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Irony
Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Climb Back Up:
Back in the cave with his mother in Chapter 4, Grendel describes the Shaper's ability to manipulate the world through stories. But immediately afterward Grendel compares the Shaper's powers of language to his mother's lack thereof. This comparison culminates with a metaphor which compares speech to a mountain that one can climb:
It was a cold-blooded lie that a god had lovingly made the world and set out the sun and moon as lights to land-dwellers, that brothers had fought, that one of the races was saved, the other cursed. Yet he, the old Shaper, might make it true [...] She was pitiful, foul, her smile a jagged white tear in the firelight: waste. She whimpered one sound: Dool-dool! dool-dool!, scratching at her bosom, a ghastly attempt to climb back up to speech.
Grendel describes the "cold-blooded lie," a vaguely Christian creation story of a God who created the heavens and the Earth. He also references the story of Cain and Abel; in Beowulf, Grendel is identified as a direct descendant of Cain, one of the "cursed" descendants of the first murderer in the Old Testament. Grendel does not believe any of this to be real to his experience, though. Only the Shaper, through his songs and stories, can make mythical story "true."
Contrary to the implication that he is descended from Cain, Grendel knows only that he comes from his mother, and he never mentions any father or other family or ancestors. Just after he considers the Shaper's ability to change truth, he turns to his mother's inability with language. Her smile seems to tell nothing about her real emotions, a "waste." Grendel describes how his mother tries to talk to him, chanting "Dool-dool." In a viscerally physical metaphor, Grendel calls these grunts "a ghastly attempt to climb back up to speech."
The metaphor shows language as a practically difficult feat, requiring great bodily effort. Grendel's mother experiences the world purely physically, so this metaphor empathetically shows how Grendel's mother attempts to apply herself to speech. Both descriptions present language as powerful and formidable. The Shaper can deploy language skillfully to assert ancient, mythic truths; while Grendel's mother must strain, as in a difficult ascent, even to use it.
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Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Gluey Whine:
In Chapter 5, Grendel speaks to the dragon, perched atop his pile of gold in a secluded cave. The dragon speaks ruefully about humans and their faith in connectedness but acknowledges that they sometimes see the capricious nature of their world. Only the Shaper's stories give humans the framework to understand the world, which the dragon describes in a metaphor:
Connectedness is the essence of everything. It doesn’t stop them, of course. They build the whole world out of teeth deprived of bodies to chew or be chewed on. They sense that, of course, from time to time; have uneasy feelings that all they live by is nonsense. They have dim apprehensions that such propositions as ‘God does not exist’ are somewhat dubious at least in comparison with statements like ‘All carnivorous cows eat meat.’ That’s where the Shaper saves them. Provides an illusion of reality—puts together all their facts with a gluey whine of connectedness.
According to the dragon, humans understand that much of their world is built on widely-held beliefs held with little evidence. The Shaper, though, can tell a story of a world that makes sense, one with heroes who bravely conquer monsters and then rule as good kings. The dragon calls this "connectedness," that each event follows logically from the other. This is the Shaper's "illusion of reality," that he can create a fictional world with simple narratives; furthermore, the Shaper's stories can be so powerfully affecting that they change the actual perception of the world itself.
The dragon describes the Shaper's "illusion" as combining all of the facts of human life using "a gluey whine of connectedness" to hold them together. This metaphor casts "connectedness" as a "whine," powerless speech cried out in reaction to pain. But that whine is "gluey": it holds together all the various stories and morals that the Shaper manipulates. This conversation with the dragon will define how Grendel imagines the Shaper for the remainder of the novel: the poet has a powerful ability to manipulate the world by combining various stories and narratives, only through careful use of language.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Brachiating Poet:
At the beginning of Chapter 8, Grendel takes up his own epic and heroic style, emulating the Shaper. Here, he introduces himself as the bard for this new phase of his story. In the chapter's brief prefatory poem, Grendel uses a metaphor to describe himself as a terrible beast who has taken up language:
(Thus poor Grendel,
anger’s child,
red eyes hidden in the dark of verbs,
brachiating with a hoot from rhyme to rhyme.)
Before he begins his poem, Grendel feels the need to clarify his position to the reader. He calls himself "anger's child," a poetic way to describe himself as a violent monster fueled by uncontrollable moments of murderous anger. But his anger, as represented by his "red eyes," are now "hidden in the dark of verbs." This metaphor depicts Grendel's violent nature as being obscured by his new use of language like the Shaper. He is also "brachiating"—that is, swinging like an ape—"with a hoot from vine to vine." Similarly to the previous line, he describes himself as a hollering ape that swings through poetry rather than a jungle. Here again Grendel describes himself as an animalistic beast who has adapted to the use of language. Put together, these metaphors are Grendel's tongue-in-cheek, self-aware and self-deprecating introduction of himself, newly turned into a poet.
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Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Stalactites of the Heart:
In Chapter 9, Grendel observes some priests sacrificing a calf to pagan gods. Grendel is rater disgusted by these proceedings, thinking that the grisly dismemberment is only "showmanship." Grendel believes that no human actually believes in such ritualistic practices. Humans, instead, are much more simple, desiring only power. He describes this deep-seated desire using a bodily metaphor:
There is no conviction in the old priests’ songs; there is only showmanship. No one in the kingdom is convinced that the gods have life in them. The weak observe the rituals—take their hats off, put them on again, raise their arms, lower their arms, moan, intone, press their palms together—but no one harbors unreasonable expectations. The strong—old Hrothgar, Unferth—ignore the images. The will to power resides among the stalactites of the heart.
Grendel claims that humanity's power-hungry nature goes as deep as "the stalactites of the heart." This metaphor refers evocatively to the deepest, most central core of human nature. Grendel depicts the heartstrings as stony, rigid structures, unchanging over time: the "will to power" is embedded in stone. This metaphor is perhaps most striking due to the fact that Grendel himself grew up among stalactites in the cave with his mother. Grendel uses a highly personal image of the emotional core of his own life, the cave, in order to describe humans' violent nature. Here we see perhaps the most profound example in the novel of Grendel's cunning perception of human life; only from his unique perspective, as a monster from an unchanging cave, can he perceive humans' will to power.
Related Themes:
