The Monstrous Grendel of Beowulf It is true that Grendel is monstrous. He is not only a mortal enemy of Hrothgar and Herot, but also of the Geats in general. Grendel seems to take his only pleasure in attacking Herot and destroying the warriors within. He is a scourge to all who live under Hrothgar's rule. They hate him. He is called “the enemy of humanity” (29) and rightly so. However, because of Grendel's actions, they cannot see the other part of Grendel that drives him to do the evil he does. Grendel, like the Angels before and the Geats shortly after, is the symbol of the displaced races/peoples and not simply a mindless monster. When Adam and Eve had children, they had two boys. Their names were Cain and Capable. When Cain killed Able, God “banished him from mankind” (29). From Cain came the trolls, the elves, the monsters and the giants. Grendel is a descendant of Cain, so he shares Cain's banishment. Cain may have been the first person displaced after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden. Grendel shares his ancestor's phrase. He is displaced not only from the land or wealth he would have if he were “human,” but he is also displaced from God. It is this movement that causes Grendel's destruction. Since he cannot “approach the throne” (28) like the others, he chooses to try to destroy the throne, because he has “no love for him (God)” (28). This is the main reason why Grendel is the symbol of the displaced people. After all, he is a direct descendant of the very first displaced people, Adam and Eve. However, unlike Adam and Eve, Grendel is doomed to an eternity of banishment from God's light because of Cain's sin against his brother. This is why Grendel kills, because he cannot be in the light, because he is at war with God. Grendel is not only banished from God's light, but from light in general. Throughout the text, references are made to Grendel as "the walker in darkness" (36) and "the dark shadow of death" (29). This type of imagery further shows how displaced Grendel has become. The text describes him as a “creature deprived of joy” (36). The text also refers to Grendel's dwelling as "his joyless house" (37). It's no wonder Grendel was considered so monstrous. Like other displaced people, he has no place to seek refuge, having been taken away from his home or, in Grendel's case, from the love of the Lord..