Smother the light and the world will become perfect. The sun grants no mercy; it shines on everything and everyone, unflinchingly exposing humanity's flaws. The night, however, does not judge; he does not distinguish the beautiful from the ugly, the corrupt from the pure. John Gardner's Grendel is a presentation of the dark, the misunderstood, and the ugly, always speaking for itself, soliciting empathy for its pain and claiming a rightful place in the formation of what is real. Or maybe human. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The light in humanity corrupts reality, adopting evil as a false connotation for darkness, undeterred by the pain it causes. Artists, like the Shaper, “gaze strangely at the mindless world and turn dry sticks into gold” (Gardner 48). They set fire to the darkest places and bring the inanimate to life. Instead of seeing the world in all its ugliness, they choose to transform it in their eyes to form a dazzling image, an illusion far from reality. As Grendel watches and listens to the shaper, he sees the lies and the corruption, and knows that “all he said was ridiculous, not light to their darkness but flattery, illusion, a whirlwind that drags them from sunlight to heat. .." (Gardner 48 ). Grendel knows that the light is false, yet even he cannot resist the urge to succumb to the impossibility of beauty. Immediately “the harpist's lure drew [Grendel's] mind to hopeful dreams” (Gardner 54). Essentially, the shaper is mocking Grendel. It makes Grendel want to see everything in the light; he wants to see the world in the celestial manner as the modeler describes it. Yet he knows he can't, he knows the impossibility of the idea of ​​living in harmony with humans. He sees the betrayal, greed and misery of human beings. Yet he still dreams of the perfect images that the modeler creates, "he even rushes among the villagers and asks them for forgiveness for his role in the fairy tale, but they simply strike him with swords" (Stromme). Unfortunately, where there is light, there must also be darkness. The Shaper decided that day should represent good and night should represent evil. So in order for Grendel to accept the glorification of humanity and accept the light, he must also accept the darkness that resides within himself, the darkness bestowed upon him by man. It's a paradox. Grendel is caught in the middle. He wants to integrate into human society in all its pride and glory, but he is misunderstood, he is the other. He sacrifices himself for humanity, so that the shaper's idealistic image of the world can become reality. It conforms to the image of evil not because it is innate nature, but “because it gives order and purpose to the world, even if order requires the denigration of its image” (Stromme). He is a martyr to humanity, much like certain versions of Batman, who accepts his role not as a superhero but as an outcast who makes Gotham City work. Easily spotted in the darkness, a glimmer of light exists as a target for all who reside in the darkness and vice versa. Grendel sees the light and wants to be a part of it, but his role is not of the light, but part of the “dark side…the terrible race cursed by God” (Gardner 51). Grendel's "mother's hair is bristly...her flesh is loose" (Gardner 29). Darkness does not criticize. Grendel's mother is ugly, and so is he. After seeing the light, Grendel can no longer see his mother in the same way, he sees her ugliness, despite her terrifying appearance. Grendel is also surprised “if anything in [himself] could be so cold, so dark, centuries old as the presence [he] felt around [himself]” (Gardner 54). Wants.