John Gardner

1
John Gardners grendel
2
Essential Understandings

• Written in 1971 by John Gardner, American
  novelist, essayist, literary critic and
  university professor
• Grendel is a parallel novel
• Also considered a philosophical novel (e.g.,
  existentialism, solipsism, nihilism, etc.)
• Each chapter focuses on a different astrological
  sign.

3
Existentialism

• Characterized by a sense of disorientation and
  confusion in the face of an apparently
  meaningless or absurd world.
• The world is all pointless accident (Gardner
  28).
• One of the horses neighed and reared up, and for
  some crazy reason they took it for a sign (27).

4
Solipism

• from Latin solus, meaning "alone", and ipse,
  meaning "self
• the philosophical idea that only one's own mind
  is sure to exist.
• I understood that, finally and absolutely, I
  alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what
  pushes me, or what I push against (Gardner 22).

5
Nihilism

• from the Latin nihil, nothing
• Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form
  of existential nihilism, which argues that life
  is without objective meaning, purpose, or
  intrinsic value.
• The belief that traditional morals, ideas,
  beliefs, etc., have no worth or value
• I tried to tell her all that had happened, all
  that Id come to understand the meaningless
  objectness of the world, the universal bruteness
  (Gardner 28).

6
The Taurus

• Taurus, the Bull. Taurus is determined,
  efficient, stubborn, cautious, placid,
  persistent, enduring, introverted, conservative,
  conventional, materialistic, security conscious,
  stable, industrious, dependable, and one
  generally having significant financial ability.
• In what ways do we see this zodiac sign
  represented in chapter 2?
• What is the significance of these depictions?