Friday, January 6, 2012

Underground Man = Grendel

I mentioned this in class, but I think that the simularitiea between Grendel and Underground Man are uncanny. They both are solitary characters, yet ache for connections that they can't seem to find in the outside world. They are very psychological characters. Most of their respective books are written largely in their thoughts. They both find themselves unique and separate from the rest of humanity in some way. They're also both kind of depressed and full of despair. This is midyll because they feel confused and unable to relate to anybody.

4 comments:

sara pendleton said...

Yeah totally - It's funny too because even though Grendel's a monster who kills people and all you still feel pretty sympatetic for poor Grendel... kinda like how you can still feel sort of sorry and sympathetic towards undergound man even though his actions aren't always all that sympathetic.

Christine Catinis said...

I totally agree. Although Underground man is strange and seems messed up, he still evokes sympathy in the reader -- same applies to Grendel. Hearing their thoughts adds a relatable aspect to the characters.

mere said...

Yeah, as we said in class, we all have some of the characteristics within UMan. Even though he sounds crazy, and we wouldn't want to relate ourselves to him, I think we all secretly do.

Shaina Lu said...

I agree as well. As repulsive as the Underground Man and Grendel both are, they both evoke sympathy from the reader. As soon as Meredith mentioned it in class, I kept realizing how similar the two were as I read Notes.