Grendel

This month, we read Beowulf and excerpts from Grendel. When I was reading Beowulf, it was very clear to me who the heroes and villains were. Beowulf, with his noble deeds and honor brought by defeating Grendel, was good and had a noble heart. While Grendel, who had a demonic look to him and killed many men, was clearly the villain. However, once we had read excerpts from Grendel, the lines between good and evil blurred a bit. In my mind, while reading Grendel, I saw a creature (Grendel) who was different from the humans. He was baffled by the humans and their wastefulness and just really wanted to make a friend. He also seemed less evil to me in the beginning. He did what he needed to survive and at one point tries to make friends with the humans. They reject him and I believe that was the turning point in Grendel's behaviors. It is my belief that Grendel wasn't truly evil until he was corrupted by a judgmental society that thought Grendel was evil because of his appearance. This aspect of society isn't just fiction, it's real and happens all of the time. People judge others without getting to know them first. It's very overused and cliche, but these words are true; don't judge a book by its cover. How is a person supposed to know what someone is like if they judge them based on their appearance. That's one of the reasons schools make kids wear uniforms. They feel that if everyone is wearing the same thing, no one will be judged and then any bullying will stop. I can relate to this because if I had judged many of my friends based on their outward appearances, I   may not have become close to any of them. Everyone is judgmental, and i believe that the first thought that comes to mind when you look at a person means nothing, it's what you think after that first thought that matters. That second thought is what determines if you are a good person at heart.