The Misunderstood Monster Essays - Beowulf, Monsters, Grendel

The Misunderstood Monster The Misunderstood Monster Grendel by John Gardner is a presentation of the dark, the misunderstood, and the ugly. Throughout the novel readers will come to understand the way grendels mind works, events that set him off and all of the different characteristic that make him the monster he is. In the novel Grendel by John Gardner, Grendel is presented to the audience as a coward, he would only attack at night when the guards of the mead hall were asleep, and he was an insensitive character and a monster. Grendel can be proven as a monster for multiple reasons. First and foremost, Grendel lived with his mother in an open cave at the bottom of a boiling lake. Second, Grendel was born and raised to be wicked; I was Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings! (Grendel, p. 80) he never had the chance to become good. All Grendel knew was how to be barbaric and monstrous, and he lived by what he was taught at a young age. Also, whenever Grendel came in contact with music and sounds of pleasure and joy, he would instantaneously be filled with anger and hatred. Grendel also seeks vengeance on the good rather than the evil mainly due to his familys history. Throughout the novel, the audience will come to notice that there were certain events that traumatically effected Grendel. The first event was the story of Cain and Abel. When Grendel hears the story of Cain and Abel from the Shaper, he is pleased, but also upset because he is skeptical about what he heard. Grendel is aware that the shapers songs are built upon a foundation of lies, but he knows that man cannot be as holy as the Shaper had suggested, because he himself has seen evidence of humankinds brutality. Grendel also feels that he was cursed by it and that he is a punishment from God for Cains actions of killing Abel. Grendel is a savage that can only join the humans by fighting them. The final event that had an effect on Grendel was the death of the Shaper. The shapers stories were Grendels gateway into history. The Shaper gave Grendel a sense of what was true and untrue in history. For Grendel the Shaper had legitimized Hrothgars rule and even his own ancestry. The Shaper cl aimed that Grendel was a descendent of Cain. It was the loss of historical content that saddened Grendel the most; it no longer had a meaning to him after the death of the Shaper. Throughout the novel, society has played a main part in the way Grendel thinks and acts. During the novel, the audience will come to notice that Grendels relationship with the humans is defined by his intellectual interest in their philosophies. It can also be characterized by his emotional concept of community. Grendel lives in a world where he attempts to communicate with the humans but constantly fails. His mother lacks the capacity for language and even if she could speak, she would probably be an unworthy conversational partner for Grendel. Grendel often finds himself talking to the sky wishing for a response he knows he will never get. "Why can't I have someone to talk to?" I said. The stars said nothing, but I pretended to ignore the rudeness. "The Shaper has people to talk to," I said. I wrung my fingers. "Hrothgar has people to talk to."(Grendel, p. 53)Throughout the novel, Grendel remains stranded between what he knows is true and what he wishes was true. Grendel understand s the world as a brute, mechanical place that follows no pattern or universal law. He also knows that all the things the Shaper has sung about are merely human projections on the universes chaos. At times, Grendel finds himself willing to accept the role of the evil monster, just so he can be granted a place in society.

