A Look at the Character of the Shaper in John Gardner’s Grendel

In John Gardner’s “Grendel”, the Shaper is perhaps one of the most powerful characters. He directs the hearts of men and instills within their minds ideas of pride and strength and victory. He illustrates hopes for the future, images of the wealth and harmony that lie ahead for the Danes. He paves the past behind them, telling stories of what once was, and how things came to be. Though blind to the light of the world, his inner vision is too bright to be ignored, and even the heart of a friendless monster is touched by this Shaper’s designs, and he is moved to tears. The Shaper is merely a man, but he is also a weaver of a special kind of reality: the kind we choose to believe. But what of these illusions, the remolding of the past and present, the promises of a more beautiful future? As Grendel points out during his conflicted moments before his conversion, did we “kill each other more gently because in the woods sweet songbirds sang?”

It’s difficult to imagine a world with no illusion. If we could only speak the truth, if we were stripped of the ability to lie to ourselvesâÂ?¦ I don’t think it’s possible, given our nature, but if it were possible, would such a thing be beneficial? Humans are both more intelligent and more emotional than other creatures, but we often allow our hearts to override logical thought. Our emotions demand security and comfort, companionship and hope. In a place without shapers, what would become of our use of the word love? What would happen to what we call bravery, nobility, faith, and ambition? What would happen to our humanity without these ideas?

Religion and politics-with them we sort the masses, keep order, maintain a sense of purpose, and in many cases, kill unimaginable numbers of people. Societies were shaped by stories of gods, and wars were waged in their names. Empires fell, and kingdoms crumbled. Like the blind man with his harp-songs and nimble fingers, we have shapers of our own, today. We have presidential candidates, painting our nation noble, but in need (“and if you vote for meâÂ?¦”). We have television evangelists, retelling the old stories in a new light, promising healing and mercy (“just a small donation with check or money orderâÂ?¦”). The media peppers our nightly news selectively, with only the most exciting and strange stories. TV shows present us with ideal family life, where the biggest dilemma is little Johnny’s grade card. We’re surrounded by images of what could/should be, and then real life happens, and we’re stunned.

There are also shapers of emotion. They are the artists, the architects. They are the writers of poetry and prose. They are the composers of music, the photographers, the landscapers. They mold clay, manipulate words and sound and soil, but they also shape people. Through their works of beauty and symbolism, we find strength of our own. When we recognize pieces of ourselves in the story of another, we feel less alone. A seemingly infinite range of emotion can be evoked by a single sculpture, or a song. A poem might make us shake our heads in wonder, contemplating the profound, or it might bring us to bitter tears. Art, in its numerous forms, can do amazing things, and like works of clay or porcelain, we are pliable in the potter’s hands.

Grendel would call these lies, tricks. In some ways I agree. He would also call the whole thing ridiculous, but this is where our opinions part ways. To an extent, our progress is brought about by standing on the shoulders of other dreamers and making seemingly ludicrous concepts a reality. We work harder to leave our mark on a world worth baring such a mark. We’re charitable and compassionate in hopes that acts of kindness will somehow rebound and ricochet, a little ripple of goodness in a vast pool of potential. If, instead, we only observed the cold truths about society, about ourselves, about what’s really in store for us day after dreamless day, what we be the point of such efforts?

As I said: in some ways, I agree with the lonely monster. The world is certainly more greedy, brutal, and doomed than most of us are willing to admit. Were we to surrender our tendencies to gloss our lives with dignity, though, I think it would be much worse. I think that eventually, we would fall into the nihilistic skepticism of the dragon, where perhaps our foremost priority (and only ambition) would be to sit on a pile of gold. So yes, the shapers lie-the shapers of the past, the shapers of today, and predictably, the trend will continue. I don’t mind so much. I think we need those lies. I think we did kill each other more gently, so to speak, because of the songbirds. Because of the shapers.