Grendel+3+(D+Block)

=Nothing Matters in the World=

Past

 * The past has no meaning since it has already passed and of no real relevance. The buildings that were built are destroyed and people that lived are dead. What is gone is gone and left no real mark on the world and so there should be no importance put on it. Knowing the past does not change the past or the present (page 63). Many people died but most are not even remembered by the survivors.

Present

 * The whole world is just an accident and everything that is happening is also a big accident. Specially since the men die very quickly giving them little time to do anything. This makes the "work" of theirs meaningless and useless. Since the Dragon can see the whole time periods of present, past and future he knows that in the future nothing will matter if this man lives or dies. The war and battles have no real meaning since the land will have changed possession various times later on in the future.

Future

 * As Grendel repeatedly tries to make contact with God (page 129), he understood that there was no God and no real future. After talking to the Dragon, he gains new knowledge about the future which is the same as the present, with no meaning. The whole world is a machine with the same mechanical and destructive way that will eventually end. The world was made from ashes and will return to it so why work for goods if they will be gone anyways.

=Statement= As many of you know I am Grendel, the “monster” that terrorized the people of Heorot. I know that nothing in this world matters at all. Everyone in this room will live and die. I will also die. Everything comes from ashes and return to ashes. The dragon was helpful in enlightening me in this. "//It's all the same in the end, matter and motion, simple or complex....Ashes to Ashes and slime to slime, amen" (page 71).// I think that there is no real God who has planned the whole world and its occurrences. All the events that occur are in fact just accidents happening after one another. I tried various times making contact with God (page 129 and 6) but with no avail. He is just not there and does not care what happens to us. Since there is no God there will be no planned future. Everything in the world is just an unplanned accident that no one knew would happen. Since everything is just an accident, accidents in the past have no real value since it will not help in the future or present ( page 63). All the buildings and people of the past have been destroyed and dead. Many people have died but no one remembers who and why. They did not leave a mark on this world since the world will be destroyed sooner or later as the Dragon has said. I want to tell everyone that there is no God. Therefore, religion and arts are useless and meaningless. Everything was just an unplanned accident which means there is no real future and the past is irrelevant since they were just a jumble of accidents that happened already. There was no point in life and I was pretty glad when Beowulf came to end this misery. There is no meaning to existence since everything will go to ashes in the end.

Letter Reflection
Through the letter, I understood that Grendel was essentially a book that answered a philosophical question. The answer ultimately lies in personal opinion, but they can be added into either trying to make the ideal future of the world or accepting that the world made up of values that are false at the moment. Gardner shows examples such as Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation to show that some acts are shown to be heroic acts but they in fact have more sinister intentions. He shows that all humans have more selfish motives and that everyone lies. The letter highlights that there is nothing perfect or quoting the letter, "remotely close to perfect." Grendel becomes increasingly excited as Beowulf draws near since Grendel knew there was no point in living and Beowulf seemed to be the only person who could kill him in the end. Gardner emphasizes that the point to get out of the book is to question our beliefs and values. Gardner defends the accusations of his ideas by saying authors do not live in characters but the whole book. The book not only is about the values and future but also of God. The author seems to not show his opinion in the book but he does assume there is a God but he outlines the options of living according to the belief of the existence or absence of God. This letter in the end lets us question if this world is really meaningless and which course of life would be best.