Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

The Shaper/The Dragon

Why can't we give you a straight answer about these characters? Simple. Gardner was into breaking apart categories and looking at them under a microscope. As a result, the complex interactions between characters mean a whole lot of mess. If you're looking for a guide like Virgil or Beatrice was to Dante, you won't find anything like that here.

This is a tragedy, so whatever guidance our "hero" receives will probably lead to his destruction. In this case, that's doubly true. The Shaper inspires an obsessive desire for truth and beauty in our monster, but this is something he can never experience personally. And he can never really know if the truth part is... well... true. That's when the dragon steps in and makes things worse. He unfolds the wisdom he has gathered through the ages (both past and future), and the result is pretty horrific. It confirms what Grendel has feared all along and pushes him back toward monstrosity.