In the epic Grendel "destroys himself" by attacking the hall of Hrothgar. He sees the Dane's happiness and wishes to destroy them, since he assume they won't accept him.
In Beowulf, Grendel is a pretty ambiguous figure. Unlike the dragon at the end of the book, he is describes as human, and with a tinge of sympathy. Yet he was born a monster, outcaste. He wanted to take part in the merriment of the group, but knew he would not be accepted. He started hating the group, killing everyone.
Beowulf does not actually challenge the monster per se, he lays, pretending to sleep until Grendel comes across him during one of the monster's nightly killing sprees. Beowulf tears off his arm in combat, at which point Grendel flees. He runs back into the nearby mire where he lives, to die alone.
This may be following Beowulf too litterally, but in the book, the warrior elite doesn't actually hate Grendel at first. Grendel " destroys [his] chance" by attacking the group with no provocation outside of his own mind. He broods about his loneliness and his feelings worthlessness and "monstrosity" and then blames an outside source for his feelings. He is the one who labels himself an outsider, and it is he who attacks first. He is the one who sits in a murky swamp, thinking up the differences between him and them. In the end, it is his own self loathing which end up destroying him, I think, not his want to be accepted.
In the same vein, the person whom this song was written about seems to be expressing more self-pitty than hatred toward the other group. He aknowleges that it is his fault he is unhappy.
I'm usually pretty far off the mark, but whatever.
I know this comment is too long already, but does anyone have an idea why the switch between "I Wanted To Be Them" And "I wanted to see them"?
In the epic Grendel "destroys himself" by attacking the hall of Hrothgar. He sees the Dane's happiness and wishes to destroy them, since he assume they won't accept him.
In Beowulf, Grendel is a pretty ambiguous figure. Unlike the dragon at the end of the book, he is describes as human, and with a tinge of sympathy. Yet he was born a monster, outcaste. He wanted to take part in the merriment of the group, but knew he would not be accepted. He started hating the group, killing everyone.
Beowulf does not actually challenge the monster per se, he lays, pretending to sleep until Grendel comes across him during one of the monster's nightly killing sprees. Beowulf tears off his arm in combat, at which point Grendel flees. He runs back into the nearby mire where he lives, to die alone.
This may be following Beowulf too litterally, but in the book, the warrior elite doesn't actually hate Grendel at first. Grendel " destroys [his] chance" by attacking the group with no provocation outside of his own mind. He broods about his loneliness and his feelings worthlessness and "monstrosity" and then blames an outside source for his feelings. He is the one who labels himself an outsider, and it is he who attacks first. He is the one who sits in a murky swamp, thinking up the differences between him and them. In the end, it is his own self loathing which end up destroying him, I think, not his want to be accepted. In the same vein, the person whom this song was written about seems to be expressing more self-pitty than hatred toward the other group. He aknowleges that it is his fault he is unhappy.
I'm usually pretty far off the mark, but whatever.
I know this comment is too long already, but does anyone have an idea why the switch between "I Wanted To Be Them" And "I wanted to see them"?