Free Essays on Piracy Crackdown

Piracy Crackdown It is estimated that $11 billion in software revenues have been lost due to piracy according to . Thanks to file-sharing programs such as Kazaa, Gnutella, Morpheus, BareShare, iMesh, Audio Galaxy Satellite, Direct Connect, Kazaa lite, Grokster, LimeWire, and others it is made possible and easy to pirate software. There’s something very wrong with this. Not only is it computer fraud but, the amounts of file-sharing software available leads you to the fact that it is incredibly way too common. In an annual study by it is believed that more than one-third of applications are pirated copies. Maybe because it is sometimes quicker to download software on a file-sharing program than it is if you were to drive to an electronics store and physically buy it. Although file-sharing programs have allowed users to freely distribute illegal copies of software it is not entirely their fault. Then who’s to blame? If software companies were more serious about piracy, then shouldn’ t there be higher tactical measures to prevent piracy from occurring? It isn’t a common everyday thing that someone would steal software from Fry’s Electronics. Yet it is 3 clicks away via internet. If software companies would spend more time on their security features there would be less pirated software. In an article published today by Lisa M. Bowman of CNET News.com, it is said that, â€Å"The U.S. Naval Academy Has Seized about 100 student computers that are suspected of containing unauthorized copies of copyrighted works.† It is good that they are doing something about piracy on college campuses, but that’s 100 out of several thousands of college users pirating software. That also does not mean those 100 students will stop from pirating once more. In the article it explains how universities restrict ways in dealing with file-sharing programs such as using bandwidth management tools to block or restrict file swapping. This is a bad way to pre... Free Essays on Piracy Crackdown Free Essays on Piracy Crackdown Piracy Crackdown It is estimated that $11 billion in software revenues have been lost due to piracy according to . Thanks to file-sharing programs such as Kazaa, Gnutella, Morpheus, BareShare, iMesh, Audio Galaxy Satellite, Direct Connect, Kazaa lite, Grokster, LimeWire, and others it is made possible and easy to pirate software. There’s something very wrong with this. Not only is it computer fraud but, the amounts of file-sharing software available leads you to the fact that it is incredibly way too common. In an annual study by it is believed that more than one-third of applications are pirated copies. Maybe because it is sometimes quicker to download software on a file-sharing program than it is if you were to drive to an electronics store and physically buy it. Although file-sharing programs have allowed users to freely distribute illegal copies of software it is not entirely their fault. Then who’s to blame? If software companies were more serious about piracy, then shouldn’ t there be higher tactical measures to prevent piracy from occurring? It isn’t a common everyday thing that someone would steal software from Fry’s Electronics. Yet it is 3 clicks away via internet. If software companies would spend more time on their security features there would be less pirated software. In an article published today by Lisa M. Bowman of CNET News.com, it is said that, â€Å"The U.S. Naval Academy Has Seized about 100 student computers that are suspected of containing unauthorized copies of copyrighted works.† It is good that they are doing something about piracy on college campuses, but that’s 100 out of several thousands of college users pirating software. That also does not mean those 100 students will stop from pirating once more. In the article it explains how universities restrict ways in dealing with file-sharing programs such as using bandwidth management tools to block or restrict file swapping. This is a bad way to pre...

Ice Hockey- The North American vs. The European Style of Play Essay

Ice Hockey- The North American vs. The European Style of Play - Essay Example Ice hockey is generally played indoors on rinks, which are usually 200 feet wide and 85 feet wide in North America while outside the country, the rinks are 200.13 feet long and 98.5 feet wide. These are always surrounded by fences called boards with shatterproof glass affixed on top, in order to ensure that the puck stays within the limits of the rink and does not find its way outside, where it may be harmful for the spectators. However the size of the rink does not depend upon the age of the players (like in junior and adult soccer) or on the skill involved. These rinks are partitioned into two exact halves by a red line, while blue lines are drawn at a distance of 60 feet from each goal and demarcate the end zones. The area that lies in between the blue lines is referred to as the neutral zone. At the very center of the field is a blue spot which signals the spot where the play begins when the game starts for the first time, however at a distance of about 24 feet from the boards th ere are red spots located which signal the spots from which the play re-starts after interruptions (Loftus, 2005). The rink is curved at its outer ends and a another red line appears at the point where they begin to curve and the goal is situated at the middle of this goal line. The goal itself is an iron frame that is 4 feet high and 6 feet wide and has curved bars extending down to the surface of the ice. Stretched across these bars are mesh nets and the goals are held in place by dint of short pegs that are firmly embedded in the ice. In front of the net is the crease which is a painted half circle. Within the limits of this crease, players attacking from the opponent team are not permitted to make contact with the goalie, since this would constitute a foul. In order to reduce the likelihood of injury from collision with the net, the pegs and goal posts separate, and play must be stopped mandatorily whenever a net is