Why does John Gardner's Grendel mock heroism?

One of the intellectual themes that Grendel struggles with is the tension between nihilism and belief - belief in society, ideals, things that give life meaning. For Grendel, the concept of heroism is arbitrary, "fairy-tale stuff", and a self-imposed system of limitations and relationships. read more

For Grendel, the concept of heroism is arbitrary, "fairy-tale stuff", and a self-imposed system of limitations and relationships. He knows that the humans have a good deal of investment in these ideas, and Grendel torments them by negating their ability to act (or die) in accordance with their own moral codes. read more

On another occasion he noted that he "us[ed] Grendel to represent Sartre's philosophical position" and that "a lot of Grendel is borrowed from sections of Sartre's Being and Nothingness. " Grendel has become one of Gardner's best-known and best-reviewed works. read more

LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Grendel, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. In the background of the novel is perhaps English literature’s most significant text about heroism: Beowulf. read more