Political System in Grendel

Throughout Chapter 8 of Grendel, Grendel debunks some of the apparent flaws of the Danish system through the story of Hrothulf. To begin with, Grendel portrays Hrothulf's story in the form of a play. For example, he claims, " The nut tree wide above my head, stretching its cool black limbs to take the sun, sends darkness down my chest. Its dappled, high crowned roadways make safe homes for birds; quick squirrels run the veins of its treasure-giving hand; but the ground below is dead". The play like structure shows how Grendel views the system as a type of fiction or illusion, which relates back to the theme of reality versus illusion. Grendel views Hrothulf as an observer and watches the play unfold as if the Danish conflicts are trivial and fake. The tree described above is a parallel to the tyrannical and hierarchal system created by the Danes. A system that is inherently flawed according to Grendel, Hrothulf, and the Red Horse because of its lack of equality. The hierarchy is also given a negative connotation through the personification of its "black" limbs that seem to cover up the sun. In fact, it is interesting to note that the denotation of sun is a person or thing that is regarded as a source of understanding. In this way, the system is trying to cover up this understanding of the fake illusion in order to keep it cyclic. The Zodiac symbol for this chapter also tells a lot about the political system of the Danes. For example, Hrothulf is described as a "sweet scorpion" who "sits between their two and cleans his knife". The Zodiac symbol for this chapter is scorpio and it is characterized by an intense curiosity. In fact, the "stinger" signifies a piercing curiosity that delves into the secrets within or in this case the hierarchal system. Also, the opposing connotations of "sweet" and "scorpion" along with Hrothulf sitting in between two people portrays the idea of a conflicted nature and irony of Hrothulf. He is a prince in the blood line of Hrothgar yet he does not fit in with the other Danes. However, he also does not fit in to the hierarchy of peasants like the Red Horse because of his princely nature which is further shown by him tripping three times on the "ground" beneath a tree (system). Red Horse is actually described as having white hair "around his high empty dome like the beams of the sun". Red Horse is an allusion to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who represents war and mass slaughter. In Grendel, Red Horse explains to Hrothulf that the system gives power for those who fit the system and enslavement for those who do not. Also, it is interesting to note that his hair is described as the "beams of the sun". This is perfect considering that the sun is representative of the reality that debunks the illusion of the system. This is exactly the role Red Horse plays within this chapter.