Frankenstein: Finito

"He sprung from the cabin window, as he said this, upon the ice-raft which lay close to the vessel. He was soon borne away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance." (page 166)

Frankenstein did not end how I expected it to. I did expect the death of Elizabeth for sure; I thought she would be killed as soon as Victor made a comment in the beginning of his story explaining her presence. As the story continued to progress, I also figured Victor would die at the end of the novel. The internal conflict eventually caused his health to completely give up. It was foreshadowed by the affect stress had on him at the beginning of his story. In saying all of that, I did not expect the monster to ever be witnessed by anyone other than Victor. When he all of the sudden pops up in Walton's story, it took me a second to recognize what was happening and the gravity of the monster appearing. It weirded me out that the stories were intertwining; I thought the monster would just remain in Victor's story. I also felt as if the ending contained the most action which seemed pretty weird because the rest of the novel was so detailed; I think Shelley could have spent less time working up to the ending and a little more time on the conclusion since it did seem a little rushed. Although, that could be because I was definitely not expecting a few scenes as I said. But, I digress. The ending was the best part of the book, and not because it was the literal ending, but rather because of how it ended.

Frankenstein: Opinion Three

"Why did I not die? More miserable then I ever was before, why did I not sink into forgetfulness and rest?" (page 130)

Alright, heads up, this is pretty much going to be a rant about our dear friend Victor. So. Victor has definitely been the most annoying character of this entire book. Quite honestly, all he does is whine and complain about the fact that he created this monster. I understand that he is trying to warn Walton and whatnot, as well as explain his reasons for being in the middle of nowhere, but really, he doesn't need to gripe about all that has gone wrong. It's his fault, and I don't think he really, truly understands that. His characterization also shows me that he's one of those people who says he knows it's his fault but doesn't really believe it. For instance, in the scene where he claims Justine's innocence, he doesn't honestly stand up or defend her in any way; he is such a coward. He won't face things in the manner that he should which really bothers me too. Overall, I find Victor to be a man of very little honor and courage (which ironically, are virtues Walton attributes to him at the beginning of the book).

Frankenstein: Foil Characters

"But in Clerval I saw the image of my former self; he was inquisitive, and anxious to gain experience and instruction." (pg 115)

In this novel, there are instances of characters that can be considered parallel and those that can be considered foils. At the beginning of Victor's narrative, it seems that he and Henry were parallel characters. Both were young, happy and carefree; however, as the story continues, we see a shift in this because of the changing personality of Victor. Victor becomes sad, depressed, withdrawn, lonely, and cares little about his work, family, or friends. Henry, on the other hand, stays much like he was in his younger years. He is caring, intrigued by the world, and loves life. The reason for this difference is the creation. Since Victor became consumed by all things about the monster (creating it, its creation, and consequences of creation), he greatly altered his own self, as well as his relationship with Henry. In the quote above, we see that Victor recognizes this shift and it saddens him as he reflects upon it. This loss of his previous is yet another thing he blames on the monster.

Frankenstein: Conflict

"Can you wonder that such thoughts transported me with rage? I only wonder at that moment instead of venting my sensations in exclamations and agony, I did not rush among mankind, and perish in an attempt to destroy them." (page 103)

In this novel, there is a lot, a lot of conflict going on. Frankenstein contains both internal and external conflict in the multiple stories unraveling in the work. The monster has an external conflict with civilization because he does not appear the same as other living beings; this external conflict leads to his internal conflict of being depressed because he is not accepted by society. Many of Victor's internal and external conflicts arise from the creation of his monster as well. For instance, William's death occurs because of the monster (who kills William to get revenge against Victor so it's a pretty circular conflict). William's death causes Victor to become severely depressed and blame himself. This pity party leads to a conflict with his family, and the love of his life. There is so much conflict in this novel that it becomes difficult to keep it all straight; however, the myriad of conflicts create an intricate story and helps to keep the audience's attention.

Frankenstein: Allusions

"The book from which Felix instructed Safie was Volney's Ruins of Empires." (page 84)

In Frankenstein, the literary device of an allusion is often used by the creation when he is explaining his story to Victor. The allusions allow Victor (& the reader) the opportunity to understand why the creation has turned out the way he has. Additionally, it allows the monster's audience to learn a little bit about the way his mind works and the reasons to his actions. For instance, when the creation compares himself to Adam and the Fallen Angel earlier in the novel, we see that the monster is torn between two identities and ways of describing himself. The references to well-known books on page 91 also allows us to see why the creation becomes a monster; "they produced in [him] an infinity of new images and feelings, that sometimes raised me to ecstasy, but more frequently sunk me into the lowest dejection" (p 91). The books caused the creation to gain knowledge; however, with this knowledge came pain and the realization that he was lonely and terrifying. The knowledge he gained from these novels caused the chain of events leading to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding William and Justine's deaths. The creation's explanation by allusions are the causes to many of the effects in the novel.

Frankenstein: Opinion Two

"'I expected this reception,' said the daemon. 'All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us." (page 68)

When the creature started talking, I was super shocked. The typical image of Frankenstein-the-monster (depicted below) is this huge, green monster who grunts. He doesn't speak words at all. Furthermore, he doesn't speak with eloquence and diction such as the creature in the novel does. It was really interesting to me that the image of this creature has been altered so much over time. When the creature begins to enlighten Victor of his life (page 70), I was really intrigued. His first person narrative is yet another voice to be added to the many differing voices in the story. It was neat to witness the two opposing views Shelley writes regarding the creature:  Victor and the creature himself. The creature's side caused me to feel pathos for him; Shelley achieved applies this technique easily with the sad story of how the creature came to be. Reading this part of the novel regarding the monster was definitely a curveball for me because of the modern definition that I had always heard about the Frankenstein-creature.

Frankenstein: Opinion One

"Clerval then put the following letter into my hands. It was from my own Elizabeth:- My dearest cousin..." (page 40)

Alright, so far, I am not a fan of Frankenstein. There was way too much exposition for what the story needed (in my personal opinion). The sheer amount of unnecessary information is really bothering me too; I'm sorry, but I don't need to hear Walton discuss the same exact thing in fifteen different ways for three paragraphs. With that being said, I am a fan of the way this frame story it set up. I think it's really cool that we're hearing different first person accounts through letters. Walton is writing to his sister and telling her the story of Victor, who is telling Walton part of his story through letters Elizabeth wrote him. It allows for a distinct voice in each character in the story; it tends to pull the reader deeper into the story I think. I was a big fan of this style of writing when Hosseini applied it in The Kite Runner. This technique makes me focus on the story more because it felt as if the different views of multiple characters are all being expressed to me directly.