Happiness is easy

Because of the various points of view, the antagonist switches from Victor to the monster and back again. Both serve as the antagonist for the other. Victor seeks revenge on the monster for killing his family, while the monster seeks revenge on Victor for leaving him lonely. At any time, one of these characters could comply with the other, and their problems could be solved. I don’t understand why they can’t be friends with each other. By doing this, they could solve all their problems, since their problems are each other. The monster would have a friend and would stop killing, and Victor would not constantly be afraid. Happiness is not that difficult!

Frankenstein II

Frankenstein contained a large amount of ambiguity, especially at the end. The reader never finds out how the monster was created or exactly why the monster was created. The ending tells the reader nothing concrete. The monster says he wants to die now because his creator’s dead, but there is no proof that he actually dies. Walton never killed him, instead the monster “was soon borne away by the waves and lost in the darkness and distance” (page 211). The monster could still be alive. I have an idea for Mary Shelley: Frankenstein the sequel: the monster’s change of heart.

Team...Monster

Throughout the book, I never felt sympathy for Victor. It seemed as if all his problems were self-inflicted. He constantly desired pity from everyone. “I have traversed a vast portion of the earth and have endured all the hardships which travelers in deserts and barbarous countries are wont to meet” (page 192). “Mine has been a tale of horrors” (page 188). Victor is constantly complaining and saying “poor me, poor me.” He created the monster for his own self-satisfaction. He ran away from the monster and left it to be alone. And he would not show it any compassion when he realized the only thing the monster wanted was a companion. Why didn’t Victor just befriend the monster so that it would stop killing? On his wedding night, he was stupid because he left Elizabeth alone. He figured the monster would go after him, but every intelligent person knows that the villain almost always goes after the loved one and not the enemy himself/herself. The hardships Victor complained about led back to him each time; therefore, my sympathy leans towards the monster.

Sympathy

While reading Frankenstein, I found it weird how quickly my opinion changed of the monster as soon as the story shifted to his point of view. When I first found out that he had killed William, I had no sympathy for the monster whatsoever; however, when he explained why he committed this crime, I didn’t loathe him as much. I’m not promoting killing, and the fact that he killed so many people was wrong, but I still felt sorry for him once he told his story. “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?..I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery” (page 130). I find it peculiar that the monster only went after Victor’s family. The family in the cottage sparked his initial anger towards humans, but he did not kill them. Instead, he took his anger out on William. Why? I got mad at the family for judging the monster so quickly after he had been preparing to talk to them for months and months. I would’ve done the same thing in their situation, but I wish they had given him a chance. Imagine a monster-looking –thing randomly in your house talking to your blind father/grandfather! Scary!

"It is not good for the man to be all alone." (Genesis 2:18)

“It moved every feeling of wonder and awe that the picture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures was capable of exciting. I often referred the several situations, as their similarity struck me, to my own. Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hand of God a perfect creature, happy, and prosperous, guarded by special care of his creator…I was wretched, helpless, and alone. Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition” (page 124).
Mary Shelley often alludes to God and his first creation of Adam. This common allusion can be seen in the quote above, when the monster takes a liking to Paradise Lost and compares it to his own life. Though I’ve never read Paradise Lost myself, I have heard the story of creation millions of times. The monster does parallel with Adam. Victor used science to play God and create a human being, who was different from everyone else. Like Adam, the monster was alone and the only one of his kind. He begged for a companion, except, unlike God, Victor did not grant him a friend. Therefore, Victor turned against his creator and sinned many times because he did not get what he needed. Shelley uses this allusion because it relates another lonely human being to the monster. It’s easy to imagine how lonely Adam must have felt as the only human being on the Earth. By comparing his loneliness to the monster’s, the reader can empathize more easily with the monster.

Goth

The tone of Frankenstein is Gothic or tragic. The subject of the novel is dark and of horror quality. Use of language with sad tones is also used to emphasize the scary scientific story. The letters written encompass a sense of longing and the desire from his family for his return home. The also focus on tragic events, including the murder of his brother William. “Absence cannot have rendered you callous to our joys and griefs…” Most of the characters don’t focus on joyous events or feelings. Loneliness and fear dominate the pages of this novel.

Who’s Afraid of the Dark?

After Frankenstein creates the monster, he is almost instantly filled with regret. What did he expect? Wasn’t he trying to create new life? If I had been in his situation I would not know what to do either. There would be no way to tell if the creature was harmless or not. A simile is used to describe Frankenstein’s fear of his monster. “I threw the door forcibly open, as children are accustomed to do when they expect a spectre to stand in waiting for them on the other side; but nothing appeared” (pg 59). This comparison helps me relate to his situation. When I was younger I used to always push doors open quickly or shout “I know you’re there” because I was scared that a person was in my room, closet or house. I don’t know what I would have done if someone would’ve actually been there, just as Frankenstein wouldn’t have known how to react if the monster had actually been standing there. Because I was able to relate to this scene, I could empathize with Frankenstein’s fear more easily.