Are Jeb and Grendel One and the Same?

Alright, I am going to go out on a limb here and compare the rise and fall of Grendel to the rise and fall of Jeb Bush. I know it sounds like a stretch, but I really think that I have some compelling arguments. (Now, I don’t mean to imply that Jeb is a descendant of Cain’s clan, but if you come to that conclusion on your own, more power to ya).

Even people that don’t necessarily like or agree with Grendel feel sympathy for him, and the same thing can be said for Jeb. We have talked several times in class about how the readers are supposed to feel some amount of compassion for Grendel. He is lonely and misunderstood, and ultimately just wants to be accepted by everyone. If Grendel had ever expressed this to Jeb, I like to think that Jeb’s response would have been “Same.” Throughout—but especially near the end of—Jeb’s candidacy, there has been an air of both loneliness and misunderstanding in the way Jeb was represented by the media. People booed at things he said on stage, and during the North Carolina, not many people seemed to agree with his policies. His poll numbers were so low in fact, that people who didn’t even agree with him started saying that they just wanted to give him a hug.

Grendel also really loved his mother. Though at some times it seems that he is a bit put off by her, it is still apparent through much of the text that Grendel is a mama’s boy. Jeb too, loves his mother, and said as much during the North Carolina Debate. He said that he felt that he “won the lottery” when he was born and saw his mom’s face. Though she loved him, Grendel’s mother would also occasionally look at him in a way that would make him feel that he was alone, obscene, and separated from her. One has to wonder if Jeb now feels a similar way.

Grendel also changed a lot as he aged. When he was young he was innocent and curious, and fought against his nature as best he could, and it can be argued that Jeb went though a similar process. It should come as a surprise to no one that the Bush family is quite wealthy, and that they tend operate in within a pretty elite circle. They hold powerful positions, and marry powerful, equally elite people. Naturally, Jeb would have been expected to follow suit. Instead, when he was in college, Jeb decided to study abroad in Mexico, where it just so happens that he met a girl and fell in love. Against the wishes of his fam-bam, he refused to come home until she was allowed to come with him (this is super sweet and probably my favorite thing about him). When he was young, Jeb rebelled hard-core against his nature, similar to Grendel. However as he aged, Jeb found his natural calling hard to resist, and eventually joined in the ranks of the men before him, and became a presidential candidate for the Republican Party. Like Grendel, this change soon led to his brief and frightening reign of terror, before he ultimately dropped dead out of the race.