Throughout the novel, “Grendel” we see the growth of Grendel through language. Grendel begins the story very naïve, young, and inexperienced. The language used by Grendel seems almost re-used as if he was copying off of others around him; he imitates the word usage of the warriors and common people he hears while he creeps among them. You even see how he uses “vulgar” words as if they were just another part of his day, as if they were a normal word in everyday situations. His actions are also accountable by his words; he does things not knowing that they are even bad or that they cause harm. He sees things in one way; everything to him seems purposeless as if nothing and nobody had some kind of reason. He had no answers and viewed everything in a closed minded way; he found no reason to spare life yet no reason to take it. But his biggest dilemma was finding his purpose and first he had to understand language and grow himself to figure out the answer. Grendel has learned his language through the humans, who spoke poorly to begin with but after meeting the dragon Grendel’s voice changes drastically, he now knows a wider range of words and phrases. In the novel Grendel’s language completely changes, it goes from innocent to speaking with more experience.
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