Beowulf
...ts the chance. It could be said that Beowulf’s apparently noble intentions were tainted and that he only wanted the honor and riches that would be associated with the slaying of Grendel to improve his position in society. Having disproved Beowulf as the hero of the story, it can be seen that the monsters are actually the true heroes. Grendel first appears when King Hrothgar has a giant feast to celebrate the opening of Heorot. The tumult attracts Grendel and during the night he attacks the king’s warriors. This action in one context could seem entirely evil, but in another it could be said that Grendel was simply acting by his nature and did not have malicious intent. In this way Grendel is comparable to the monster in Hal Hartley’s No Such Thing. It is possible that Grendel was only a ‘monster’ because he was different than what society deemed as being normal, and as a result he and his mother were isolated from the rest of the world. The word monster usually infers that a creature is evil and so by normal definition, Grendel was not a monster. It could be said that he was in fact a hero for his ability to stand up to the rest of society. In this light, although she was a monster by appearance, Grendel’s mother was simply acting in retaliation as any mother might in the same situation. Consequently, her grounds for attacking are justified and she is no more of a ‘monster’ than anyone else would be under the same set of circumstances. She also could be considered a hero in that she died as the result of her love for her son and her desire to seek revenge against the people who had killed him. The dragon again also...