Monday, October 20, 2008
What's Up with Ork?
Discuss Grendel's encounter with Ork in ch. 9. Why is Grendel confounded and moved by him? Is Gardner mocking religion or advocating it as a necessary antidote to the thinking of the Dragon? What is Ork's great revelation? Is it important to Grendel's development? Why or why not?
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PATRICK O'CONNELL
Grendel's encounter with Ork is very awkward because Ork is very emotional about meeting the great destroyer. Grendel is moved by Ork because he shows alot of devotion to his belief in God and the truth of life. Gardner is advocating relgion by showing how strongly someone can believe in something. Grendel is shocked by a strong faith and that is why he is so moved. Ork's great revelation is that all things must come to an end. Grendel develops from this by realizing he is going to die and that he not actually invincible.
Grendel is moved by Ork because Grendel does not have a sense of religion and Ork's belief is deep and intricate. As Ork weeps, Grendel "observes in wonder". Grendel is so shocked that one person can be so emotional about something. I think that Gardner is not mocking religion and is just using Ork as an antidote to the dragon because what Ork says has meaning and seems to move Grendel. His theories are also very different from the dragon's because the dragon thinks that there is no meaning to life whereas Ork believes nothing is wasted in life. Ork's great revelation is that true evil consists of time itself because it causes everything to fade and that one can not be anything besides oneself. Ork believes that the greadest wisdom that one can have is knowing that the world is a place where nothing is lost or wasted. I think that this is important to Grendel's development because it moves him away from the dragon's theory: "I would fall, if i could, through time and space to the dragon. I cannot". The Ork gives Grendel a different way to look at the world.
Ork is a priest that Grendel meets in December. He plans on killing him when he meets him but decides not to when he hears the priests theory about life and God. Ork believes that the King of Gods is the existance of limitations. When Ork tells him about this theory he begins to cry. He says that Time is the ultimate evil because it makes everything enevitably die and fade. He says that ultimate wisdom lies in the perception that the solemnity and grandeur of the universe rise through slow process of unification in which the diversities of existance are utilized and nothing is lost. The priest believes that everyone and everything has something to contribute and that everyone matters. This is a good antidote to the Dragons thinking because it shows Grendel that everyone should do what they do because that makes the world work. If u just get gold and sit on it youre not doing your part to maintain the earths balance. This shows Grendel that you are supposed to contribute and it gives Grendel a new outlook on life.
Grendel's encounter with Ork changes his perception of religion and how he views good vs . evil. Ork has a strong sense of religion and in his conversation with Grendel speaks about how God is the source of man's desire and reason to find meaning in life. He speaks of ultimate wisdom and it's power. As Ork cries, Grendel is moved by his theories, perceptions, and observes in wonder. It is a necessary antidote to the thinking of the dragon because Ork says that life has true meaning and all people and things have a purpose in life, while the dragon feels that everything is a waste and there is no point in living or doing anything. Ork's great revelation is that there is a sole purpose for each individual and that nothing in the universe lives in vein. Yes, it is important to Grendel's development because his beliefs grow further away from what the dragon thinks and he gains a stronger sense mof value in life.
Ork is a priest who Grendel meets, and he initially plans to kill him. However, the priest begins to tell Grendel about the "King of the Gods". Grendel is confounded and moved because he has such a powerful faith in God. Gardner is advocating religion because Ork has such a powerful faith and feels that everyone and everything has a purpose, whereas the Dragon felt the opposite. This is important to Grendel's development because he sees someone who has an opposite view from the Dragon, and the Dragon's view had had a powerful effect on what Grendel had been doing over the past few chapters. Orks great revelation is that all good things must come to an end sometime, so don't burn the day away.
Ork is an old, blind priest. Grendel takes advantage of his age and blindness and tricks Ork into believing that he is the destroyer. Grendel then asks Ork to tell him what he knows about the destroyer. For years Ork has been studying and forming theories about the destroyer. Ork claims the destroyer is the chief god and that he sets limitations on mankind. He claims that the Destroyer is the measure by which the value of all objects is judged. He calims that he is the source of man's desire to establish status and be successful in this world. Ork claims that the true evil in the world is not suffering and death, but it is time and the simple fact that oen thing cannot be another thing, but can only be itself. He then goes on to claim that these limitations keep man from realizing that the universe is a place where nothing is lost or wasted, which he feels is "ultimate wisdom".Ork is so devoted to this god that he begins to cry while decribing him to Grendel. Grendel is so baffled by this mans devotion that he does not know what to do with him. AT this point 3 other priests come and Grendel runs and hides. Grendel is moved because he has never wittness someone or something with so much passion.
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