and only benefactor? From your lips first have I heard the voice of kindness directed towards me; I shall be forever grateful; and your present humanity assures me of success with those friends whom I am on the point of meeting’” (Shelley 137). The monster’s initial impression of humanity—one of kindness, warmth, and peace—is tarnished when Felix instinctively attacks the monster as the monster laments, “I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sunk within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained. I saw him on the point of repeating his blow, when, overcome by pain and anguish, I quitted the cottage” (Shelley 137). Such unprovoked retaliation from the humans establishes a basis for Grendel’s and the monster’s general hatred and monstrousness for society. Considering that people will never view them as anything but monsters, Grendel and the monster have nothing to gain from acting