The author develops Grendel’s character in this excerpt through Grendel’s thoughts. We are inside Grendel’s mind as he reflects on why he turned on Hrothgar, how he “dismissed” the thrown battle-ax as “midnight foolishness,” and how, only later when he was full-grown and Hrothgar was old, he “settled [his] soul on destroying him—slowly and cruelly.” These lines reveal his inner reasoning, his emotional distance at first, and then his deliberate, cruel decision, which are all examples of his thoughts , not dialogue spoken aloud, nor Hrothgar’s words or perspective.