People attract consequences when they make bad decisions and have bad desires. Invisible prisons are depicted in John Gardner's Grendel and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey's 'The King of the Assyrians, at Peace with Vile Desire'. King Hrothgar feels like he is trapped with no way out because of Grendel's torture and the Assyrian king also feels trapped. They both blame themselves and don't appreciate the consequences that come with their mistakes. In Grendel, Hrothgar feels tortured by Grendel because all his warriors and people are slowly being killed by Grendel. All Grendel wants is to make Hrothgar pay for what he did, like letting his warriors run free, killing each other, and leading them to war against enemies. Hrothgar never worried about anything, even if his own warriors died, and all he did was sit and eat. He never really felt pain or cared about the cruel things happening around him like the scenes Grendel observed. Grendel never understood why humans could be so monstrous until he finally learned that they cannot be converted. He decided to stop trying to help them and turn against them by killing them. He decided not to kill Hrothgar so that he could observe and finally feel the pain of his anger. Slowly killing warriors and people would be like slapping Hrothgar and would allow him to regret everything he has done. “Hrothgar said nothing, bearded with frost, his features cracked and mad” (13). But nothing stops Grendel from teaching Hrothgar a lesson. Howard's sonnet describes a horrible king who "has lost his honor and his rights" and should simply commit suicide (Howard). The king described most likely knows that he has lost his honor and therefore feels trapped because he can...... middle of paper ......pt fight. He had hope that one day the torture would end and he was right, Beowulf freed him from his invisible prison. The Assyrian king, on the other hand, did not deal with pain very well because once he felt it, he committed suicide. He didn't want to live up to his mistakes and overcome them. In a way, he is weak because he took the easy way out of his invisible prison. There will always be consequences for your actions. Pain is always a factor, but it's how you deal with it that reveals who you really are. If you ever feel trapped, don't just give in, stand there and lose hope; fight back and learn from your mistakes and decisions! Grendel and “The King of the Assyrians, at Peace with Vile Desire” are perfect examples of what you should and shouldn't do when you feel disappointed or trapped. Learn from the consequences you experience to become a better person.