Most authors occasionally use their characters to guide their personal opinions that they wish to emphasize to their audience. In the novel Grendel written by John Gardner, Gardner uses Grendel as an agent to describe his perspective of the evil and corrupt world of humans and their place in the universe. Gardner not only uses Grendel as a vehicle, but also uses the Dragon as another source to express his opinions about the people of the world. Gardner can be seen as an isolated human being, kept away from the affection of others; Grendel and Gardner may be closely related due to the fact that Gardner is incarnated as Grendel in a more dimensional aspect. They both seem to harbor loathsome thoughts towards the world they are “forced” to live in. The Dragon supports Gardner's statement by going against the Shaper's stories, telling Grendel that life seems to have no meaning and that every story the Shaper tells is to change it. people's attitudes. As Grendel chats with the Dragon, the Dragon mocks the Shaper: “[He] provides an illusion of reality – brings all their facts together with a gooey whine of connectivity. [...] But he spins it all with harp sounds and hooting, and they think that what they think is alive, think that Heaven loves them” (p. 65). This proves that humans are weak-minded and easily convinced by false stories; this places humans on a lower scale of morality. Grendel's observation of Hrothgar's kingdom is also seen as a source of perspective. Grendel sees Wealtheow used as a balance of harmony between the two rival families, the Danes and the Helmings. As Grendel spies on them, he says to himself, "But she was beautiful and she delivered herself with the dignity of a piece of paper...hope to be informed of the essence of how people live." Similar to "The Allegory of the Cave", truth is best expressed through experience because sometimes language is incapable of convincing people of the subjects' beliefs. In both texts, the prisoners and Grendel are chained under a masked room of reality that prevents them from finding enlightenment. In Grendel, the fire serpents are his "protector" who keep Grendel away from the corrupt and evil ways of humans. Likewise, the prisoners of “The Allegory of the Cave” are prevented from taking the path that leads them to the light which possesses the absolute. The two texts are linked by similar attempts to use ideas about enlightenment to guide characters toward discovering certainty in their world. With all the lies and false stories enveloping them, they are motivated to find philosophical meaning..