Blake and Literature Connections

In the epigraph of Grendel, an excerpt is included from William Blake's poem "The Mental Traveler". When I researched the critical reception of this poem, many critics agreed that the poem expresses so many contradicting ideas that it is difficult for the reader to identify to anyone. Even this relates to Grendel in some ways. Grendel, a monster, is affected by his not human yet not entirely animal form. Thus, as he feels himself to possess a combination of both creatures, he also feels a combination of sadness and frustration at his isolation from humans and his angst towards the thoughtlessness of animals. Furthermore, the character Orc first is from Blake's poem. Orc is representative of rebellion yet he is a positive figure. Thus, as a breaker of tradition, this character is a metaphor towards Grendel's disruption of thane culture and system. "The Mental Traveller" and Grendel both address the cyclic nature of life. In Grendel this is representative by the zodiac signs and the seasons which mark cosmic rotations as a tracker of time. Grendel’s actions too have a cyclic nature. As a youth, Grendel experienced a tragic event that wounded him mentally and physically. When Grendel is stuck in the tree, he describes the shrieks and call for help. It can even be said that Grendel has been tortured his whole life. Thus, he continues a cycle of pain and torture towards others through his terrorizing of the thanes. By terrorizing them, Grendel attempts to interrupt the order of their society and in doing so he is trying to break out of his own cycle of torture. Blake's poem has been thought to portray the idea of liberty. In Grendel, this concept is reminiscent in Plato's allegory of the cave in which Grendel's venture from outside of the cave is him trying to gain his freedom. Furthermore, I think the image of the “woman old” is manifested in the book through Grendel’s mother. In the poem, this woman is a very painful figure for the boy. In the novel, I think Gardner parallels this woman to the frustration and pain that Grendel’s mother has caused Grendel. Progressively in the novel, Grendel becomes more and more critical and disgusted by his mother’s seemingly thoughtless and mechanical actions. He wishes not to be reduced to the likes of an animal yet his mother seems to be stuck in her role as a monster. When Grendel screams for his mother’s help she does not come even further distancing himself from her. I think that Grendel gradually outgrows his mother. He is enlightened simply by the fact that he decides to leave his cave to venture into the unknown. Thus, when she does not answer his calls, I feel this is because she cannot understand him anymore because she is not enlightened. At this point, I am not quite sure if Gardner‘s novel was entirely influenced by Blake’s poem; however, both works address similar and connected themes. My question really is: Is Grendel is more of an extension of Beowulf or “The Mental Traveler”?