Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Nihilism in Grendel “Nihil ex nihilo, I always say.”(Gardner 150) These are the words of the infamous Grendel from the novel, Grendel, by John Gardner. They represent the phrase “life itself is meaningless” which is taught to Grendel by different people throughout the novel. Grendel starts out as an intelligent and sensitive monster that lives with his mother in a cave. He constantly questions the world and the nature of his own existence. When he finds the answers, he is too weak to live with them. In the philosophical aftermath his spirit dies, and Grendel becomes a hollow, brutal creature. In the following essay, the explanation of this phrase, the way Grendel learns about nihilism, and how Grendel develops the concept of nihilism, as it is known, will be discussed. First, we attack the nihilism itself. What is nihilism? Nihilism is one of the main components of the book. It means that life, itself, is meaningless. What is meant by that phrase is that anything you do or decide to do means nothing. For example, if you make a huge decision that you think will affect you for the rest of your life, according to a nihilist it means nothing. To a nihilist, life turns out how it is supposed to turn out. Nihilism also